Carpenter's
Son
“Is
this not 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: 2
“Prophets
are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own
kin, and in their own house.”
Mark
6:4
One
of the most poignant moments in the American Idol series is when the
finalists go home to visit, and the whole town turns out to welcome
them. There are parades and packed stadiums and thousands of
screaming, placard waving hometown folks, in love with this native
son or daughter—the one who has walked the same streets as everyone
else, unnoticed, for their entire lives. The contestants never fail to break down and cry. You know they're thinking, “Where were these
people when I was playing at the pub for drinks and tips?” It's
amazing what a little fame and the prospect of television cameras
rolling does for a hometown crowd.
Not
so in Jesus' day. He was not welcomed home as a hero. In fact, his
neighbors were incensed. Who did he think he was trying to impart
wisdom and claiming he could heal people. He's just Mary's weird kid
who thinks he's special. We've known him since he was in diapers. We
know where he lives and who his brothers and sisters are. He's no big
deal! It wouldn't have been too surprising if they had run him out of
town for a shyster and a fake.
A
couple of things stick out for me in this scripture. First of all,
that Jesus was a member of a family. He had brothers and sisters; he
had a previous career as a carpenter, like his father, Joseph. Jesus
was a regular guy. Most Bible scholars believe he was a follower of
John the Baptist, and that it was John's imprisonment that set him on
the path of itinerant ministry. He stepped into John's shoes, so to
speak.
Secondly,
that Jesus saw himself as a prophet. His job was to tell the 'chosen'
people what God required of them. He saw his ministry as that of
healer and teacher. In fact, his next step after being rejected by
his hometown, was to send out his twelve disciples to “teach that
people should repent.” (Mk. 6:12)
I
like this flesh and blood Jesus. This one who is rejected by his own
people; whose family thinks him crazy. I like this child of Mary who
is feeling his way through the wilderness of human meanness and
finding his true path. I like this carpenter, this son of Man. I can
relate to this Jesus, human to human.
I
think we have lost some of what Jesus stood for during his life here
among us. In deifying him, we lost the earthy man who taught a new
way of life, one of generosity and compassion, of spitting in dirt
and packing mud on blind eyes, of touching diseased hands and washing
tired feet, of feeding bodies as well as souls. In raising him to
glory, we lost the one who shakes the dust off his sandals, and goes
out among the poor and the sick and the rejected.
Let's
reclaim that Jesus.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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