Think for a moment what the most tradeful (a trade requiring the most utility from the tradesman) occupation is. Personally, I'd like to claim my own, just for some measure of significance. But such is not the case.
The most basic occupation would be one where even the implements are made by the worker. Farmer, maybe (maybe the reason so many parables were concerning farmers, plows, fields, crops, etc.)?
I think not, though.
Carpentry is the most utilitarian occupation (at least in the days before Lowe's and McCoy's). No other tradesman than a carpenter was ever required to make their own implements, gather their own resources, work to carve a tree into planks, have the brute strength to work in such undefined generalities, make precise measurements then close in on intricate details such as an artist does.
It requires a knowledge of the tools, utilization of them in ways only a skilled craftsman could perceive, know what goes where, and see a finished product before work has even begun.
That's why I'm thankful Jesus was a carpenter.
Through Him all things were made. He toiled away painstakingly to gather His resources Himself. He uses the tools (us) that He made Himself to work through, refining and whittling down to absolute precision the resources. He has in mind the absolute finished product--and uses His tools to complete it with incomparable precision.
He must know His craft better than any other craftsman. He must know how to work with His hands. He must know how to use each tool for its purpose, and to use it in ways that others wouldn't know how to.
When I think of Jesus as a carpenter, it's kind of hard not to trust Him.
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