Tag Archives: Nazareth

The Address of the Messiah

18 Sunday Feb 2018

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“Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

’‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked.” (John 1:45-46)

Being the son of a migrant refugee (a “wog”), and having attended a fairly rough public high school in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, I experienced a mild but definite prejudice in my youth from many of those I met from the wealthier, more “pure bred,” parts of the city. Snobbery about where one lives and to which class one belongs is nothing new. In Jesus’ day, it was far better to have an address in southern Israel than in the northern region of Galilee. And although Jesus had been born in Bethlehem (in the south), he lived most of his life in the Galilean town of Nazareth (in the north). And in the view of Nathaniel and a good many others, that could not be a good thing.

bethmap

Why was this the case? About 800 years before Jesus was born the northern tribes of Israel in the Galilee were taken into captivity by the Assyrians and dispersed throughout their Empire. These are the so-called 10 lost tribes of Israel. Israelite tribes like Zebulun and Naphtali vanished from history. After the Assyrian invasion and deportation, the despoiled population of Galilee that remained inter-married with other local peoples, and became a mongrel-breed known and despised by other Jews as, “Samaritans.” Even full-blooded Jews (like Jesus) who lived in the Galilee were considered racially and socially suspect.

The Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day shared these prejudices of the general population. “Look into it”, they argued to a supporter of Jesus, “and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee” (John 7:50). They were wrong. Their prejudice had blinded them to the fact that the prophet Jonah had come from Galilee (2 Kings 14:25). This was an important signpost to Jesus they were missing.

You see, all eyes looked for the Messiah to come from Bethlehem in southern Israel…respectable Israel, pure Israel…not the badlands of Galilee, the skid row of Israel, Israel’s “hood”. Bethlehem had been King David’s hometown in the reputable tribal lands of Judah.

But God had other plans and in an amazing piece of prophecy written hundreds of years earlier Isaiah 9 tells us:

“But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light:

Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.

…For unto us a child will be born

unto us a son is given;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

Can anything good come from Nazareth? Why only the ‘Prince of Peace’ himself! And just as the earlier Galilean prophet, Jonah, was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish as a future signpost, so too Jesus was three days and three nights in the belly of the earth (Matthew 12:40).

For Prayer and Reflection: Meditate on the titles given to the Messiah in Isaiah 9 (above). Praise God for the wonder of His Word, and for giving us signposts and keeping His biblical promises.

For Further Reading: Isaiah 9

The Messiah – The Son of David

04 Sunday Feb 2018

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“When your days are complete and you [King David] lie down with your fathers, I [God] will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom…and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” (2 Samuel 7:12-13).

Many people today love to explore their family history. The current fashion is to have one’s DNA tested to determine long forgotten ethnic origins. The ancient Jewish people had a similar obsession with their ancestry, and were anxious to establish the purity of their Jewish and/or priestly credentials.

The use of genealogical records is well attested in this period of Jewish history. The Apostle Paul knew he was from the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5). In his histories Josephus, a contemporary historian, tells us his own genealogy. He tells us he found them, “in the public records” (The Life 1:6). Josephus also tells us that King Herod destroyed some genealogical records to conceal his own ignominious background (Josephus, Antiquities 14.9). Herod was only partly Jewish.

Multiple Old Testament scriptures promised the Jewish people that the Messiah would come from the line of King David and would rule with justice forever. Therefore, the New Testament begins with, ‘A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David…’ (Matthew 1:1), establishing Jesus’ hereditary credentials to be the promised Messiah. Of further interest, the word, ‘genealogy’ could easily be translated ‘genesis.’ Thus, in its very first verse, the New Testament heralds a “new genesis” – a new beginning.

Interestingly, although attacked about his teachings, his miracles and the company he kept, at no point, despite it being an obvious target, did Jesus’ enemies question the authenticity of His Davidic descent.

King David had been God’s chosen king. He was, for all his human flaws, “a man after God’s heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). He was a saviour of Israel in that He killed Goliath, the giant enemy of God’s people and ended the Philistine oppression of them. In this sense King David is a “type” or foreshadowing of the true and perfect saviour who was to come – the Messiah.

King David was born in the town of Bethlehem, in the tribal region of Judah. The Messiah, it was promised, would also come from Bethlehem. Almost 800 years before Jesus was born the Prophet Micah predicted:

“‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2).

 And so, in the fullness of time it came to pass that:

“…a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:1-7).

For Prayer and Reflection: Ask the Lord to make you a person after His own heart.

 For Further Reading: Jeremiah 23:5-6