Week 1 – Jesus Built a Door

  His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. 12 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. 13 That is why I use these parables.” (Matthew 13:11-13)

  Jesus is known for many things, and although His teaching and ministry surely would have benefited from His understanding and proficiencies as a carpenter, these skills are often overlooked. The scriptures illustrate spiritual principles with analogies from the trade of carpentry, such as the tale of the wise and foolish builders told by Jesus and recorded in the Gospel’s by Matthew and Luke. So one can assume carpentry influenced our Lord.

  Developing the skills of a carpenter requires time and commitment. One must start with the fundamentals in order to master carpentry. For Jesus, this would have included learning how to use fundamental hand tools and acquiring knowledge about the many types of wood and their characteristics. Carpentry involves hard physical work, accuracy and meticulous attention to detail. A Carpenter must be strong enough to lift heavy objects and be willing to work in adverse conditions, often outside in all kinds of weather. The quality and detail of a carpenter’s work is often used to judge their level of skill.  

Jesus had skills—His complete memorization and understanding of the scriptures was bare-none, above all others who ever walked the Earth. His in your face, trouble shooting, problem solving, question answering abilities, left all those who witnessed speechless and left wondering: “Who is this man and how at such a young age did he gain such vast wisdom and knowledge about the Kingdom of God?” 

  To regress, we are talking about God here. The all powerful, all knowing and everywhere present Creator of all things… yes Jesus the man—God walking on Earth had a few things going for him… learning or needing the skills of a carpenter might seem unnecessary. Still, God’s plan was at work and it would take Jesus one day at a time, from a grubby little manger baby, to a hippy looking rabbi, with a posse of twelve…. Why carpenter’s skills?  Why… was Jesus born in a stable? I like TD Jakes’ answer:“Because He was a lamb.”

  If you read The Bible and you don’t find yourself asking “Why?” then you either: already have all the answers, which would be awesome…or you simply aren’t searching for them. The Bible is a book of discovery. A book where you will find the answers and the truths about the creation of this world. From it you’ll learn of our ancestor’s past, how to live in the present. and what’s in store for the future.

There is no better source to learn about God, Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit than The Bible. Achieving and understanding God’s nature through reading The Bible, is essential if we are to become like Jesus Christ. Understanding a God as big as ours is not easy. As you read, you’re going to ask a lot of “why’s?”

Why did God give man dominion over the world—His world? Why did He give us free will? Why not give us His own perfect will, after all didn’t He make us in His own image? Why did Jesus have to be born from a virgin? Why did John the Baptist wear camel’s hair? Why did our Savior have to go through so much pain and suffering? Was that really necessary? Why did Jesus die for our sins?  Why…Why…Why?

Why was Jesus a carpenter… Is this question too trivial compared to others in The Bible? Is the answer too obvious? After al,l it was His earthly father’s occupation. Maybe He simply followed in his footsteps. Was there a deep meaningful reason Jesus was skilled as a carpenter? It’s certainly not a question that must be answered for one to receive salvation. However, that does’t make it one unworthy to ask. All questions that can bring us closer to Jesus are worthy to ask. God created us as beings that develop great worth through searching for knowledge and wisdom. For this very reason Jesus often taught and spoke using parables.                

‘When you hear what I say,
    you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
    you will not comprehend

15 For the hearts of these people are hardened,
    and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
   so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
    and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
    and let me heal them.’                                                                                              

16“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.   (Matthew 13:14-16)

  Jesus recounted Isaiah’s scriptural prophesies while explaining His uses of parables. Isaiah declared that people would read The Bible and not comprehend or understand. He said that their hearts would be hardened and that they would not turn to Jesus to be healed, effectively denying The Cross… they had no need to ask “why”… they had their own answers, and were not willing to listen or search for God’s answers. Jesus wants His followers to search for the truths. Jesus wants you to seek and ask “Why?”

 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

  Most Christians, including myself, would agree that in Matthew 7, Jesus was teaching about the importance of unrelenting continual prayer. However, today when I closed my eyes and meditated on this verse it hit me in a different light. I imagined Jesus standing in front of me, face to face, so close that I could feel His breath as He spoke. Jesus held up The Bible and pressed it against my head as if He was trying to push it into my brain, then He said; “My son, this is the door to my world. Knock on it and I will answer, seek within it and you will learn the truth, obey it’s commands and I will open the door. The door to my Kingdom. Son this door is yours, I built it just for you” (Jesus)

  We are called to do more than simply read the words of The Bible. We must actively seek to understand and comprehend its truths. Why was Jesus a carpenter? It may be, we needed a door, so He built us one. Who better than a Savior with carpentry skills to build a door to God. A door to enter “God’s World.”  Why spend all our time in this world, let’s use the door to enter His. The Bible teaches us about “God’s World” and what we need to do to abide in it. Most doors are simple, just open and step right through…when you open this door, you’re going to walk into a lot of questions. Today open the door, find the ‘why’s,’ and search for their answers. Insure that your eternity of tomorrows will be spent on the other side of His door… with Jesus in Heaven. 

“I tell you the Truth”