Day 24: Jesus Is The Man
- Rebecca Small
- Dec 24, 2025
- 11 min read
Day 24: Jesus is the Man
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help us to see Jesus for who He really is. Teach us to live simply and to see spiritual truth in the everyday objects around us. Help us also to entrust ourselves more fully into the hands of Jesus, the master craftsman and builder of our life in You. Restore us to Your image and enable to bear it well with dignity and honor, in righteousness and holiness. Amen.
Primary Scriptures:
John 19:4-5: Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.” Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
Pilate’s announcement to the people was more fitting and more profound than he could have imagined: Behold The Man. God had become Man. This is the wonder and beauty of Jesus: He humbled Himself and became a man. As we saw with the name Son of Man (Day 9 devotional), Jesus was the perfect image-bearer, the Last Adam, the One who lived out before us what God intended His original creation of man to be like, resisting temptation and living in perfect relationship with the Father. The prestige of the world meant nothing to Him, for His Kingdom was not of this world. He was true Man, free from all the vestiges of entrenched sin.
Yet neither Pilate nor the people could see past Jesus’ humanity to the greater truth of who He was. How many times did they get stuck on His humanity? In their queries about Him as the One who might be the Messiah, they asked, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” (Matthew 13:54-56). And in their disgruntled unbelief at His preposterous statements, they asked, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” (John 6:42).
He was just a man. They knew His family—or so they thought. Not having last names in those days, people were identified by their father's name. So Jesus was known as “the son of Joseph.” Twice in the Gospels Jesus is referred to as "the carpenter's son." But the translation of carpenter is somewhat misleading. The Greek word means craftsman or builder. It was a term used for a common laborer and could refer to a carpenter or a stone mason or even a number of other craftsman professions, such as a weaver of cloth.
The terrain around Nazareth was rocky, and most of the homes were built of rock. There are very few trees in that area, and what few trees are there are rather scrubby, not very suitable for woodworking. Not far from Nazareth was a rock quarry. From that quarry came the stones that Herod Antipas used to build the city of Sepphoris, only three miles from Nazareth.[1] It's quite possible that both Joseph and Jesus spent time working in that rock quarry.
This gives us a rather different picture of Jesus, doesn't it? Rather than working beside his father in their own woodshop adjacent to their house with the aroma of planed boards filling the air and wood shavings softly covering the floor, perhaps they had to get up before dawn and walk the mile or two to the rock quarry, where they would swing large stone hammers and lift heavy stones all day while breathing the dust-filled air. Did they work under the command of Herod Antipas, the one who would later order the beheading of John the Baptist and put Jesus through questioning and mockery?
Whether Joseph and Jesus worked at the quarries of Herod or were stonemasons chiseling and mortaring rocks together to build simple homes in Nazareth, the labor would have been long and hard. Drawing upon that work experience, Jesus used the illustration of a stone or rock for His real calling: His work of building the Kingdom of God. After Peter made the great declaration that he believed Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus used the metaphor of a stone, saying that on the Rock of that truth, He would build His church (Matthew 16:18).
In Luke 20, Jesus tells the religious leaders a parable that is pointedly about them and their rejection of Him as God's beloved Son. At the end of the parable, Jesus quotes an Old Testament prophecy, saying, "What then is this that is written: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'?" And He goes on to say, "Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder" (Luke 20:17-18). Jesus was claiming to be the prophesied Chief Cornerstone (Psalm 118:22). This common word picture used throughout both Old and New Testaments adds more weight to Jesus' likely profession as a stonemason rather than a carpenter.
The cornerstone was the first stone set in the foundation. This stone had to be perfectly shaped, perfectly level, and set perfectly square; otherwise, the building would not be plumb and could not stand over time. The adjacent stones were fitted into this stone. All the other stones in the building were aligned according to that stone.
Jesus is the foundation of truth upon which all of life is built; He is the measuring rod of righteousness against which all other standards are measured. All must align to Him. The whole of God's redemptive plan for the world rests upon Him.
The writers of the New Testament also utilize this rock metaphor. Paul says we are Christ's temple, "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:19-20). Peter calls Jesus "a living Stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious." Those who believe in Jesus, are also called "living stones" built upon Christ (I Peter 2:4-8).
But Jesus and the apostles were only using a metaphor that is used consistently throughout the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. The Messiah was the Chief Cornerstone, the stone which the builders would reject, the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense (Romans 9:33; Isaiah 8:14-15, 28:16). He is the Rock not hewn with human hands that will come out of heaven and crush every other kingdom while the Rock-Messiah grows into a mighty mountain that will encompass the whole earth (Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45). It is fitting that Jesus should be a stonemason.
