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Of all the people in the Bible, Jesus has the most interesting vocations. You may never have considered Jesus’ many vocations, but they are shown in what we call Him. The names, titles, and offices Jesus holds highlight His many vocations.

In some ways, Jesus is much like us. Jesus has vocations based in relationships. He is a son to Mary and Joseph. He has brothers and sisters. He has friends and cousins and aunts and uncles.

Jesus also had vocations related to work. Jesus likely learned the trade of carpentry from his adoptive father Joseph. Jesus is a Rabbi which means teacher. As He goes from town to town, Jesus proclaims the good news of God’s kingdom, teaching His followers and the crowds who God is and how much He loves us.

But some of Jesus’ vocations, His roles and responsibilities are ones that are a bit rarer. Jesus is a healer. As He travels from town to town teaching, Jesus also heals anybody who is sick, injured, or possessed by demonic forces. He even raises a few people from the dead.

Jesus is also Lord and King. Some lords and kings rule over a specific territory and their subjects look to them for protection. But Jesus is Lord and King of all, meaning He rules and reigns over us and all creation, all creation looks to Him for protection.

But Jesus also has vocations that are unique to Him. He is the eternal Son of God. He is the only person who can claim such a vocation. He is the Messiah or Christ (which means anointed one), the promised King of Israel. And Jesus is the Savior of the world. By His death, resurrection, and return Jesus saves us from the enemies of sin, death, and Satan. Nobody else can claim these vocations. Nobody else can wield these vocations. Only Jesus can save us from sin. Only Jesus can conquer death. Only Jesus can defeat Satan.

Jesus’ various vocations show us two things. First, that He is like us in so many ways, with relationships, roles, and responsibilities that are so similar to us. But second, we see that there are some relationships, roles, and responsibilities that only Jesus is called to hold. That means we are not called to hold them.

We are not chosen to rule the world, Jesus is. We are not responsible for saving ourselves. Jesus is responsible for saving us. We are not called to overcome death, that is Jesus’ task.

In recognizing that the weight of the world is not on our shoulders, personally, I find a lot of freedom in my own vocations. I can live more at peace in my vocations as husband, writer, pastor, son, brother, and friend. I can fulfill the responsibilities can has placed into my life knowing that there is forgiveness for when I don’t live in my vocations perfectly, because Jesus’ fulfilled all of His vocations perfectly.

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