Jesus
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Another person hires Jesus to do some work on his home. Jesus spends a solid week accomplishing the task. It’s one of the most difficult of His career. The person never pays Him. This isn’t the first time this has happened. Not a few times Jesus worked without being paid. Not a few times did unhappy customers browbeat Him with unfair complaints and condescending insults. Are we suggesting that Jesus didn’t do quality work? Not at all. But we know human nature. And so do you. Sometimes people aren’t pleased with even the very best work. In short, Jesus knows what it feels like to be slighted, to be unappreciated, to feel used.
He is tempted to feel anger toward these individuals. He is tempted to argue His case. He is tempted to defend Himself. He is tempted to set the record straight. The pressure of having to take care of His family in the face of all of this just increases the temptations.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.18
Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.19
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man.20
But Jesus never gave in to the temptations. Instead, He yielded to His Father’s life within Him, a life that knows how to die. A life that loses instead of fights to win.20 This was His pattern of living. And it would eventually lead Him to suffer the ultimate loss: His own life. His years in the artisan’s shop, working with and for fallen mortals, was incredible training in this area.
But perhaps more encouraging than all of this is that Jesus Christ, in becoming an ordinary working man, made work a holy thing. He made toil sacred. And He destroyed the secular-versus-sacred myth by blessing the mundane, hallowing the ordinary, and sanctifying the routine.
Many modern Christians still have in their minds that “spiritual” work (being “called to full-time ministry,” going to Bible school or seminary, and being ordained) is somehow more valuable to God than doing “secular” work (being a construction worker, a secretary, a dental assistant, or a computer engineer; changing diapers, preparing meals, and cleaning houses; you name it). The Lord’s life on earth teaches us that this is simply not true. Whatever is done for the glory of God is valuable in His eyes. The so-called secular becomes spiritual when done for the Lord.
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.22
Keep this in mind when you grow weary of the drudgery of doing the same thing every day. Keep it in mind when you are worn out from your job and deem it trivial and unimportant. Recall it when you are being treated unfairly at work and you’re being undervalued, underpaid, and unappreciated. Remember, you are not wasting your time, no more than Jesus was wasting His time in that artisan’s shop. Jesus Christ has made sacred every minute, every hour, and every day that you spend earning your wage. He identifies with your sweat, your toil, and the agonies that go along with it.
Indeed, when the Romans crucified the Son of God, they not only put to death the Savior of the world, but also crucified a working man . . . they killed a craftsman. And it was a blue-collar worker who rose again from the dead. For that’s what He was most of His life.
THE TEACHER WHO TAUGHT JESUS
There was something else going on in that artisan’s shop that was part of our Lord’s preparation for ministry. In the gospel of John, Jesus repeatedly told us what it was:
“By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”23
“As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father . . .”24
Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.”25
So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.”26“
For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.”27
“Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”28
“He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”29
Jesus made many of these statements in response to the religious authorities who challenged Him about His teaching and where it came from. His answer was consistent and telling: “I can do nothing of Myself. I do not speak on My own accord. My teaching comes straight from My Father. It is not Mine. The Father has taught Me all the things I teach. He tells Me what to say. He shows Me what to do. I do nothing without My Father’s leading. He sent Me here, and He lives within Me.”30
While Jesus worked as an artisan, He was in constant communion with His Father. From a young age, He had learned how to recognize His Father’s voice.31 His communion with His Father mostly took place inside of Him. We can deduce this from the fact that the Gospels only record Jesus praying aloud a few times. And in one instance, He indicated that praying aloud wasn’t the typical way He spoke to His Father.32
Having an enormous capacity to retain information (as most people in the ancient world did), He probably recited to Himself portions of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings He learned in the synagogue from His childhood and throughout His adulthood. He probably communed with His Father about those texts. From His youth, Jesus began to understand who He was, for He began to recognize Himself and His mission.33 He even remembered some of what happened in His preincarnate state, before He stepped out of eternity to become human.
“Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
“You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”34
God the Father was the One who had tutored Jesus. Because Jesus was in constant communion with His Father, He learned the extraordinary habit of seeing the ordinary through the eyes of God. Let me give you an example of how it may have happened.
