Did you grow up in a place outsiders might call “Nowhere”? Jesus grew up in “Nowhere” also. Did you know that the Old Testament never even mentions Nazareth? Think of all the genealogies and historical accounts in the Old Testament, and you will often find a lot of attention paid to land, geography, and places. Yet, you will not find one single mention of Nazareth. This small speck on the map was an uncelebrated, forgotten town, off the beaten path, even for Galilee. When guileless Nathanael questioned a friend about Jesus, he expressed the common Jewish sentiment in the first century (John 1:46):“Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”
During his earthly life, so far as we know, Jesus never self-identified as “Jesus of Nazareth.” Only rarely did His followers call him that. Typically, it was crowds unfamiliar with Him, or His enemies: demons, false witnesses, and the soldiers who came with the traitor to arrest Him. And while many despised Him for his hometown, even His fellow Nazarenes soon rejected Him, drove Him out of town, and threatened to throw Him off the cliff (Luke 4:28–30).
But Nazareth’s story did not end in dishonor. Our Father saw fit not only to redeem a fallen race, but also to redeem a stigmatized town, when He raised the Nazarene from the dead. Now the risen Christ is indeed “Jesus of Nazareth,” not in shame but unparalleled glory.
You are invited to join Dr. T. D. Worthington for this week’s message entitled: “Jesus of Nazareth.”