God—A Carpenter

The claim of Christianity is that God has entered History in the person of Jesus Christ—that the Carpenter of Nazareth was divine, the focus of God's purpose for the world. This the Rev. Diprose Msc. B.D. laid before the Evangelical Union at its Wednesday meeting.

For a non-christian this was hard to understand, and to appreciate this, one had to think back to the situation when Jesus was on earth. To all appearances he was the son of a Carpenter, and up till about the age of 30 would have been working to help support the household. Then came the incident of Baptism in the Jordan, when the ascetic preacher John the Baptist "Behold the lamb of God" when he saw Jesus, and at first refused to baptise Jesus.

After this Jesus was apparently what one could call a travelling preacher, but not an ascetic like John, instead mingling with what were then the outcast classes of society—disliked by some but respected by the masses. The climax began to build up when Christ read out a passage about 'he Messiah from the scriptures in the synagogue, and then said "This day the scripture is fulfilled." Jesus went on his way, and the series of what are called the miracles began, as he laid the proofs of his claims before the people. This period saw Peter's confession "You are the Christ, the son of the Living God."

As the weeks went by, the opposition to Jesus strengthened, and eventually he was tried and executed as a common criminal. His disciples lost heart and fled, and that seemed to be the end of the episode.

But it was not the end of the story. A group of travellers talking to a stranger suddenly realised it was Jesus they were talking to. Then he appeared to the disciples and to many others. Realising what had happened, the disciples took heart and began to preach to the people what they had experienced, that God's seal was on Jesus, for he had risen from the dead. The transformation of the disciples witnessed to the power of God available through Christ.

The mystery of the Incarnation could perhaps have some light shed on it by an analogy. About 150 years ago a Missionary in Jamaica wished to reach the slave population with the Gospel, and in order to be able to do this he sold himself into slavery, and as a slave preached to his fellow slaves. Similarly, God had taken human form to reveal his purpose.