54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”57 And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”
58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. (Mt. 13:54-58)
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. (Luke 1:26)
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. (Luke 2:4)
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read
23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”
24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.
28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. (Luke 4:16-30)
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip. (John 1:46)
Thoughts: Nazareth had a bad reputation according to Nathanael. We do not know exactly why. We could guess that it was a part of Galilee which was primarily of the Gentiles. Maybe it was a small hilly town and was seen as a backwoods kind of place to the urbanites of Judea. But perhaps the Jews of Nazareth believed that nothing good, and no one important could arise from their ranks. In some ways, Jesus' parents excursion to Bethlehem and having the baby there is a confirmation that he was not fully "from" Nazareth.* Perhaps the Lord knew the hearts of the people of Nazareth not to accept his message as Messiah, so Jesus was born elsewhere and considered Capernaum his base town instead of Nazareth. Matthew tells us that the people of Nazareth lacked faith so not many miracles were done there.
We may also assume from the thoughts above that the people of Nazareth rejected Mary's message that an angel appeared to her and told her she would conceive as a virgin. Probably they gossiped about Mary and Joseph behind their back. Certainly, there seemed to be derision in the way Matthew 13 recorded their words about "the carpenter's son." They called Jesus the carpenter's son and would squeeze the extraordinary back into the box of the ordinary. So the people of Nazareth missed Christmas in many ways. They missed the birth of their most famous son. They missed the miracles of his coming. They lacked faith. Our great danger is that we not believe that God can do anything with us except for the mundane and ordinary. God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.
Prayer: Lord, I believe in your birth. I believe in your ability to do more than what I see. Help my unbelief.
Mt. of Precipice in Nazareth where they tried to throw Jesus over.
*There are those who say that Jesus was not born in Bethlehem or in Nazareth. But the earliest of witnesses, and the eyewitnesses themselves point to Jesus' being born in Bethlehem. Very strong tradition states that Luke got his information from both the Apostles who had spoken to Jesus and Mary, Jesus' mother.
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip. (John 1:46)
Thoughts: Nazareth had a bad reputation according to Nathanael. We do not know exactly why. We could guess that it was a part of Galilee which was primarily of the Gentiles. Maybe it was a small hilly town and was seen as a backwoods kind of place to the urbanites of Judea. But perhaps the Jews of Nazareth believed that nothing good, and no one important could arise from their ranks. In some ways, Jesus' parents excursion to Bethlehem and having the baby there is a confirmation that he was not fully "from" Nazareth.* Perhaps the Lord knew the hearts of the people of Nazareth not to accept his message as Messiah, so Jesus was born elsewhere and considered Capernaum his base town instead of Nazareth. Matthew tells us that the people of Nazareth lacked faith so not many miracles were done there.
We may also assume from the thoughts above that the people of Nazareth rejected Mary's message that an angel appeared to her and told her she would conceive as a virgin. Probably they gossiped about Mary and Joseph behind their back. Certainly, there seemed to be derision in the way Matthew 13 recorded their words about "the carpenter's son." They called Jesus the carpenter's son and would squeeze the extraordinary back into the box of the ordinary. So the people of Nazareth missed Christmas in many ways. They missed the birth of their most famous son. They missed the miracles of his coming. They lacked faith. Our great danger is that we not believe that God can do anything with us except for the mundane and ordinary. God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.
Prayer: Lord, I believe in your birth. I believe in your ability to do more than what I see. Help my unbelief.
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| Well at Nazareth where tradition says the angel spoke to Mary |
Mt. of Precipice in Nazareth where they tried to throw Jesus over.
*There are those who say that Jesus was not born in Bethlehem or in Nazareth. But the earliest of witnesses, and the eyewitnesses themselves point to Jesus' being born in Bethlehem. Very strong tradition states that Luke got his information from both the Apostles who had spoken to Jesus and Mary, Jesus' mother.
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