Biblical Places Spiritual Spaces Nazareth

Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”    John 1:46

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Nazareth viewed from Mt Carmel

The Church of the Annunciation is the largest church in the Middle East and sits atop to ancient village of Nazareth. The new basilica was designed by the Italian architect Giovanni Muzio, and built by the Israeli building firm Solel Boneh during the years 1960–1969. The site is on three levels: the ancient cave home village below the church, a lower sanctuary that is built on the site of the Grotto of the Annunciation, believed by many to be the First Century home of Mary, and an upper sanctuary that houses many paintings of the Madonna from many countries around the globe. An outside courtyard is filled with flowers and trees with a portico where more images of Mary from different nations are on display.

The Bronze Doors are an incredible work of art, telling the story of Jesus from his birth, to His ascension in a remarkable design and craftmanship.

This site is the location of significant events in the life of Jesus, as well as for all of us.

Nazareth is mentioned in the first chapter of John’s Gospel in a rather curious manner.

The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip *said to him, “Come and see.”

 John 1:43-46

Nazareth had a reputation in the First Century, and perhaps not a good one, at least that is what Nathaniel’s comment might indicate. Why? Perhaps it was because of the many hometown prophecies that the residents of Nazareth claimed, and the subsequent attitude they may have had toward other Israelites.  After all, how would you behave if you thought that the Messiah was going to come from your clan, resulting in wealth, protection, and prosperity for the entire community. Here are two of the Hometown Prophecies from the prophet Isaiah.

¹ Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
³ And He will delight in the fear of the LORD,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
⁴ But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
⁵ Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And faithfulness the belt about His waist. Isaiah 11:1-5

Branch: nēṣer: A masculine noun referring to a branch. It indicates literally a shoot, a branch of a plant but is used figuratively of the Lord’s servant, the Branch, who will rule in the messianic kingdom. He comes from the roots of the family of Jesse (Isa. 11:1), the chosen royal line in Israel. (Complete Word Study Bible)

The Netser Clan, originally from Bethlehem area, settled in Nazareth on their return from exile in Babylonia, perhaps because like Bethlehem, Nazareth was situated on a steep hill with natural caves.

​There are many prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures regarding the Messiah, who will come to Earth and restore God’s order.  The Netser Clan considered many of these from Isaiah to be personal, pointing to one of their clan who would take on this mantle.

¹ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the  afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
² To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
³ To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called  oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
⁴ Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,
They will raise up the former devastations;
And they will repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
⁵  Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks,
And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers.
⁶ But you will be called the priests of the LORD;
You will be spoken of as ministers of our God.
You will eat the wealth of nations,
And in their riches you will boast.
⁷ Instead of your shame you will have a double portion,
And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion.
Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land,
Everlasting joy will be theirs.
⁸ For I, the LORD, love justice,
I hate robbery in the burnt offering;
And I will faithfully give them their recompense
And make an everlasting covenant with them.
⁹ Then their offspring will be known among the nations,
And their descendants in the midst of the peoples.
All who see them will recognize them
Because they are the offspring whom the LORD has blessed.
¹⁰ I will rejoice greatly in the LORD,
My soul will exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up,
So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise
To spring up before all the nations.               Isaiah 61

The Beginning of the Fulfilment of these Hometown prophecies

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

 ³⁰ The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³  and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

³⁴ Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵

The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For  nothing will be impossible with God.”

³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

³⁹ Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”

⁴⁶ And Mary said:
“My soul  exalts the Lord,
⁴⁷ And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
⁴⁸ “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
⁴⁹ “For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
⁵⁰ “AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION
TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM.
⁵¹ “He has done mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
⁵² “He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.
⁵³ “HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS;
And sent away the rich empty-handed.
⁵⁴ “He has given help to Israel His servant,
In remembrance of His mercy,
⁵⁵  As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and his descendants forever.”
⁵⁶ And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

Luke 1:26-56

From the Encyclopaedia Britannica

liberation theology, religious movement arising in late 20th-century Roman Catholicism and centred in Latin America. It sought to apply religious faith by aiding the poor and oppressed through involvement in political and civic affairs. It stressed both heightened awareness of the “sinful” socioeconomic structures that caused social inequities and active participation in changing those structures.

Liberation theologians believed that God speaks particularly through the poor and that the Bible can be understood only when seen from the perspective of the poor. They perceived that the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America was fundamentally different from the church in Europe—i.e., that the church in Latin America should be actively engaged in improving the lives of the poor. In order to build this church, they established communidades de base, (“base communities”), which were local Christian groups, composed of 10 to 30 members each, that both studied the Bible and attempted to meet their parishioners’ immediate needs for food, water, sewage disposal, and electricity. A great number of base communities, led mostly by laypersons, sprang into being throughout Latin America. The liberation theology movement gained strength in Latin America during the 1970s. Because of their insistence that ministry should include involvement in the political struggle of the poor against wealthy elites, liberation theologians were often criticized—both formally, from within the Roman Catholic Church, and informally—as naive purveyors of Marxism and advocates of leftist social activism. By the 1990s the Vatican, under Pope John Paul II, had begun to curb the movement’s influence through the appointment of conservative prelates in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America.

Liberation Theology has had a personal impact on me and many of my friends who live in communities along the Coco River in Northeaster Nicaragua. When the Sandinistas overthrew the Somoza dictatorship in 1979, they portrayed themselves as Christians who would establish a Costa Rica style democracy. Many soldiers wore crosses and they enjoyed the support of many church members in the revolution. After taking power they revealed in September 1979 that in fact they were Marxists who would turn Nicaragua into a Cuba style autocracy. This surprised many of the soldiers who had fought in the Sandinista army, and many in the northern mountain region decided in October to mount a resistance to the confiscation of farm land that began that month.

 Two priests joined the Sandinista government as ministers. Ernesto Cardenal served as Minister of Culture from 1979 to 1994. Ernesto was known as a poet, and joined the Sandinistas after Somoza National Guard burned his community as a punishment for an attack on their base in nearby San Carlos. Ernesto was an ardent Liberation Theologian. He said: "Christ led me to Marx...for me, the four Gospels are all equally Communist. I’m a Marxist who believes in God, follows Christ and is a revolutionary for his Kingdom".^[4] He later said "The Bible is full of revolutions. The prophets are people with a message of revolution. Jesus of Nazareth takes the revolutionary message of the prophets. And we also will continue trying to change the world and make revolution. Those revolutions failed, but others will come."  

and Miguel D’Escoto was Daniel Ortega’s Foreign Minister from 1979 to 1990.

Jesus returns to Nazareth

​ ¹⁴ And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. ¹⁵ And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.
¹⁶ And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
¹⁸ “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,
BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
¹⁹ TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”
²⁰ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

 ²² And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

 ²³ And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. ²⁵ But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; ²⁶ and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

 ²⁸ And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; ²⁹ and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. ³⁰ But passing through their midst, He went His way.                                 Luke 4:14-30

Mark adds these details of that day:

​¹  Jesus went out from there and *came into  His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him. ² When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? ³ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. ⁴ Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in  his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” ⁵ And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He wondered at their unbelief.                                                                                                    Mark 6:1-6