Jesus Of Nazareth | Matthew 2
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Jesus of Nazareth | Lemuel Ayudtud
Some notables from this chapter:
Jesus was born in Bethlehem
Magi or wisemen from the “East” look for Him to offer Him gifts. (More about the magi here.)
King Herod looked to kill Jesus, but since he couldn’t find Him, he goes and kills male children under the age of 2 (which was about the age of Jesus). He does so because he was afraid of Jesus taking over his kingship. (More about Herod here.)
The action of Herod was prophesied (or foretold).
Jesus wasn’t in Jerusalem because an angel had informed Joseph in a dream to go to Egypt. That move of obedience by Joseph saves Jesus from an early death. (This was also foretold or prophesied.)
After Herod’s death, Joseph brings his family and resides in Nazareth. Jesus would then be called a Nazarene (a lowly man) - another prophecy fulfilled. (Read here for another take on this prophecy.)
Jesus was from the hood. He was from “that side” of the town you wouldn’t have travelled to during the day and much less during the night. When we study His moniker, “Jesus of Nazareth,” we find that that was not a good thing.
During His time in Jerusalem, Nazareth was a hole in the wall little village. Nothing good was known to come of there, at least not before or maybe since Jesus. In fact when Phillip, one of the early disciples told his friend, Nathanael, to come and check out this prophesied Messiah, Nathanael scoffed at the idea that anything good can come from Nazareth—and Nathanael was from the same area.
Yup, the One we venerate and follow was from Bedstuy, Brooklyn … or maybe Brownsville. I mean He could have come from the slums of Shaolin, NYC — you know, like West Brighton or something like that. He could have been from one of the deadly hoods of Chicago. So think about it: Jesus was born in a manger is some two-bit city of Bethlehem and was raised in the hood of Galilee, Nazareth. Man, talk about rough.
I guess it makes sense. His earthly mom and dad were young young! They didn’t have any money and no serviceable skills (until later as a carpenter). The place they lived in was under the Romans, who were brutes themselves. Compounding that was they were Jews under that Roman rulership, so the treatment was generally horrible. Then they were governed by puppets of Rome who cared more about themselves than their people, so what would you have? desperate people who were just tying to make it day to day. Consider that for a minute: how rough was the upbringing of Jesus? ROUGH!
Yet here we are! Over 2000 years later as we’re still talking about Jesus. The no good town of Nazareth brought out the Savior of the world. I don’t know about you, but that blows me away. It gives me a glimpse of how God sees people in the struggle. Think about it: what stopped God to have Jesus be born in some palace in Rome? What hindered God to have His Son born and raised in luxury, absent from cruelty and poverty? Why would God choose the kind of conditions that were present in Nazareth to experience as a human? Nothing. God simply chose the lowliest place in Jerusalem, I believe, 1) to fulfill prophecy, 2) to express His character and 3) to teach us a message.
Fulfilled Prophecy:
Isaiah prophesied that Jesus was going to be seen as a nobody and one that would be very familiar with suffering and pain. Growing up in Nazareth would have given Him that experience.
Most people have a vision of Jesus as some soft. hipster dude from Manhattan or maybe a hippy traveling in a van teaching people about God’s nirvana. But more than likely He could have been one of the young men from Brooklyn whose parents worked 16 hours a day, who passed drug dealers and hookers on his way to school, heard gunshots and screams at all hours of the night, and wasn’t sure if his father was going to make it home. Yup, Jesus would have been more Jay-Z than Carl Lentz.
Character of God:
The Bible tells us that God dwells with the lowly and the contrite; that He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. God is not impressed when we try to come to Him showing how worthy we are to be a son or daugther. He actually resists that type of self centered estimation. What pleases Him is when we understand our brokenness and lack. He embraces us when we show Him that we are in need of Him. So the idea that we should get ourselves “good” so that we can get God is not only impossible but it’s not the way God wants us to come to Him.
His Message:
God ain’t about that flashy life. He’s not about us trying to show how good we are. He looks at us with great concern. He sees us from our places of doubts and fears and offers us consolation and hope. Why? Because He is the Man from Galilee, He’s the good from Nazareth. He understands our pain and history. He knows and have seen first hand the worst conditions possible. The Spirit that encompasses the heavens dwelt in a shanty, low life town in His humanity. He understands not just from a knowledge point about our needs… He lived it as Jesus of Nazareth.
Lord, help me to understand that You know my weakness and fragility. Help me to realize that when I pray, You know my hurts and frustrations. Help me to yield to your love and grace for me. Help me to be at ease in Your care knowing that You know me. In Your Name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.