Gospel in Art: Is not this the carpenter's son?

The Carpenter's Shop / Christ in the House of His Parents by John Everett Millais, 1850. Oil on canvas. © Tate Britain, London

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 1 August 2025
Matthew 13:54-58

At that time: Coming to his home town Jesus taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, 'Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?' And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is not without honour except in his home town and in his own household.' And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.

Reflection on the painting

Today's Gospel speaks of how Jesus was dismissed by those in His hometown: "Is this not the carpenter's son?" they say, with a tone of scorn. They could not reconcile the ordinary with the extraordinary.

It reminds me powerfully of the reaction when John Everett Millais first exhibited his painting The Carpenter's Shop in 1850. To our 21st-century eyes, the painting seems almost devotional: Christ as a child, working alongside Joseph in the carpenter's workshop, with Mary nearby and young John the Baptist entering the scene. But when it was first unveiled in 1850, the outcry was fierce. Critics were outraged at Millais' unflinching realism. Charles Dickens was particularly scathing. Of the Virgin Mary, he wrote she looked like someone "you would see in the vilest cabaret in France, or in the lowest gin-shop in England." Of Christ Himself: a "blubbering, red-headed boy in a bed-gown." The controversy was so intense that Queen Victoria herself requested the painting be brought to Buckingham Palace so she could view and judge it for herself.

We made a video on this painting which you can watch here: click here.

Yet, what caused offence then now moves us. Joseph is shown making a door, a quiet nod to Jesus' own words: "I am the door". The boy Christ has wounded his hand on a protruding nail, foreshadowing the crucifixion. Mary tenderly kisses Him, while John the Baptist offers a bowl of water, a prelude to the baptism. The ladder behind them hints at Jacob's Ladder, and a dove sits atop it, the Holy Spirit watching over this moment of ordinary grace. Plenty for us to look at in this painting.

When the crowds sneer "this is the carpenter's son", they fail to see that God doesn't redeem the world through power and spectacle, but through humility. Jesus did not enter the world as a king in golden robes, but as a craftsman, one who worked with His hands, who knew sweat and wood and splinters. Before He ever preached, He lived among the people, serving them with practical skill.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-13-54-58-2025/