C, Midweek Lent 2 - John 1:45-49 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?"

What makes Nazareth such an important place; this sleepy little place was small, even for the locals of Galilee. If one was to compare it to a town today, we might think of places which are nothing more than a set of crossroads with a dusty truck-stop and a few locals. So what makes Nazareth such an important place?

In John 1:45-49, we hear… 45 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.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

Nathanael asked a fair question. He opened his mouth and said what he thought; and probably what everyone else was thinking too. He was completely honest before the man from Nazareth — unknowingly in the presence of the Son of God.

In support of Nathanael’s claim that Nazareth was a “nowhere town” full of “nobodies”, we go in search of other reports of it in the bible. What we find is intriguing indeed!

In the first two midweek services we studied Bethlehem and Egypt. Both of these places are renowned for many reasons other than just one. But Nazareth stands apart from these places. In fact the name, Nazareth or Nazarene, is only mentioned in the four Gospels and Acts.

In the Old Testament it doesn’t appear at all, even though we hear in Matthew 2:22-23, 22b Having been warned in a dream, Joseph withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:22b-23)

Scholars argue to what this verse refers. Some point to Isaiah 11:1, A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. (Isaiah 11:1) The little word “branch” in Hebrew sounds like Nazareth. Although Jesus is the shoot or branch from the stump of Jesse, it’s a bit of a stretch to link the name Nazareth with the Hebrew word which means branch!

Some highlight the plural of the word prophets, pointing to a theme perhaps shared or written down by the prophets to which we have lost access today. Also some seek to connect Nazareth and Nazarene with the order of the Nazirites, of which Samson was dedicated to at birth, after God enabled his barren mother to conceive and fall pregnant. However, these too are long bows to draw!

But the greatest detractor from these attempts to link Nazareth with the Old Testament is the fact that after the book of Acts, Nazareth or Nazarene, fail to appear again. So the name and place is only mentioned in the four Gospels and Acts. Here lies the clue. No wonder Nathanael asked, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

What we do know is Mary and Joseph were from Nazareth. In Luke chapter one archangel Gabriel visits Nazareth and announces the word of God to Mary that she was to give birth to the Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the Gospel of Luke, after Jesus was born and presented at the temple and everything concerning the Jewish law had been done, they returned to Nazareth in Galilee. Matthew’s account of the Gospel doesn’t mention Nazareth until after Mary and Joseph return from Egypt, due to Joseph being warned in a dream not to return to Judea because Herod’s son, Archelaus, was in power.

Mary and Joseph travel to and from Judea and Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve, after presenting him at the temple and losing him for a time, when Jesus was amazing all with his questions and understanding. As you could understand, his parents and family were beside themselves, after Jesus had been missing for three days.

When Jesus is about thirty, he leaves Nazareth and goes to the Jordan to be baptised by John, he is then taken out into the wilderness to be tempted before returning to Nazareth. After he was baptised into his public ministry he presented himself at the local synagogue and read from the scroll of Isaiah…

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18-21)

The local Nazarenes took exception to Jesus, the carpenter’s son, speaking like this and he finds himself being hauled to the top of a hill outside town, so they might throw him over the cliff, but Jesus walks through the crowd untouched and goes to live in Capernaum. Nazareth had rejected Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As Nathanael said, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

After Jesus calls his disciples, including Nathanael, who enquires into the merit of the man from Nazareth, the gospels report Jesus’ return to his hometown a couple more times. At one time his mother and brothers, come to him as he speaks in the synagogue. But because the place was packed, they send a message to him and this is what Jesus said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:31-35)

Then at another time Jesus is overwhelmed by the Nazarenes’ lack of faith and has to leave after they took offence saying, “Where did this man get these things? What’s this wisdom that has been given him, which he even does miracles! 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him. 4 Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour.” (Mark 6:2b-4)

However, in the Gospels and Acts many refer to Jesus Christ as Jesus of Nazareth. In fact in John’s Gospel, Pilate places a sign of identity above Jesus on cross at his crucifixion. This is abbreviated to INRI and in Latin reads Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum — Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews.

The name continues to be used in the book of Acts but disappears in the latter New Testament. The reason being is the latter New Testament are letters written to the already established church, which knows and believes who Jesus is, both God and Man, conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and crucified and raised as Jesus of Nazareth.

But in the days immediately after Jesus’ resurrection, he has to be proclaimed as Jesus of Nazareth, the same Jesus crucified outside Jerusalem on the cross and raised to life by God Almighty. Peter’s testimony throughout Acts, especially while under the influence of the Holy Spirit, pointed to the crucified but risen man from Nazareth, as the Son of God, and led many to glorify and praise God. Paul also reports he was confronted by God the Son, who proclaims himself to be Jesus of Nazareth, on the road to Damascus. (Acts 22:8)

What makes Nazareth so great? Well nothing makes the town great at all! There is no cause to give any glory to the people from there, all except one! The man from Nazareth is God the Son, crucified, risen, ascended, and he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

After his resurrection his family believed, and perhaps some others from Nazareth did too! But Jesus didn’t just die for his family, the Nazarenes, the Galileans, or the Jews.

Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? Yes! Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph and Mary, the Son of God, the King of heaven and earth. And like Nathanael, he saw and knew all of us before we even recognised where Nazareth was. Or knew he died for all people on a tree, for you and for me. Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?

Our Lord and Saviour does! Amen.

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