Born in Bethlehem, Known as the Nazarene

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Saturday, December 26, 2015
Jeff Lampl  

Born in Bethlehem, Known as the Nazarene

So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother.  But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee.  So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: 'He will be called a Nazarene.'”      Matthew 2:21-23 (NLT)

After the slaughter in Bethlehem and the escape to Egypt, Joseph returned to his hometown of Nazareth located in the hilly area of southern Galilee near the crossroads of great caravan trade routes. The LAB commentary tells us that “the town itself was rather small. The Roman garrison in charge of Galilee was housed there. The people of Nazareth had constant contact with people from all over the world, so world news reached them quickly. The people of Nazareth had an attitude of independence that many of the Jews despised. This may have been why Nathanael later commented, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46)   

Although the Old Testament does not record the specific statement He will be called a Nazarene, many scholars believe that Matthew was referring to Isaiah 11:1 where the Hebrew word for "branch" (netser) is similar to the word for "Nazarene."  The same commentary tells us that Matthew may have been referring to a prophecy unrecorded in the Bible, or to a combination of prophecies (because he used the plural prophets).  

Matthew painted a picture of Jesus as the true Messiah announced by God through the prophets; he made the point that Jesus, the Messiah, had unexpectedly humble beginnings and would be despised by those to whom he came, just as the Old Testament had predicted.  

In the picture at the top of this post you will notice a painted symbol on a home in the Iraqi city of Mosul, about 300 miles north of Bagdhad.  Mosul is the approximate site of the ancient city of Ninevah.  Until June of 2014 it had a huge and vibrant Christian population.  

Unfortunately the painted symbol is not a happy face.  Rather it is “noon” the fourteenth letter of the Arabic alphabet and the equivalent of the Roman letter N.  It stands for Nasara or Nazarene, an Arabic term of insult to refer to Christians.   Those who had this marking on their homes were given a few days to leave or be executed.  18 months ago Mosul had  a population of over 300,000 Christians.  Today there are none.  

So, where was Jesus, the Nazarene, when this happened?  

He was there . . . . being exiled, being persecuted, being beheaded, suffering the breakup of families and the worst of man’s inhumanity to man.   

Actually He’s still there even though his people aren’t.    

Jesus isn’t like us.   He doesn’t respond to evil with evil.   

He enters it, suffers in it and redeems it.   

How will it all end?    The final chapter of this story has indeed been written, but is yet to be realized.  And indeed it will be when the unimaginable becomes real, when God’s Kingdom will have come, when heaven on earth will transition from hope and metaphor to lived reality.

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