Joseph’s son

The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?" - John 6.41-42

I may have mentioned this back in Matthew, but I am still impressed by the truth of this that I want to stop and look again in case I missed something before. I just preached on Jesus and His family a couple of weeks ago and was overwhelmed by some vital truths.

Here Jesus was preaching in His home town claiming that He was the bread of heaven who was the only one who could provide eternal life. This mystified the people, His own town folk, people who knew Him growing up.

‘How can he make that claim?’ they asked, ‘that’s Joseph’s son. What is all this about him and the Father and coming down from heaven?’

I like this. I like the fact that when Jesus came He did not come into the palace, distant from the people. He did not come in robes of splendour. He was not born into the lap of luxury and He did was not born with the right name.

He was born to an unknown Jewish girl who was getting ready to marry a carpenter, a working man. I like that the fact that for most of Jesus’ life He did not have to go on about Who His real Father was. I like that He submitted himself to Joseph’s household and worked in his carpenter shop. I like that Jesus got His hands dirty and smelled like sweat and sawdust and had calluses on His hands. In other words, I like the fact that He chose to veil His deity with a life like mine.

I realise that as God Jesus did not have to become like me to understand me. He is God after all and knows everything. But I still like to see in a practical way that He does understand because He lived like me. He had to get up and go to work. He had jerk customers. He had bills to pay.

Would Jesus have had the same impact if He had been born in a palace and never worked a day in His life? To be honest I don’t know, but it gives me comfort to know that He has been through the things I go through. It makes it so much easier to talk to Him.