Little carpenter, what are you shaping with hammer and nail
Your small hands chiseling on destinies’ Roman tree?
Little carpenter, do you know over death you shall prevail,
Down the Via Dolorosa of suffering to set men free?
Little carpenter, is Pilate even now calling out your Name
On the path to Herod who didn’t see the Father in you?
Little carpenter, how did you bear neath our sin and shame;
Yet keep your love for sinners beneath skies of blue?
Little carpenter, you’ve grown older, thou Son of Man
Do you remember shaping with hammer and nail,
That the whipping-post was a part of the Father’s master plan
That over death, hell and the grave you were destined to prevail?
Little carpenter, that created the tree that held you in place,
Asleep in the Holy Sepulcher that cradles your body torn.
A thief found life gazing into the Lamb of God’s sinless face
And the power of the cross would cause man to be reborn.[/pullquote4]And he said to them, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
We can see from this story that even at a young age He understood how to deal with spiritual matters and handle himself well with the leaders of his day. At some point during His early life, He also came to know that He was destined to subdue Satan and cast him into hell, die for the sins of the world and bring hope to lost humanity. Did He walk the “Via Dolorosa” as a child? Did He have visions of Himself at an early age carrying the cross on the way to His crucifixion? No one knows the answers to these questions, but we do know that when this was was fully revealed to Him, He never attempted to flee though He knew full well what death meant at the hands of the Romans. Yet despite knowing His fate and aware of the suffering that lie before him, He never lost sight of His mission.
The Little Carpenter who once played beneath His father’s work bench with hammer and nails was ultimately nailed to a tree and left to die. What love! What selfless grace! This is the hope of the world, and blessed is the eye that sees Him now and blessed is the ear that hears His voice! Jesus, the tiny lad who grew into manhood, forming and shaping wood with his father, now shapes our lives with the hammer of love and the chisel of grace.
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”(Psa 139:14).
Grace encourages you to be the best you can be, hope cradles your heart and love makes the journey meaningful while the Carpenter steadfastly does His work.
