Jesus and the Work(er)

For the vast majority of people it is necessary to earn a living. Though not in an approving manner, Jesus himself was identified as “the carpenter”. 

Local 2023 housing construction

Jesus' closest followers included fishermen, and at least one government administrator. 

A manual worker background could be an obstacle to some. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things?” they said. “What is this wisdom that has been given to him, and how are these miracles performed by his hands? Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” So they were offended by him (Mark 6:2-3, CSB). The carpenter did all kinds of work with wood in those times; however, explaining God's way, and doing miracles, was not expected! Could Jesus be heard? 

From a different angle, working-class and ordinary family background might be a negative: Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph,[a] Simon, and Judas (Matthew 13:55, NLT). Would Jesus be heard? [We are familiar with the pattern of sons following in the footsteps of their fathers (in Jesus' case, of his non-biological parent).]

Jesus gave a brief hint of the way labour might be approached. He used the occupation of sheep minder to describe his work in our world. He compared two different possible attitudes to minded sheep - the attitude of the owner and the attitude of the employee. Jesus claimed that he was committed to his sheep to the point of his own death, an extreme but believable owner attitude. Could the employee be expected to have that attitude? I wonder what the hearers at the time thought - is someone else’s sheep more valuable than the worker’s life? The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. (John 10:12, NRSVUE). The point is Jesus' commitment even to his death. Even though today we may place a higher value on the lives of "ordinary" individuals, I see this is a warning not to take extreme interpretation of illustrations. The safety and health of all, including workers, is basic, or could and should be. Workers ought to leave work being just as well as when they arrived. (The good hired hand will have done their best to ensure the sheep are safe.)

Work and workers - Jesus used in many of his illustrations (farmers, fishermen, cooks, cleaners, builders, managers). Jesus did say that people of God ought to be true "stand-outs" in life. “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.(j)“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.(k) People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.(l) In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.(m) (Matthew 5:13-16, NRSVUE)

I find no direct instruction about work as such from Jesus but his followers have something to say to us.

During his travels Paul, Apostle, missionary preacher, met up (in Philippi) with at least one businesswoman in a group: One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying (Acts 16:14, NLT). I dare say Lydia's occupation is noted because it was uncommon. Paul (and Silas) were jailed not long after that. They spent at least a night in jail, were released, and went to Lydia's house to take leave of her and the Lord's followers.

Further on we find that Paul went to see Aquila and Priscilla and found out they were tent makers. Paul was also a tent maker, so he stayed with them, and they worked together (Acts 18:3, CEV). Clearly Paul had no problem with earning a living. He had a trade, we might say, and used it to "earn a crust".

So it was Paul could say later to the leaders from Ephesus: You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions (Acts 20:34, NIV). Perhaps the companions there did not have sufficient skills to earn their way? 

Writing to another group Paul said of himself and his companions: and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; (1 Corinthians 4:12, ESV). This gives me the impression of a team who could be self-reliant and avoid being a burden on others. 

A direction to honest work can surely be taken more widely than to a reformed thief. If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need (Ephesians 4:12, NLT). Easy to summarise as, work and share.

Perhaps a little more challenging to us comes this injunction: Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect[a] and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ, not with a slavery performed merely for looks, to please people, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul. Render service with enthusiasm, as for the Lord and not for humans, knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord, whether we are enslaved or free (Ephesians 6:5-8, NRSVUE). Nowadays the "slaves" word tends to be softened to "servant". (One of my ancestors is listed in the records of 1865 as "domestic servant".) Nonetheless, the extension to the "free" surely brings the principle to us who may not be slaves. (However, there are, sadly, enslaved people in the world today.) It is not the label of the good work but how the work is done that matters.

The point of productivity is hammered home: to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business,[a] and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, (1 Thessalonians 4:11, CSB). Very clear instruction was given!

And so we come to a stark rule: and we didn't accept food from anyone without paying for it. We didn't want to be a burden to any of you, so night and day we worked as hard as we could. We had the right not to work, but we wanted to set an example for you. We also gave you this rule: If you don't work, you don't eat. Now we learn that some of you just loaf around and won't do any work, except the work of a busybody. So, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, we ask and beg these people to settle down and start working for a living (2 Thessalonians 3:8-12, CEV). Surely indolence is not to be rewarded as indolence. The lazy ought not to be parasites!

In another place there is the general principle which seems timeless: And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful (Titus 3:14, ESV). Is the picture clear enough?

