Is he not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us? Where did this man get all this? (Matthew 13:55-56)
According to the Gospel Reading of the Optional
Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker (Matthew 13:54-58), Jesus suddenly became an
object of intense hatred because of being “the carpenter’s son”, referring to
being a son of Joseph the carpenter in Nazareth. As the Gospel Reading text
shows, this happened when Jesus was teaching in a synagogue in Nazareth, which
is where Jesus grew up in the house of Mary and Joseph.
At first, the audience of Jesus’ teaching in the
synagogue were astonished by Jesus, saying, “Where did this man get such
wisdom and mighty deeds?”(Matthew 13:54). But then, realizing that he was
just Joseph’s son, also the son of Mary, the audience wondered where he got all
such amazing wisdom and mighty deeds and took offense at him (Matthew 13:56-57).
And this prevented him from further working mighty deeds in Nazareth, as their
hatred toward Jesus and contemptuous attitude toward him for being Joseph’s son
reflect their lack of faith (i.e. Matthew 13:58).
Would the audience in the synagogue have praised Jesus
upon being astonished by his teaching, had he been a son of a Pharisee or a
Scribe?
Perhaps, more likely so.
Why do we read this Gospel Text to honor Joseph as the
model of workers, in particular, so-called “blue collar workers”, like carpenters?
We honor St. Joseph as a righteous man, like Abraham,
in the eyes of God. Because of this character of him, he was obedient to God.
So, he took Mary as his wife although he had thought to divorce her quietly for
finding her pregnancy, for which he was not involved, as God revealed, through His
angel, that Mary’s pregnancy was through the Holy Spirit and called him not to be
afraid to take her as his wife (Matthew 1:18-24). This reminds us that it was not just because
of Mary’s fiat to God’s will on her (Luke 1:38) but also Joseph’s obeyance to
God’s will on him (Matthew 1:24) that Mary was able to carry her pregnancy with
the Son of God full term, as Joseph gave his full support as her husband. And,
it was, indeed, Joseph, the head of the Holy Family, who acted without delay to
protect little Jesus from the murderous madness of Herod the Great, as warmed
by the angel of the Lord (Matthew 2:13-15).
The canonical Gospels per se do not describe Joseph as
a worker, except briefly portraying him as a carpenter (Matthew 13:55). In Mark
6:3, Jesus is not only carpenter’s son but also he himself is a carpenter.
Thus, it is indicated that Jesus was seen as a young carpenter, assisting Joseph,
who was a senior carpenter.
Obviously, those who took offense at Jesus, having
realized him as carpenter’s son, did not see Jesus as the Son of God. And they could
not believe that the Son of God would be a son of Joseph, who is believed to
have had children, such as James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matthew 13:55),
from his previous marriage, prior to his matrimony with Mary.
This ignorance stems from the assumption of the people
in the synagogue that the Son of God could not be the son of Joseph and Mary.
They would question, how in the word, could carpenter’s son be the Son of God?
And how on earth, could a mere son of Joseph the carpenter, gain astonishing wisdom
and ability to conduct mighty deeds?
So why do we read the Gospel narrative of Matthew
13:54-58 to honor St. Joseph as the patron Saint of workers?
Perhaps, it is because God purposefully let His begotten Son dwell in the house of Joseph the worker, so that only those who are faithful can see him as the Son of God, the Messiah, while those who lack faith remain blind to this truth. These words of Jesus echo this:
I give praise to you, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and
the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been
your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one
knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and
anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him (Matthew
11:25-27).
Because Joseph is honored as the patron Saint of
workers, because he is a carpenter, Jesus himself is a worker, a carpenter.
Those who honor St. Joseph the Worker also honor his Son, Jesus, as the Son of God, the worker of God the Father.
So he has rebuilt the Temple that was destroyed,
through his death and resurrection (i.e. John 2:19). Upon his ascension, he works on constructing
places for Saints in the heavenly house of the Father (i.e. John 14:3).
It is, indeed, fitting to honor St. Joseph, the earthly
step-father of Jesus, the loving husband of Mary the Blessed Virgin, during
Paschaltide.
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