Sermon Illustrations
Jesus Made Plows That Lasted
One interesting scene in The Passion of the Christ shows Jesus finishing a table. In it, Jesus is depicted as having a commitment to putting out an excellent product. As a carpenter, he spent many long hours and years doing manual work in a wood shop. His work had to be of the highest quality.
The Christian apologist Justin Martyr made a revealing observation about Jesus' work. During Martyr's life in second century Galilee, he saw farmers still using plows made by Jesus. Theologian Os Guinness writes: "How intriguing to think of Jesus' plow rather than his Cross—to wonder what it was that made his plows and yokes last and stand out."
As Christians we sometimes exalt "spiritual" work and downplay simple labor. However, any work, no matter how mundane, that is done for God is spiritual work.