John Zehring

Is Not This the Carpenter? John Zehring

This book considers Jesus' woodshop and the profound messages that he drew from his years at the craft of carpentry in Nazareth. It is an unusual genre. It is not non-fiction, nor is it fiction. Perhaps a good term to describe it is "faction." Part fact, part conjecture. And yet, even the speculation is likely to contain merit. Jesus the carpenter, taking over the shop from his father Joseph, would have enjoyed working with tools and with his hands. His tool chest would have included the ax, tin saws set into a frame of wood, a plane, hammer and nails, and chisels of bronze or iron. There is a beauty to wood... the grain, the smell, the feel, and the strength. Jesus might have appreciated how the seed grew to the tree which became a table, a plow, a door, a table or a yoke. From his personal experience as a carpenter, he would use each item to draw illustrations which would become the metaphors for teaching about the Kingdom of God. And so, poetic license is taken to allow for an impressionist glimpse... a peek... at Jesus' woodshop, the products he crafted and the lessons he would later draw from them as illustrations of eternal truths. "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" (Mark 6:3a)