God never does anything by accident, everything He plans is very intentional; just think of His instructions to Noah for building the Ark, or, for that matter, His detailed instructions on the building of the ancient Temple.
So, if the details matter in everything God does, then why did He choose to have His only Son become a carpenter. Have you ever thought about it? It is something worth taking to prayer. There are literally thousands of questions like this that we can discover in the Bible, and many of these questions are worth our considering in our prayer time. But for now, let’s just ask ourselves why Christ was a carpenter.
There is at least one credible explanation, and it is also well worth our thinking about in our prayers. If we recall that Christ is our model in all things, we understand that we are to try and emulate each of the elements of His life. Now of course that does not mean that we must all begin to learn to measure beams, drive nails, or frame roofs. However, we do need to look to the deeper meaning of the significance of Christ as a Master Builder.
We can begin by looking back at what the Lord God said to King David (one who prefigured Christ) when David told the Prophet Samuel that he wanted to build God a suitable residence to live in. Of course, David was speaking of the building of a physical structure. But here is how God responded, through the mouth of the prophet Samuel.
“Go and say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in?’” (2 Samuel 7:5)
What the Lord was saying is that He had no interest in King David building Him a physical structure to dwell in. God went on to explain that He had dwelt with Israel throughout their entire journey in the desert. God further explained that He had no interest in dwelling in a house made of Cedar. God had a much deeper and long-term meaning when He spoke about the construction of a Temple. Yes, the ancient people of Israel would build God a Temple, but like King David, this was designed to prefigure a much more important Temple.
“Do you not know that your body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” (1 Corinthians 6:19)
Peter would later help us understand that we must participate with the Lord in this lifetime project of building a worthy dwelling for the Lord.
“You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)
What we see in this verse from Peter is the simple reality that we are being asked to participate in the effort to build the Temple of our bodies into an acceptable dwelling for our God. As the verse indicates, we do this largely through our sacrifices. These, of course, include our acts of love, our sacrifices of fasting and other forms of self-denial, but most especially this means our spiritual sacrifice of prayer, our constant communication with God. And just as important, we must understand that it is all the raw material of our life is going to be used to build this Temple.
We all remember putting those toys together for your kids on Christmas morning (for those who have not done it—good luck). And there always seemed to be a piece or two left over. Like the electric car that seemed to remain in a constant righthand turn, or the doll house that always seemed to have some beam or a part of the interior left over when you were finished.
Well, in God’s work, and our participation with His work, none of the material of our life is allowed to be discarded or left over; everything will be used to build the complete structure. This includes all our relationships, our work, our leisure, even our own bodies, whether they are healthy or ill, fit or, well, not so fit. All of the events in our lives as well must become part of the structure that builds the Temple where God will dwell within our very bodies.
“Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Romans 12:1)
We do not need to look very hard in the Scriptures to find examples of Christ fulfilling His role as a model of this work as carpenter and builder, or to discover the primary material He used as the foundation for the structure:
“Walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (Ephesians 5:2)
In our journey through life, we are all apprentices in the craft of building, and we are all working on the construction of the single most important structure we will ever know, our own individual Temples. These are the Temples God desire to make into His dwelling place.
“Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (John 14:23)
But what we must struggle with is incorporating all the raw material of our life, even the apparently marred and knotted lumber, or the broken glass, or the less than desirable stains and paint colors used for the interior. We must work with Christ and allow Him to help somehow make it all beautiful. It is a lifelong effort; we should never become discouraged with the work in progress. And we must remember, that at the root of all of this work is prayer.
“Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:7)
Please take some time this Week to pray that we might all learn our trade well, and that we may all become Master Builders in the image of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Copyright © 2026, Deacon Mark Danis
Image credit: 245–246 AD mural depicting the Temple of Solomon from the Dura Europos Synagogue, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.