Nazareth was a dirt-poor town, with nothing fancy, and nothing to brag about.
Living under the heel of the Roman Empire was enough in itself to drive the people crazy!
But there they were, living on their own land and in their own hometown, the people of Nazareth were no more than slaves to Caesar, who cared not if the people lived, or if the people died.
If that alone was not sufficient for the people to endure, the department of religion triple-taxed the people: a tax for the priests and Levites, a tax for temple sacrifices, and a tax for the poor.
The corrupted tax collectors of the internal revenue system wanted their unfair share, too, and they worked tirelessly and endlessly to squeeze another mite or two from the fingers of working Nazarenes.
Jobs were scarce. Money was small and constantly vanishing. The people labored for meager wages, wore cheap clothes, and did their best to eke out a living off the land. For them, life was difficult, life was oppressive, life was painful, and Nazareth had all the earmarks of a Roman internment camp.
What was there for children to do in Nazareth?
What was there for teenagers to do without any arenas for entertainment?
For parents, merely feeding hungry mouths each day was a burdensome stone upon their shoulders!
Perhaps these experiences compelled the Nazarenes to remember the days of old when their people were slaves in a foreign land as they recalled the words of the Psalmist:
"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof." (Psalm 137: 1-2)
Perhaps now they could sit down by the Roman Road in Nazareth and weep a sad song.
All of these uncertainties, of course, prompted the questions---
"Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1: 46)
Joseph and Mary lived there, in Nazareth, a community of about two hundred souls. They were poor people, too. Like their neighbors, they were faithful in their worship on the Sabbath in the synagogue--- dressed in nothing fancy, nothing to brag about, for the only clothes they had were the clothes they wore. Their trust was still in God regardless of their circumstances, and they never complained about the hardships of their hometown.
Of all the places on earth, however, would any person anywhere ever believe that it would be in Nazareth where a man would arise to be called a prophet, a priest, and a king? That a person out of this Nazareth would change the course of human history?
Yes, it was. And yes, He did.
Jesus preached His first sermon in Nazareth, his hometown; for it was there, in Nazareth, that the sparkle of the light of Christ began to shine in the world, and that light of Christ has been shining for two thousand years, and is still shining in places like Nazareth all over the world where people are living with the heels of oppressive governments and pagan religions pressing against their necks, rubbing their faces in the sand, holding them in bondage and slavery to excessive taxes, low wages, stagnant and stinky environments, packed in houses like rats, with no place to run and no place to hide, inflicted with sickness and disease and starvation, with no hope of ever having a better day, or a good night's sleep with a soft pillow beneath their heads, for Caesar does not care if they live, or if they die!
Even now, the whole world has all the earmarks of a Roman internment camp, rising globally, fencing us in, and locking the gates.
But what about the Nazareth of our own hometowns, the Nazareth of our own communities and villages, the Nazareth of the streets where we live, and the Nazareth that exists within our own families and among our own kin?
Jesus was not popular in Nazareth. But He preached there anyway.
Like Christ, we will not be popular. But we must be able, with His help, to do it anyway and pick up the light of Christ and let it shine, as we remember the sermon Jesus preached in His hometown:
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." (Isaiah 61: 1)
Living under the heel of the Roman Empire was enough in itself to drive the people crazy!
But there they were, living on their own land and in their own hometown, the people of Nazareth were no more than slaves to Caesar, who cared not if the people lived, or if the people died.
If that alone was not sufficient for the people to endure, the department of religion triple-taxed the people: a tax for the priests and Levites, a tax for temple sacrifices, and a tax for the poor.
The corrupted tax collectors of the internal revenue system wanted their unfair share, too, and they worked tirelessly and endlessly to squeeze another mite or two from the fingers of working Nazarenes.
Jobs were scarce. Money was small and constantly vanishing. The people labored for meager wages, wore cheap clothes, and did their best to eke out a living off the land. For them, life was difficult, life was oppressive, life was painful, and Nazareth had all the earmarks of a Roman internment camp.
What was there for children to do in Nazareth?
What was there for teenagers to do without any arenas for entertainment?
For parents, merely feeding hungry mouths each day was a burdensome stone upon their shoulders!
Perhaps these experiences compelled the Nazarenes to remember the days of old when their people were slaves in a foreign land as they recalled the words of the Psalmist:
"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof." (Psalm 137: 1-2)
Perhaps now they could sit down by the Roman Road in Nazareth and weep a sad song.
All of these uncertainties, of course, prompted the questions---
"Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1: 46)
Joseph and Mary lived there, in Nazareth, a community of about two hundred souls. They were poor people, too. Like their neighbors, they were faithful in their worship on the Sabbath in the synagogue--- dressed in nothing fancy, nothing to brag about, for the only clothes they had were the clothes they wore. Their trust was still in God regardless of their circumstances, and they never complained about the hardships of their hometown.
Of all the places on earth, however, would any person anywhere ever believe that it would be in Nazareth where a man would arise to be called a prophet, a priest, and a king? That a person out of this Nazareth would change the course of human history?
Yes, it was. And yes, He did.
Jesus preached His first sermon in Nazareth, his hometown; for it was there, in Nazareth, that the sparkle of the light of Christ began to shine in the world, and that light of Christ has been shining for two thousand years, and is still shining in places like Nazareth all over the world where people are living with the heels of oppressive governments and pagan religions pressing against their necks, rubbing their faces in the sand, holding them in bondage and slavery to excessive taxes, low wages, stagnant and stinky environments, packed in houses like rats, with no place to run and no place to hide, inflicted with sickness and disease and starvation, with no hope of ever having a better day, or a good night's sleep with a soft pillow beneath their heads, for Caesar does not care if they live, or if they die!
Even now, the whole world has all the earmarks of a Roman internment camp, rising globally, fencing us in, and locking the gates.
But what about the Nazareth of our own hometowns, the Nazareth of our own communities and villages, the Nazareth of the streets where we live, and the Nazareth that exists within our own families and among our own kin?
Jesus was not popular in Nazareth. But He preached there anyway.
Like Christ, we will not be popular. But we must be able, with His help, to do it anyway and pick up the light of Christ and let it shine, as we remember the sermon Jesus preached in His hometown:
"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." (Isaiah 61: 1)
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