How Jesus Was Coached: Tips on Coaching Your Kids

Last Updated on March 20, 2018

Have you ever thought about how little Jesus was coached? No, I’m not talking about on the soccer field or the baseball diamond. I’m talking about how his earthly parents, Joseph and Mary, put their own imprint on his human heart.

Well, I admit, I never really thought about that much until I started working on my new book Lead Your Family Like Jesus with my co-authors, Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges. These men have taken time to look into the life of Jesus and extract what they can learn about how he benefited from his earthly parents. In this excerpt Ken shares how nothing was random in the life of Jesus … and it makes me realize, even more, my part in training my children, too!

How Jesus Was Coached

There was nothing random in the life of Jesus. This includes learning the carpenter craft from His earthly father in preparation for His season of earthly leadership.

It’s interesting to note that when Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth, people quickly identified him as “the carpenter” and “the son of the carpenter.” The unremarkable nature of His local reputation would indicate that the way He learned and went about His craft wasn’t out of the ordinary.

Joseph would have coached Jesus through the stages of learning. Under the instruction of his father, Jesus would have progressed from novice to apprentice to journeyman, and finally to master teacher. Through the day-to-day coaching, the transfer of knowledge and wisdom flowed from one generation to the next.

When Jesus was a novice, Joseph would have given Him basic orientation to being a carpenter—including how, where, when, and why He was to do certain things. As Jesus worked with Joseph as an apprentice, Joseph would have acted as a performance coach, showing Him the right way to do things to produce the right results. Joseph would have given Jesus instruction, observed His behavior, provided support and encouragement, and redirected Him as necessary in the tasks assigned.

When Jesus was a journeyman, able to work on his own, Joseph would have assigned Him tasks and then would have become His head cheerleader and supporter. When Jesus became a master teacher, demonstrating His competence in all the key aspects of His craft, Joseph would have changed his leadership to empower Him and send Him out to work on His own.

It’s reasonable to assume that Jesus mastered the craft of carpentry. Had it been God’s will for Him to teach it to others, He would have done so in obedience and excellence.

What we do know is that Jesus applied His knowledge of obedience to the way He guided His disciples from call to commission. From novices to master teachers, Jesus coached them and sent them out to teach others in His name. It’s an example we parents would do well to follow.

This encourages me. It reminds me my kids don’t have to “get it all right” today. They have years of training ahead of them. Today is just one building block on who they will be as adults. It’s my job, as a mom, to be diligent in the small training that adds up over time.