Nazareth – Can Anything Good Come From Nazareth?

(John 1:46).

Leaving Megiddo, we will cross the lush valley of Jezreel, but our eyes will be on the hills to

the North. Our bus soon winds in and through the various villages of this region called the hill

country of Galilee. Yet our focus will be on one village, Nazareth.

Nazareth is well known to us as the hometown of Christ. Yet it was insignificant in Biblical

times. It is never mentioned in the Old Testament. Today it is a city whose Palestinian

inhabitants are Israeli citizens, serve in the Israeli Parliament and live a life of peaceful

coexistent with the Jews. Important to us will be the evangelical Palestinian churches we will

pass.

Our bus will turn into a parking lot and we are at Nazareth Village, a recreation and

reenactment of the village Christ would have lived it. Run by Palestinian Christians it will be

our joy to hear the gospel message they present every visitor.

A guide will walk us through the village and introduce us to, in character, individuals at the

houses, synagogue, carpenter’s shop, olive press and fields. It will become real that life in

Nazareth was simple and often quite physically hard. It will be easy for us to realize why the

sophisticated Jews of Judea said; “can anything good come from Nazareth.”

And then it will hit us! I would not want to leave my life and home to live in that village yet this

is where the Eternal Son of God came to live, work and grow. The contrast will be staggering

and the words of Paul will have new meaning:

“Who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God but

made Himself of no reputation, coming in the form of a bond-servant. . . He humbled

Himself . . . and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Phil. 2:5-6

We will realize that something good did come out of Nazareth because our Savior was willing

to leave the Glory of Heaven to identify with the most humble of men so He could ultimately

pay for our sins. Paul would say in another place:

He became poor that we through His poverty might be made rich.