Our next stop in our Journey to Jerusalem is to:
Stop #2 - Nazareth
Historical Notes:
Nazareth,
a small village in Galilee, was the home of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. All the references to Nazareth in the Bible
are found in the New Testament, and all are used in connection with Jesus, who
is identified nineteen times as “Jesus of Nazareth.” Mary was living in Nazareth when she received
the announcement from the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26). After Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, Joseph and
Mary returned home to Nazareth to live.
Other than one episode from his twelfth year, all our knowledge about
Jesus between birth and his baptism is contained in one verse: “The child
became strong; he was full of wisdom, and God’s blessings were upon him.” We know that Joseph was a carpenter (Matthew
13:55) and that Jesus also learned the trade (Mark 6:3). Once a small village of about 350 people, today Nazareth is a large
city of many people and has the largest Christian population of any city in
Israel. Today’s visitor will see many
churches and shrines that have been built throughout the centuries to
commemorate the sacred events in the hometown of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Read Luke 2:29-40
This is really all we know about Jesus’ youth. This account tells us that he became a
carpenter just like Joseph. As a
carpenter, Joseph and Jesus made many things out of wood, including yokes. Yokes were used to train animals to plow the
land. Later in his life, Jesus said to
those who wanted to follow him, and be his disciples, “Take my yoke and put it
on you, and learn from me. For the yoke
I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30)
Watch this YouTube clip of Nazareth and the many monuments erected to commemorate where Jesus lived and grew up.
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