In the Gospels, Jesus is called a carpenter or the son of a carpenter. The word carpenter in the English 
language means a person who builds or repairs wooden structures, as houses, scaffolds, or shelving, to construct (a plot, scene, article, or the like) in a mechanical or unoriginal fashion. However the Greek word for carpenter is tekton, a word that meant not merely a carpenter skilled in making cabinets or furniture but one that works with stone and rock, as well as a designer, construction engineer, or architect. A tekton could build a house, construct a bridge, or design a building, like even a temple. This is the word that is used to describe the trade for which our Savior was known to hold.
There are some things I think we need to contemplate before we settle with the thought that He worked with wood products only. First of all have you ever been able to go to or maybe even seen pictures of the Palestine region. There are not a lot of tree lines to be noticed off in the distance. This would make working with wood rather difficult since wood in this area was not very easy to come by. But still, one could make a living out of working with wood. I am not suggesting He did not work with wood but rather for us to broaden our scope and see what truly would have been available for Him to work with.
Secondly, I have heard the fairy tale of how Jesus as a young boy was out working with His father Joseph one day when they happened to come upon a tree that Joseph wanted to cut down. However Christ knowing what would transpire in the future suggested that they leave the tree to live and grow so that it could be used for a more important purpose (i.e. Christ dying on the cross). Still, once again there is no Biblical fact to back this story up. It does how ever give us that warm feeling that makes us feel good and lead so many astray.
Since the Bible gives us no real proof of Jesus being a carpenter (that worked with wood) the thought came to me about this word tekton and it’s understanding of one that works with and designs stone and stone buildings. Now as we think about that, we have to look at the relationship between a couple of His statements that would give Him the right to make such comments and also why their would be misunderstanding on the part of those that were talking with Him. Matthew 26:61 and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.’” Perhaps the Pharisees knowing His upbringing would think that He was talking about the physical building rather than a spiritual one. Or even the one I like to think about is in Mark 12:10 Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; Being a tekton, Jesus would have known exactly what the chief stone or cap stone would be necessary for, to be the basis and foundation of anything that was built upon it.
Ephesians 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
The debate may or may not matter, was it wood or stone? But this one thing does matter, that we each make the choice to let Christ be the one that builds our life for God.
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