Nazareth and Capernaum: Humble Beginnings

Retracing the Steps of Jesus

This morning, we are going to continue a message series “Retracing the Steps of Jesus” as I have the opportunity to share some insights from my recent pilgrimage to Israel. Last week, we looked at a panoramic view from the Arbel Cliff as we looked out over the Sea of Galilee. To help you get your geographical bearings, you can either look at a map at the back of your Bible and/or look at the map/diagram below:



As I shared last week, our hotel was on the Sea of Galilee and we stayed in the city of Tiberius, which was a Roman City in Jesus Day that very few Jews would have lived. And last week, I shared that we went to the Arbel Cliff (See below) and viewed in one panoramic view many of the towns and villages.



This morning, we want to look at the “Humble Beginnings” of Jesus and his earthly parents. Let’s first review … Where were Mary and Joseph from originally? Or possibly better put, what was the … Home Town of Mary and Joseph

Now from the Christmas Story, we know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but … Was that home town of Mary and Joseph? No … we learn that their home town was in the small village of Nazareth.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Luke 1:26-28 NLT

In fact in the City of Nazareth, there are two churches that claim to be built on the site of this angelic message from the angel Gabriel to Mary in the city of Nazareth. Now the truth is we don’t know for sure which site in Nazareth Mary received this message, and yet there are some interesting clues of where it could have been.

One possible site is under a Greek Orthodox Church in Nazareth.


Picture of St. Gabriel

(And by the way, one of the things that I had to initially deal with and yet grew to appreciate while in Israel, were some of these elaborate/ornate churches built on top of these significant historic sites.) What are leaders and guides helped us realize … if it were not for some of these churches that some of them were initially built in the 3rd – 5th centuries, there would be no clear way to know where these significant historic events took place.

The Greek Orthodox Church in Nazareth is called Saint Gabriel or the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation. (Annunciation is a big word to say the angel announced to Mary at this spot.) One reason, it is believed to be in this spot, is that this is the location of the only spring in Nazareth. Outside the church there is a crypt that probably dates from the Crusader Period and we actually were able to touch water trickling from this water spout that has as its source the spring under the church building next door and reflect that Jesus would have drank water from this spring.





Our guide said that she had never seen water flowing from the spout before (show water flowing) … just another example of God smiling on our trip. The “modern church” we visited was constructed in 1750, and as we walked in the church, we walked down in the basement and we were able to visit the actual spring of Nazareth. It was cool to realize that since this was the only main water supply to this village, then it would have been a place visited by Mary, Joseph and Jesus as he grew up.



And our next passage listed in the message notes clearly states that Nazareth was the village that Jesus grew up.

Jesus’ Childhood Home - NazarethWhen Jesus’ parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him. Luke 2:39-40 NLT

One of the realizations that dawned on me while visiting Jerusalem, was what a challenge it would have been for this poor family to travel to Jerusalem for the …

Annual Pilgrimage of Jesus Parents - Nazareth to JerusalemEvery year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. Luke 2:41-42 NLT

The distance from Nazareth to Jerusalem is approximately 60 miles. For a family to travel that distance by foot it would have taken from 7 to 8 days to travel. So for the faithful Jewish family of Jesus day to observe the Passover Celebration in Jerusalem every year this would have been a 3 week ordeal. One week to travel there, one week to observe the Passover, one week to travel back home.

Now back to Nazareth … another possible site for the annunciation would have been in Mary’s home believed to be the spot that the Huge Roman Catholic Church building called the Basilica of the Annunciation stands.





Although it was cool to think that this very well could be the home of Mary, the mother of Jesus grew up, it was also difficult to get a feel from our view what that home would have looked like.





So I was grateful that we had the opportunity outside the Basilica to see a house from Jesus day that had been excavated. (See pictures of the Nazareth Home below). It was amazing that these homes were in reality dwellings in caves. The entrance to the home would have included some steps, and then there was an upper area that the family of 6 or 7 would have slept, a middle section that the family would have fixed their food and probably ate, and then there was a lower section (that you can see behind the pillars) which would have been where they would have kept their animals.







Now these were not squatter homes, these were their permanent homes. Nazareth would have been a very small village in Jesus day of only 200 to 400 residents. Now some past historical accounts will say that the modern city of Nazareth which is now a city of 75,000 people (the largest Arab City in Northern Israel, would have been as possibly as large as 1,000-1,500 people, but from recent archeology and research the prevalent view now is that it would probably have only been 200 to 400 people in Nazareth. Which means that there is a good likelihood that Jesus would have been in the cave home that we looked at is it probably belonged to a relative or neighbor.

