The Eye Of The Beholder

Perception is always in the eye of the beholder. “This was, on the part of the Saviour, an example of great condescension and humility. It staggers the faith of many that the Son of God should labour in an occupation so obscure and lowly. The infidel sneers at the idea that ‘He that made the worlds’ should live thirty years in humble life as a poor and unknown mechanic. Yet the same infidel will loudly praise Peter the Great of Russia because he laid aside his imperial dignity and entered the British service as a ‘ship-carpenter,’ that he might learn the art of building a navy. Was the purpose of ‘Peter’ of more importance than that of the Son of God? If Peter, the heir to the throne of the Czars, might leave his elevated rank and descend to a humble employment, and secure by it the applause of the world, why might not the King of kings evince a similar character for an infinitely higher object?” (Albert Barnes, “Commentary on Matthew 13:55–56,” Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, 1870, https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/matthew-13.html).