“For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Hebrews 4:15 (RSV)
It’s easy to say “I’m only human,”when we feel angry, insecure, depressed or tempted in some way, but sometimes we forget that Jesus was human too. He was 100% human and divine. We usually focus on His divinity and miracles, but Jesus had a human side that He lived for thirty years before the ministry phase of His life ever began.
When we do the math, His brief ministry of three years was only 10% of His entire life, but 90% of His life was lived as a man in Nazareth. The gospels tell us very little of His earlier days. We know the story of how He wandered into the temple at 12 years old, leaving His parents to search for Him. His neighbors in Nazareth knew Him as the son of Joseph, the carpenter and Mary.
His ministry took place during the last three years of His life, but what about the first thirty years of His life?
We can gather some information about His earlier days, based on the traditions of the time He lived in. Most sons learned the trade of their father, so Jesus most likely worked at Joseph’s side, learning the skills of carpentry during His youthful years. He grew up in the Hebrew faith and customs of His family, faithfully observing all Mosaic teachings, as well as celebrating every feast and holiday of His culture.
Carpentry would have taught Jesus the skills that also shaped His character for ministry. He learned patience from Joseph, as they smoothed the roughest edges of wood, while handling it gently. He learned problem solving, in making the corners and joints of wood to line up perfectly in order to construct and finish a beautiful product. A carpenter in Nazareth would have interacted with the small town community as they were consulted and contracted to build products, which taught Jesus His people skills.
No one knows for sure when Joseph passed away, but Jesus learned carpentry skills from him throughout those years, which helped Him in His ministry later. He managed to mentor His twelve disciples, with the gentleness of handling raw wood, that needed to be smoothed and sanded with great patience.
He taught His disciples how to fit together in love and unity, despite their different backgrounds and opinions, in order to build His church in the same unity as when adjusting the corners and joints of wood to fit in building a beautiful piece of furniture.
Jesus had people skills needed to connect with all types of people, whether it was a prominent synagogue official like Jairus, whose daughter He healed, or the woman at the well, who was a Samaritan, from a community alienated from Israel.
In His humanity, Jesus felt the emotional pain of betrayal, rejection, and disrespect by some who might have even been close childhood friends, respected religious leaders or His own relatives. Some who rejected Him were those He knew and loved during his thirty years in Nazareth. He felt the pain of rejection but never sinned, and forgave everyone.
God loved us so much that He clothed His own divine Son in a human body and temperament like ours, in order to have a Savior and Intercessor who can identify fully with us. The next time we feel exasperated and have a tendency to say, “I’m only human”, Jesus reminds us that He once was as human as we are.
His Holy Spirit is speaking to our hearts, every day, assuring us,
“You can do all things through Me, because I give you My strength.”
Lord, thank you for your humanity, and for your Holy Spirit that lives in us, giving us strength to do all things through you. Amen