In line with the OT, Jesus said to his missioning disciples: Don’t carry a traveler’s bag with a change of clothes and sandals or even a walking stick. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed (Matthew 10:10, NLT). In harmony with Jesus' words we find: Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor,[a] especially those who labor in preaching and teaching, for the scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” and “The laborer deserves to be paid.” Never accept any accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses (1 Timothy 5:17-19, NRSVUE; the honour may be "compensation" or pay). I hardly think we replicate those times but the principle of just payment must apply to employment. All employment. (I will not address the "golden handshake" issue!)

There may be further insight to be taken from Jesus' own recorded teaching:  He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (Luke 20:25, NIV). The hearers had a particular problem but Jesus simplified into the individual's choice. What is, God's? How do I see that today. Might we, you and I, see it differently? I say that no one else can prescribe for me what (how) to give back to God. (What does not belong to God?) 

I note that Jesus the Carpenter knew that he, like us, was dependent on the generosity of God. While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many (Mark 14:22-24, NRSVUE). More than once Jesus is on record giving thanks to God for what God had given.

Jesus gave models of prayer, which he could not use in full himself:

“Pray, then, in this way:

Our Father in heaven,

    may your name be revered as holy.

    May your kingdom come.

    May your will be done

        on earth as it is in heaven.

    Give us today our daily bread.[a] (Matthew 6:9-11, NRSVUE)

Receiving and saying thank you.

That Jesus prayed to his Father is early made explicit in Mark's volume, as also elsewhere. Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” (Mark 1:35-38, NLT). Luke's report expands on Jesus' explanation at that time: But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.” (Luke 4:43, NLT).  Jesus had begun vital new work; did he ever do any more carpentry?

We are not told the content of Jesus' prayer near Capernaum that day. (Nor are we in Luke 6:12, nor 5:16, nor 9:28.) We are told in the Gethsemane garden moment: “Father, if you will, please don't make me suffer by drinking from this cup.[a] But do what you want, and not what I want” (Luke 22:42, CEV); also recorded in Matthew 26:39, and a little more fully in Mark 14:35-36. A cry of anguish.

Background - from Jesus' Bible

The Old Testament (OT, or Hebrew Bible) had something to say about work.

You will eat bread[a] by the sweat of your brow
until you return to the ground,
since you were taken from it.
For you are dust,
and you will return to dust.” (Genesis 3:19, CSB) Labour is our norm (and dust our destination).

But labour can not entirely take over our lives. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy (Exodus 20:8-11, NIV). It must be important to recognise the need of break from work.

A splendid desert tent for worship was made in those days. Working skills were valued. If you have any skills, you should use them to help make what I have commanded:...The women who were good at weaving cloth brought the blue, purple, and red wool and the fine linen they had made. And the women who knew how to make cloth from goat hair were glad to do so (Exodus 35: 10, 25, 26 CEV). I wonder if any women were unable to help? What of the men?

Some complex work required special skills. Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer (Exodus 35:30-35, ESV). Master practitioners teaching others. In artistry and work quality and design we might see the work of God's Spirit. It fits with God's purposes to be well trained and to ask for God's help with the job. (Of course, that means a job of honest work!)

In my world (probably, our world), manual labour is kept to a minimum. I think the workforce ratio, blue collar/white collar, has changed a lot. Do not the principles of work Jesus endorsed apply to all work?

The picture: Work done, and undone. Fortunately for them, the Brunswick businesses supposedly connected to the broadband network via the above co-axial cables have gone. If the worker(s) who did that instal come by, maybe they will be disappointed, or even ashamed. (Are vandals like other people? Why do they destroy?)

[The picture shows cables connected through transformers > premises; originally encased in plastic box; cables partly concealed. The connection to the network may still be open. If the installation work was done to specifications, the design concept was severely lacking and the specified equipment inadequate for the actual situation, not fit for (footpath) purpose. Moreover, were the workers properly instructed and supervised?]

Sad.

And I find ancient reference to quality workmanship in general, as well as in particular: Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15, NLT). So a worker might need to be ashamed of the work they did... Even more importantly, those who explained (explain) the word of truth needed (and need) to do so correctly, to work seriously at it. Do they? Only you can tell. Is what was shameful then, shameful today? Are errors promoted in the name of scholarship? Is the issue of cultural change appropriately considered? Are modern people essentially people as were the ancients? If not, how is it proved?

This last application brings us to the "Three Ps": Those who determine policy, priorities and procedures; the decision makers. Those who give the orders. Aren't they required to do a good job?

And, finally, I depend on the skill and quality work of those behind all the above translations. I thank God for them, as for the technology which makes access and comparison so easy.

 

May God bless you in your work.

Allen Hampton

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