Perhaps Jesus Came From An Influential Family….

As I was studying for last week’s sermon it hit me that perhaps Jesus’ family was actually influential and, if not well off, perhaps “middle-class.”  Knowing that this differs from the common belief within Christianity that Jesus was a poor itinerant teacher from a low social class family I thought I was post my logic and see what you all thought.

Items of Thought:

Carpenter Family – Despite debates on the exact meaning of the Greek word used, it is generally accepted that Jesus’ adoptive father Joseph was a wood worker (i.e. carpenter). However what is not usually thought about is that a carpenter is a highly skilled trade that would have been in demand. Especially since Nazareth’s neighboring city of Autocratis was being rebuilt about the time that Joseph was living in the area.

The Village of Nazareth – Speaking of Nazareth, I recently read that the principle reason behind the foundation of this town was to create an Jewish outpost in the predominantly Gentile area of Galilee (Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth Bailey). If this is correct, and I have no reason to think otherwise, it would mean Joseph was a highly skilled builder in a town that was part of an active movement to take back the land for the people of Israel through a policy of occupation.

Mary’s Family Connections – Jesus’ second cousin through his mother Mary was Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. Zechariah was an Aaronite priest who served within the Holy place of the temple. This is interesting as the temple priests at the time were known to be corrupt with the high priest position going to the highest bidder. In such an environment, Zechariah must have had some political clout to be able to be assigned such a prominent position. Perhaps it was this connection that allowed Jesus to sit and talk to the teachers of the law when he was 12 years old instead of being swooshed away with all the other young children…

Joseph’s Family Connections – In addition to be a carpenter, Joseph was a descendant of King David in a time when one’s position on the social ladder was primarily determined by one’s family. Even though Joseph might not have had a mansion, he still would have had some social influence, which may explain why the synagogue leaders of Nazareth were willing to let Jesus speak at the beginning of his ministry. (Think about it, even if the duty of reading the Scriptures were rotated among the male members of a synagogue, there would be a ‘pecking’ order as determined by one’s political and social standing within the community.)

Ability to Read – Throughout history the majority of the world has been illiterate with the high social classes withholding the skill of reading from the peasants. The simple fact that Jesus was able to read is quite amazing. Granted as a people of the Book, the Jewish people had a greater emphasis in reading then other cultures. Even so I’m fairly confident that literacy was reserved for those who had the time and money to afford to sit under a teacher instead of being out in the fields or shop working for their food. As such, Joseph and Mary must have had some means to be able to give Jesus an education, which, while maybe not has good as St. Paul’s, would have helped propel Jesus forward on the social ladder. (I say “maybe not as good as St. Paul” because Jesus would most likely have been taught by the local rabbi at Nazareth while St. Paul studied for years under the finest rabbis in the country at the time in Jerusalem. Think “Ivy League” versus community college.)

Ability to Leave Home – On a similar train of thought it is interesting to note that Jesus, as the eldest son of Joseph and Mary, is able to leave his mother and siblings for extended periods of time. Normally this wouldn’t be possible as the eldest son was responsible for the care of his family after the death of the father. Yet somehow Jesus was able to do so without worrying whether or not his mother and siblings would have enough food to eat or if they would be sold into debtors slavery. (It should be noted that the Roman Catholic and Easter Orthodox churches get around this part by saying that Joseph was a widower who married Mary after having children through his first wife. Accordingly, Jesus is NOT the eldest son but the youngest son as Mary stayed a virgin and did not bear any other children.)

Conclusion

In light of the above, it seems that Jesus came from a decently influential family that gave he a platform from which to start his public ministry. Perhaps they weren’t super influential or super wealthy, but I’m thinking that they were not super poor or un-influential either.  It could be that Jesus was a Mother Teresa type who walked away from earthly riches in pursuit of the Father? If so, then to me that just raises the amount of love and mercy Jesus had towards the people as it means that his sacrifice was even greater.

What do you think?

2 thoughts on “Perhaps Jesus Came From An Influential Family….”

  1. Fun debate!
    First I will make responses to the points by number, for ease of reference ( 1 being first point and so on).

    1. Carpenters, regardless of the class today, for his day and age compare to what else was out there: slave, servant, field worker, skilled worker, religious leader, government official. While still being a “commoner” he was pretty well off. (commoner = not religious or political elite)

    2. Outpost? maybe but outposts are not given much respect, still aren’t today. Galilee was snubbed and looked down on then and now – more value given to being closer to Jerusalem. Referance the attitude about the disciples in the NT – accented, not educated. ….. basically a country bumpkin was the attitude toward people from that area.

    3. The priestly duties of the Temple were rotated through several priestly families, each serving for (if I remember right) about 2 week shifts. The rotation was such that they served once about every 15 months I believe. But still to serve there was an honor.

    6. To oppose the Catholic tradition, Jesus had to be the oldest since when he was dying he entrusted the care of his mother to John which obviously implies it was part of his position/authority which would be the role of oldest son if the father was dead.

    1. 2. You have a point concerning outposts… why they are important for the overall agenda they are not usually looked upon as the place to live. As I write I’m thinking of the western USA outposts in the 1800’s… everyone in D.C. knew that they were valuable, and sometimes they would assign an up-and-coming army officer or government official to the outpost. But such a station was considered a temporary thing till they could return to the ‘real’ town (i.e. D.C.).

      6. You bring an interesting point and one that has always struck me as strange. Not only did Jesus skip over his brothers James (the Just) and Jude, he also skipped over John’s older brother James (the Great) which seems a tad odd. I wish I knew more about the culture of the times and how this action fit within that social culture. 🙁

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