Imagine Joseph’s frustration at having to lay this newborn babe in a feed trough. Joseph - the carpenter - could have built this special boy a fine bed - may have already built it! The call to Bethlehem for the census unexpectedly took them away from their home and his tools at the time he needed them most.
As a boy, Jesus was surrounded by the look, feel, and smell of wood – He was learning Joseph’s trade, after all! Can you see the young boy watching His earthly father work with the tools of his trade, surrounded by the smell of freshly planed wood and sawdust?
By the time Jesus was a young man, the feel of the various wood grains were second nature to Him. There was a comfort as He grew, that came with being surrounded by these smells and textures. Taking on the work of a carpenter Himself was so natural – and you can bet He was good at it!
This is the very Word of God, that came to earth as the Son of Man. He spoke the very first trees into existence, and is it too far of a stretch to believe He knew the intimate details of every tree that He worked with? This Omnipotent Creator – this simple Carpenter.
How symbolic and appropriate that His very last breaths came as He was nailed to the very substance that surrounded Him all His life. The wood of the cross had a familiar feel to it, and yet never had He manipulated it for such a brutal purpose.
This is your King, nailed to wood that came from a tree that was spoken into existence by His voice and good pleasure. Wood that He might otherwise fashion into a table for His mother, or a feed trough.
The greatest Gift mankind has ever known is still found at the foot of that tree.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
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