A POSSIBLE SCENARIO
Imagine Jesus at age eighteen. He is taking a long walk in Nazareth. He’s not had work in weeks, and He is out of money. The pressure is mounting, and He is tempted to worry. One of His sisters accidentally damaged her last set of clothes, and she is need of something to wear. Jesus is flat broke and cannot buy new clothes for her. Disturbing thoughts flit through His mind. What will happen if I can’t feed My family? As He walks, He communes with His Father about the situation.
He passes a meadow and notices the Middle Eastern lilies. Some birds fly overhead and catch His eye. Then the Father speaks within Him, saying, My Son, look at these birds. I take care of them, and they don’t worry a second about food. Look at the beautiful lilies before You. They don’t worry about what they will wear, for I clothe them. How much more are You, Your sisters, Your mother, and Your brothers worth to Me than these things? You have nothing to worry about. I will provide for You. Do not doubt. Only believe. Continue to seek Me and My kingdom above all other things, and You and Your family will have everything you need.
Years later, Jesus will sit down on a hill and say to His disciples,
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even S
olomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.35
Did this actually happen? Probably not. But given what the Gospels tell us about the source of all that Jesus taught, we suspect it’s not too far off the mark.
JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY
After eighteen years of living life as a craftsman, the Father led Jesus to transition to full-time service. So at age thirty, Jesus began His ministry of teaching. And when He did, what was the people’s response? “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph?”36 They did not take Him seriously because He didn’t have the proper credentials. He wasn’t ordained. He wasn’t tutored by a scribe or a recognized rabbi. What does He think He’s doing?
It is clear from the Gospels that Jesus’ main audience was never the religious leaders. Jesus wasn’t trying to persuade or convert the Jewish establishment. Exceptions, like Nicodemus (and probably Joseph of Arimathea), came to Jesus. But Jesus was addressing the common people who gave Him a hearing. Thus He kept to the villages,37 staying away from the large Galilean towns, like Sepphoris and Tiberias.38 (Interestingly, the Gospels don’t mention these two cities, which were the largest in Galilee.)
The religious elite ignored Him as long as they could. But as His influence grew (which was rather quickly), they were forced to listen to and engage Him.39 Robert McIver has suggested that at least sixty thousand people would have witnessed some aspect of Jesus’ earthly ministry.40 Consequently, the religious establishment had to take Him seriously. Here’s a summary of their critique against Him: “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”41
The Jewish establishment constantly leveled this challenge at Jesus. They were essentially saying, “You didn’t come through the proper channels. You aren’t qualified. Where are your ordination papers? What school did you graduate from, and where is your degree? Who gave you the authority to teach as you are doing?”
Jesus’ authorization to teach was not based on institutional sources. He wasn’t trained in the oral tradition of the elders, like the Pharisees. Neither was He a member of the priestly class, like the Sadducees. He spoke in the capacity of a prophet, and His authority came from God.42 In today’s language, Jesus was a layman. Yet He believed “He had authority over and above the Torah.”43
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I understand God’s patience with the wicked, but I do wonder how He can be so patient with the pious.
—GEORGE MACDONALD 44
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In addition, Jesus didn’t argue like other teachers or later rabbis. Their method of teaching was to exegete Scripture by quoting other rabbis. Jesus, however, never used footnotes. He claimed God was His only authority. In his book Jesus the Sage, Ben Witherington expounds on this further, arguing that Jesus taught as a sage, not primarily as an exegete. (Neither the Talmud nor the Mishnah existed in Jesus’ day, and He showed no knowledge of either.)45 Instead, Jesus taught in parables, aphorisms, riddles, and one-liners—the teaching methods of sages.46 Although He was a prophet, Jesus never used the prophetic formula, “Thus says the Lord.” This isn’t surprising since Christ, being “greater than Solomon,” is both the wisdom of God and the Logos of God incarnate.47
LESSONS GLEANED
So what does Jesus’ ministry preparation have to teach us today? It teaches us that God understands what it means to toil by the sweat of our brows and earn a living. It teaches us that God values work. He blesses the mundane, He sanctifies the ordinary, and He forges no division between the secular and the sacred. It teaches us that God knows what’s involved in putting food on the table. He knows firsthand the challenges, and even the suffering, that are tied up with being part of the working class, including the temptation to worry and fret. It also teaches us that communion with God can happen in the midst of the ordinary things of life.
