The Middle-Eastern tradie - Hope 103.2

The Middle-Eastern tradie

By David ReayWednesday 19 Aug 2015LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 0 minutes

Transcript:

Read Mark 6:1-3

1 Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. 2 The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” 3 Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. (NLT)

We can’t know what Jesus looked like. It is interesting to see that various cultures in various ages have portrayed Jesus as some idealised version of the male person in their society. At a deeper level, we can overlook the essential humanity of Jesus. We can scarcely imagine the Son of God walking around in human form.

But his very humanity caused another problem for those in his hometown. They knew him as a carpenter and the son of a carpenter. They knew his family connections. He seemed like just another guy, nothing special at all. And as for being the Messiah, the thought was utterly ridiculous.

When God decided to become human, he didn’t do so via some great celebrity, some poster pin-up boy. He entered the world as a tradie of Middle-Eastern appearance. And naturally the religious elites didn’t get it.

Christians know well that Jesus was more than just a good man. They recognise his divinity. But in doing so, we need to remember that he was a genuine man, physically apparently an ordinary man. We grasp the paradox that the Son of God present at the creation of the world was also a Middle-Eastern tradie.

Blessings
David Reay