Although Joseph was not His real father, Jesus was identified with him and learned from him, working alongside His earthly father in submission to him (Luke 2:51). Both Mary and Joseph came from the line of David, but it is Joseph's line that follows the kingly dynasty of David and lays claim to the throne. Through Joseph, Jesus fulfills the prophecy that David's throne will continue forever.
But the people weren’t aware of that. They saw a family who were poor, humble and unpretentious, simple folk who wore homespun cloth. The people knew all about who Jesus was—or at least they thought they did. They knew His father and mother; they knew His brothers and sisters and where He had grown up. They saw Him as a common man. How many times did the people refer to Him as a man: Who is this Man? Could a man do the things He does? Where did this Man come from? They marveled at His teaching because He was just an uneducated man. The once-blind man told people that a Man called Jesus had opened his eyes (John 9:11) The Pharisees responded: “This Man is not from God…We know this Man is a sinner!” The now-seeing man retorted, “If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing” (John 9:33). When Jesus openly declared that He was one with the Father, still, the religious leaders refused to believe because of His manhood: You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God (John 10:33). He was just a man.
Yet throughout His ministry, Jesus continually pointed to His real Father. When He took up the mantle of ministry, He worked alongside His heavenly Father, doing only those things His Father told Him to do. He had come from God and was building an eternal Kingdom. Jesus, the son of Joseph, was really Jesus, the Son of God. His family background perfectly illustrates the spiritual reality of His life: though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor (II Corinthians 8:9). He humbled Himself as a man and emptied Himself of His eternal glory in order to save us (Philippians 2:5-8).
Jesus the Man. Wrapped in humanity, as a poor worker of stone, the people could not accept or recognize the truth. They could not see past His manhood…and perhaps in some ways they weren’t supposed to. The writers of the New Testament make it clear over and over again that Jesus was fully human, and John makes it clear in his first letter that we must believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (I John 4:3). He got tired (John 4:6, Mark 4:38) and grieved (Mark 7:34, 8:12; John 11:33-35) and thirsty (John 4:7). Isaiah tells us that He was not particularly handsome or outstanding that we would be drawn to Him in that way (Isaiah 53:2). The responses of His contemporaries to His claims to Deity prove more than any other evidence that Jesus was truly made in every way like we are—yet without sin (Hebrews 2:17, 4:15). However, in order to save us, He became sin for us; His identity with us was complete. God wants us to know that. As a Man, He died for mankind. He had to be a Man. He is the prototype and the substitutionary sacrifice for all people through all time. He perfectly knows our needs and understands our frailties; He sympathizes with our weaknesses.
Behold the Man. Jesus, the son of Joseph, a stonemason and hard laborer who worked with His hands, calls us to follow Him, in simplicity, in humility, in service. He opens the world around us, inviting us to see spiritual truth in all the common things of life. And He points us to His real Father, the God of heaven, who, from His heart of love, sent His only Son to rescue a sin-cursed world and to become the Chief Cornerstone. Come to Jesus. Put yourself in His capable hands; He is the Master Craftsman. He has promised to shape us and build us into a temple fit for God to dwell within, perfectly aligned with Himself.
Family Worship:
Discuss the idea of Jesus being a stonemason. Does it change your mental understanding of Him? In what ways does Jesus as a stonemason fit the prophetic picture of the Messiah? What does it mean for your life and His work within you?
What other ideas are conveyed in the name of Jesus as The Man and the son of Joseph?
Pray around the family circle, thanking God for what it meant for Jesus to be the Man.
Jesus Christ: the Man, the son of Joseph, a craftsman or common laborer, the Stone that the builders rejected which has become the Chief Cornerstone, the Last Adam, the Son of Man, the perfect image bearer
Additional Scriptures:
Matthew 13:54-55: When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?"
Isaiah 53:2: For He grew up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground, He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
Luke 20:17-18: Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone'? Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."
Psalm 118:22-23: The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. (See also Matthew 21:42 and Mark 12:10-11)
Acts 4:10-12: "Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 'This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.' Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Ephesians 2:19-22: Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
I Peter 2:4-8: Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone," and "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. (See also Romans 9:33.)
Isaiah 28:16-17: Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily. Also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet; the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.
Isaiah 8:14-15: He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken.
Zechariah 10:4: From him [the tribe of Judah] comes the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler together.
Matthew 16:15-17: He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."
I Corinthians 3:11: For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Luke 2:51: Then He [Jesus] went down with them [his parents] and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.
Philippians 2:5-8: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Deuteronomy 32:4: He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.
Psalm 62:1-2: Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.
[Many Old Testament verses refer to God as our Rock.]
Ephesians 2:10: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Philippians 1:6: being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
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