But beyond all this, it holds valuable insight for those who would walk in the same steps as Jesus with respect to His teaching ministry.
Imagine a young man publicly teaching about the things of God today. He has no formal theological training. He possesses no official ordination papers. He’s part of neither the clergy nor the religious academic world. He’s read the Scriptures deeply for years, and He’s familiar with what the scribes (the scholars) and the rabbis (pastors) of His day have said on many subjects.
People listen to Him and are amazed at His insight into the Scriptures. They are taken aback by the depth in which He expounds the things of God. Interestingly, much of what He teaches runs against the grain of the religious establishment. It flies in the face of the reigning orthodoxy. It contradicts and confronts the status quo. Those who listen to Him regard Him as a prophet, a great teacher, a needed voice.
Their initial response is, “Where did this man get all this wisdom and insight from, seeing that He’s never been to seminary?” To wit, His teaching is not for the religious establishment, but for the masses of God’s people. They are His audience. He cares little about what the religious establishment thinks or says.
The religious elite ignored Him as long as they could. Since Jesus sported no theological degrees and wasn’t part of the pastors guild, they didn’t take Him seriously. He was not credible in their eyes. But they could only follow this course for so long. His influence grew so large that they couldn’t ignore Him any longer. So they must extend to Him the credibility of engagement.
They came out with all guns blazing, seeking to refute Him. First, their pushback was targeted at the content of His teaching. But after realizing that they couldn’t successfully discount what He said, they downshifted to an ad hominem assault. Personal attacks became their new weapon for dismissal: “He has no authority to say what He’s saying.” “He’s not seminary trained.” “He has no ordination papers.” “He’s not a scholar.”
Then it escalated: “He was born as the result of fornication.”48 “He’s a blasphemer.”49 “He’s deceptive.”50 “He’s a glutton and a drunkard.”51 “He’s a false prophet.”52 And the ultimate attack: “Satan is working through Him!”53
Strikingly, this same story has been played out on virtually every bloodstained page of church history.54 And unfortunately the destiny of many who have followed in Jesus’ steps has been the same as His: persecution, suffering, and even execution.
“Remember the words I spoke to you: ’No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.”55
Human nature changeth not. Nor do the systems men create, be they secular or religious. The reactions are all the same. When men feel threatened, the evil they are capable of in the name of God (and while defending Him) defies sanity. Jesus was put to death chiefly because of jealousy.
For he [Pilate] knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.56
The favor and anointing of God will always garner the jealousy of those who do not possess them. Abel, upon whom God looked with favor, is not alone in those who were persecuted by a jealous Cain. Jealousy still lives and breathes in the hearts of the religiously ambitious and insecure.
Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.
Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.57
Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.59
The ways of God changeth not either.
According to rabbinical scholar David Instone-Brewer, Jesus “wasn’t educated within the system.” He was instead an “outsider.” And as such, “He was rejected from the start . . . He stood out as someone having great authority, but outside the system.”60 Jesus threatened the status quo, a move that garnered the trust of the poor, oppressed, and marginalized. But it threatened the wealthy and powerful.
Again, others interpret the biblical and historical evidence differently. And so they come to different conclusions about Jesus’ ministry preparation. But regardless of what theory one may hold, two things are indisputable: (1) Jesus’ primary tutoring came from His Father, and (2) Jesus was not received by the religious establishment of His day. These two themes will reemerge again and again throughout the rest of this theography. Let’s now turn to the beginning of Jesus’ incomparable ministry.
CHAPTER 7
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Jesus’ Baptism and Temptation
Water is at the origin of the world,
the Jordan is at the origin of the Gospels.
—SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM 1