The Towns of Jesus

There are some facts that are common knowledge about the towns of Jesus and some that are not so well known.  Most people would be aware that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  It was prophesied in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem; He fulfilled this prophecy, just as He did all of the others that had been made down through time in the OT.  And, of course, He had no control over where He would be born, the same as you and me.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth.  He fulfilled the prophecy that the Messiah would be a Nazarene.  Matthew 2:23 says, "..and he (Joseph) went and lived in a town called Nazareth.  so was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."  It can be noted that Nazareth was not a respected town by the Jews.  There are numerous negative references to Nazareth in the New Testament.  If you want to research that, you could look at Nathaniel's comment in John 1:46, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" It is in Galilee, which is referred to as "Galilee of the Gentiles" in Matthew 4:15.  There likely was a negative feeling toward Galilee by many of the Jews because of the fact that it was in the North where there had been a lot of faltering by the Jewish nation throughout history, and a tendency toward idol worship as well as occupation by pagan nations.

And even the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus.  It is recorded in Mark 6:1-6 that "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor."  This is said also in Matthew and Luke.  The people of Nazareth had seen Him grow up; He was simply the carpenter there.  They could not accept His divinity.

So He moves his home base, his hometown to Capernaum, as recorded in Matthew 4: 13: "Leaving Nazareth, He went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali--to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 'Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.' "  Matthew 9 also makes reference to this new hometown.

Thus we see that Jesus was born in a barn in Bethlehem, grew up in the disrespected region of Galilee, in the lowly town of Nazareth, and ended up in the great city of Jerusalem....but was crucified on a cross there.  He did His work throughout a region that was barely a hundred miles long.  And yet He changed the world.....and He changed me.  What a wonderful story; and a wonderful salvation that He offers.

Have a great week!  Feel the love.