Jesus the Carpenter

Why was Jesus a carpenter and why does the Bible specify that is what he did? Some say that there is no reason that he was a carpenter, other than Joseph, his step father was and trades were generally passed down because sons helped their father in his trade. Others say it simply showed that he worked and was not a peasant or a king; or that he approves of hard work and serving God in your vocation, no matter what it is.

The Greek word translated carpenter, in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 is tektōn (τέκτων) (from which comes the English word “Technology). Tektōn can mean:

1. A worker in wood, a carpenter, or builder
2. Any craftsman, or workman
3. A planner or plotter (or author)

Some people would prefer to translate it in an even more generic term, such as “craftsman”. The specific type of craftsman is most likely carpenter, due to the definition, but also according to early church tradition. Justine Martyr, about 100 years after Jesus’ death, in his “Dialogue with Trypho” described Jesus as a carpenter making ploughs and yokes for local farmers, “by which he taught he symbols of righteousness and an active life.” The word carpenter itself is a very generic term basically just mean working with wood and there many kinds of related jobs. Some do administrative work, some build buildings, or tools, or do fine detailed work. He could have possibly built boats, as fishing was a local industry (some of his disciples were fishermen). It is unclear specifically what Jesus did while working. However, in a way, Jesus used the wooden cross to build a bridge for us.
 
Some hypothesize that he was more like a stonemason builder, since that was the common building material of the time and the word tektōn was sometimes used in that way at that time. They site that Christ is stone the builders rejected (Mark 12:10), Christ is the rock (1 Cor. 10:4, 9:33), the Wise man built his house upon the rock (Matthew 7:24), etc… However, God is also described as a “Prince of Peace, Wonderful Councilor, King of Kings, Great Physician, the Good Shepherd, etc. Obviously Jesus could not have had all of these professions. Some generic structure builders at the time worked with both wood and stone as well. One thing to remember is that if the Bible does not specify something, then it is not important for our salvation, so we don’t really need to know the answer.

Whatever specific job he did, craftsman and builders make and mold things out of natural elements, just as man was created out of the dust of the ground through Jesus (John 1:3). In Jeremiah 18, the pre-incarnate Jesus (link) came to Jeremiah and told him God the Father is a potter, who molds us like clay through him. This imagery is used throughout Isaiah (29:16, 51:25, 45:9, 64:8) as well as in the New Testament in Romans 9:21. Carpenters and craftsman also fix things that are broken, just as Jesus fixed broken humanity.