“so that the works of God might be displayed”
The day had been a busy one filled with one miracle followed by another. “He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, . . . [the life restored to the daughter of Jairus].” (The Gospel According to Mark 5: 43a NASB)
Jesus traveled, going from shore to shore across the Jordan, teaching, healing, and changing people’s lives, those who believed in Him. Today, on this day we celebrate a holiday, one set aside to remember the work our hands are led to do, we find ourselves looking at the Master Carpenter.
After the woman was healed, the one who had suffered with a hemorrhage for twelve long years, and after the daughter of the synagogue official had her life restored to her—the Bible tells us that Jesus went home to Nazareth.
“Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown;
(The Gospel According to Mark 6: 1-3 NASB)
and His disciples followed Him.
When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue;
and the many listeners were astonished, saying,
“Where did this man get these things, and
what is this wisdom given to Him, and
such miracles as these performed by His hands?
Is not this the carpenter,
the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?
Are not His sisters here with us?
And they took offense at Him.”
Sometimes, when we think about the Savior, we forget He was a carpenter, a man who would not have received much formal education because of the work His earthly dad gave Him to do. Jesus would have been a regular figure in His hometown Nazareth. His neighbors would have seen Him playing in the streets with His siblings, walking to the market with His mother, and maybe even delivering the furniture and other items Jesus had constructed by the work of His hands—as a carpenter.
- Do you ever pause to consider the work Jesus did—before the cross?
- Do you ever ask yourself: Was Jesus a faithful worker—OR—Was Jesus a man who cut corners?
- Did Jesus build cabinets for Joseph’s patrons who came to his carpentry shop?
- When Jesus did the work Joseph gave Him to do, did the shelves in the cabinet wobble?
- Did the doors fall off their hinges?
- Did Jesus do shoddy work—when He did the work Joseph gave Him to do?
No, we can know that Jesus did not, for His heavenly Father, for God was with Him, directing Him to do the work He had been sent to do. The Bible tells us so.
In another time, Jesus healed a man who had been blind from birth, and His disciples asked Jesus about the sin that caused the man’s blindness.
“Jesus answered,
(The Gospel According to John 9: 3-5 NASB)
“It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents;
but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day;
night is coming when no one can work.
While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”
You and I only have so much time. We are told in God’s Word that our days of life were numbered even before we lived our first day of life. Therefore, our time to work is precious and should not be taken lightly. We are to emulate our Savior, doing the best work we can, “as long as it is day; . . . .”
Today, on this Labor Day holiday when we pause from our work, this is a good moment to consider the work you do. Maybe you are a firefighter, nursing mother, a waitress, librarian, mechanic, financial planner, carpenter, signal maintainer on the railroad, therapist, teacher, cosmetologist, engineer, banker, clerk, or pastor. Maybe you are even retired from your life’s work and now working around the home. The point is not “the type” of work we do or even “how much” work we do; rather, the significance is “HOW WELL” WE DO THE WORK THE LORD HAS GIVEN US TO DO. As we use the skills the Father has given to us, then we are to do our work to the best of our ability.
Jesus has told us why.
“so that the works of God might be displayed”
This means that when I teach my students, it is the way I am able to share the goodness God.
- May we follow God in obedience.
- May we trust God.
- He will help us make the most of our time, while it is still day.
- Let us work, as the Bible speaks, as unto the Lord.
“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,”
(The Letter of Paul to the Colossians 3: 23 NASB)