The Silent Builder

This last Sunday, we celebrated the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple. In other words, we celebrate the physical entrance of the Jesus into His House. In 1 Kings 6:7 we learn that when Solomon built the Temple, he had the stone cut and carved at the quarry “so that no hammer or ax, no iron tool, was to be heard in the house [of the Lord] during its construction.” This got me thinking. Perhaps, this was a foreshadowing of the Private or Hidden Years of Jesus - those years of which we know nothing of.

Joe is the Son of Solomon just as he is the Son of David. So, as the Lord’s  covenant with David is fulfilled by Jesus through Joe (2 Samuel 7:8-16), so also, the Lord’s covenant with Solomon will also be fulfilled by Jesus through Joe: “I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites and will not forsake my people Israel.” (1 Kings 6:13). Yet, there is a new twist in understanding this covenant when Jesus begins His public ministry for He reveals that He is the true Temple of the Father (John 2:21). The House of Nazareth was the quarry where the stone was cut and prepared for the construction. I don’t think it is coincidental that Joe was a carpenter, the “hammer, axe, and iron tool” were the tools of his trade.