Can anything good come out of Nazareth? This was a question asked of Jesus’ disciple Nathanael – and Phillip said to him; “Come and see.” Nathanael was from Cana, another Galilean town just to the North of Nazareth. While Galileans were despised by Judeans, Galileans themselves despised people from Nazareth. People are asking the same question today. Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
Caius Octavius (Oc-ta-vi-us) was the grand-nephew, adopted son and primary heir to Julius Caesar. Before and after Julius Caesar’s death in 44 BC, the Roman Government was constantly torn by power struggles. Octavius ascended to undisputed supremacy in 31 BC and the Roman Senate declared him to be Rome’s first Emperor. Two years later they honored him with the title “Agustus” which means “exalted one.” Under his reign the Roman Empire dominated the Mediterranean region, ushering in a period of great prosperity and relative peace (the “Pax Romana.”) He ordered “all the world” (the world of the Roman Empire) to be registered. This was not a one-time census. The decree actually established a cycle of registrations that were to occur every 14 years. Because Jews were not allowed to serve in the Roman Army, they had been excluded from census taking in the past. (Generally when a census was issued, it was to register young men for military service – as well as account for all Roman citizens. But not this time. Caesar Agustus issued this decree to number each nation by family and tribe. Each person was required by law to return to their ancestral home to register. Both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David and therefore went to their tribal home, Bethlehem in Judea to register. Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, a small crowded city located up on a hill a fifteen miles southwest of Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee. They needed to travel south through Samaria, over to the Jordan River, down to Jericho (just north of the Dead Sea), fifteen miles up the mountain to Jerusalem. Jericho is about a thousand feet below sea level and Jerusalem is 2500 feet above sea level, so the climb is quite steep. Once Joseph and Mary got to Jerusalem, they went south to Bethany and five miles further to arrive in Bethlehem, the city of their ancestors. All in all, it was a difficult trek of about 70 miles through mountainous terrain.
God is a God of hope. What He says is true, always. How does God speak to us today? Through His Word, and through people He places in our lives.
Man plans and God laughs. God plans and we best pay attention. Way back in 750 BC, there was a prophet named Micah (a contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah, who lived during the reign of three Judean Kings – Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. He prophesied that Judah would eventually fall to the Babylonians, which came true in 586 BC, but he also made another rather obscure prophecy as well. Whenever a prophet foretold the future, it was to awaken the people to their responsibilities in the present. Bible prophecy isn’t entertainment for the curious; it’s encouragement for the serious.
The Prophet Micah writes in his book, chapter 5 verses 2-5:
“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.”
Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses. We will raise against them seven shepherds, even eight commanders.” (Micah 5:2-5)
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet Micah has written:
But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”
(Matthew 2:1-6)
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)
In the Old Testament there are some 300 prophecies of the first coming of the Messiah and 500 of the second coming, all of then made hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus and fulfilled to the letter in Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
George Heron, a French mathematician, calculated that the odds of one man fulfilling only 40 of those prophecies are 1 in 10 to the power of 157. That is a 1 followed by 157 zeros. Compare it to this; your odds on winning the state lottery are 14 followed by 6 zeros.
In a large stone cathedral in Europe there was a very large, magnificent pipe organ. It was a Saturday afternoon, and the custodian was making one final check of the choir and organ loft high in the balcony at the back of the church. He was startled to hear footsteps echoing up the stone stairway, as he thought the doors were all locked and no one was around. He turned to see a man in slightly tattered traveling clothes coming toward him. "Excuse me, sir," the stranger said, "I have come from quite a distance to see the great organ in this cathedral, would you mind opening the console so that I might get a closer look at it?" The custodian at first refused, but the stranger seemed so eager and insistent that he finally gave in.
"May I sit on the bench?" That request of the stranger was met with absolute refusal by the cathedral custodian. "What if the organist came in and found you sitting there? I would probably lose my job!" But again the stranger was so persistent that the custodian gave in. "But only for a moment," he added.
The custodian noticed that the stranger seemed to be very much at home on the organ bench, so he was not completely surprised when he was asked by the stranger to be allowed to play the organ. "No! Definitely not!" said the custodian. "No one is allowed to play it except the cathedral organist,"
The man’s face fell, and his deep disappointment was obvious. He reminded the custodian how far he had come, and assured him that no damage would be done. Finally the sexton relented and told the stranger he could play the instrument, but only a few notes and then he would have to leave.
Overjoyed, the stranger pulled out some stops and began to play. Suddenly the cathedral was filled with the most beautiful music the custodian had ever heard in all his years in that place. The music seemed to transport him heavenward. In what seemed all too short a time, the dowdy stranger stopped playing and slid off the organ bench and started down the stairway. "Wait!" cried the custodian. "That was the most beautiful music I have ever heard in the cathedral. Who are you?"
The stranger turned for just a moment as he replied, "Mendelssohn." The man was none other than Felix Mendelssohn, one of the greatest organists and composers of the 19th century!
The custodian sexton was alone now in that great stone edifice, the beautiful organ music still ringing in his ears. "Just think," he said softly, "I almost kept the master from playing his music in my cathedral!"
Hope at Christmastime? “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead“ (I Peter 1:3)
Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Nothing really with one exception: This small city was where Jesus grew up, Jesus Christ the Son of God, our Lord and Savior who would change the world forever! Amen.