Now it would be easy to think that all of the homes of Jesus day in Israel were built in a cave. But the truth is that this was not the case. While in Israel, we had the opportunity to visit a contemporary city of Nazareth in that same area of Galilee. The amazing city (See Pictures Below)we visited was the city of Sepphoris (or Zippori). Although not mentioned in the Bible, we know that it was the capital city of Galilee and it was only 4 miles from Nazareth. The amazing thing about this city, which we had visited earlier in the day prior to our visit to Nazareth, was that it was a beautifully constructed Roman city with shops, mosaic flooring and drawings in the remains of these homes, a community that had a 4,000 seat amphitheatre with an amazing road system. In one of my pictures you can still see the ruts in the road from the Roman Chariots.













As we compare the homes of Sepphoris to the homes of Nazareth, we see a stark contrast. Our guide went on to share with us that the village of Nazareth in comparison to other towns and cities in the Galilee area would have been looked down on. And yet Jesus identified with this small poor village.

Jesus Identified with Nazareth.
Following Jesus baptism in the Jordan River and his subsequent temptation, we learn in the Bible that …
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. Luke 4:14-16 NIV

And he was commonly referred to as “Jesus of Nazareth.” In fact that description is used 17 times in the Bible of Jesus. And interestingly enough it was that self description that he used to address Saul of Tarsus, who would later be known as the Apostle Paul upon his conversion.

“Who are you, Lord?” I asked.
“I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. Acts 22:8 NIV

So as we reflect on the insignificant, poor village that Jesus came from it is not surprising that when his first followers were first introduced to him, that they would respond the way that Nathanael responded …

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.”
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip. John 1:45-46 NIV

You see … Jesus Identified with Nazareth and the Poor
The realization of Jesus humble, peasant beginning was striking to our group of pilgrims. As we reflected on the two very different groupings of home that we had visited on this particular day of our travels it really dawned on us, that Jesus not only identified with the village of Nazareth, by wearing the name “Jesus of Nazareth,” but he also identified with the poor.

One of our guides shared with us that to really grasp the significance of Jesus coming from Nazareth, would be to realize that the equivalent for many of our communities, would be that of a trailer park or possibly for larger cities the projects of an inner city. Now if you grew up in a trailer park or the project area of an inner city, please don’t be offended by these comments, but instead identify with Jesus. But I do think it is very significant that Jesus left the glory of heaven to grow up in the Israel equivalent of a trailer park. And yet instead of being ashamed of that upbringing, clearly stated, “I am Jesus of Nazareth.”

And although it would have been the prevalent view that “nothing good can come from Nazareth,” this is the small poor village that Jesus identified and the other peasants who would have lived there. It dawned on me while in Israel in the village of Nazareth, that if I wanted to identify with Jesus of Nazareth, that I must be willing to identify with the poor.

How are we doing in this area as a church? I am encouraged by our work with the local food pantries like Franklin Food Pantry and SCAC (we had a group of folks yesterday help volunteer at the Springboro Community Assistance Center). I am grateful that we have a number of people going on a mission trip next month to Appalachia to help some of the poorest people in our country. I am encouraged to know that we have just started financially supporting a new church plant, Pathways Christian Church led by Darryll Davis which is designed to be a multiracial church in South West Chester that will reach out to Lincoln Heights (one of the poorer sections of Northern Cincinnati as a service area). And yet, I think that we are just scratching the surface of what we can do as a church to identify with the poor.

Let’s make sure that we don’t make the same mistake as many people in Jesus home town that neither accepted Jesus or His Mission … Jesus and His Mission Not Accepted

He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
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. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”
“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.
Luke 4:16-24 NIV

Let’s continue to look for ways that we can further Jesus’ mission of proclaiming good news to the poor!. It was truly encouraging to see how many people from this church, participated in our garage sale yesterday. If you didn’t get a chance to see our setup here at the Y yesterday … then you really missed an amazing site to see this entire gym filled with bicycles, washers, dryers, lawn mowers, workout equipment, toys, clothes, etc. We want to especially thank Amy Phillips and Scott LeBlanc who organized this event and all who sacrificed of their possessions and time to help this be a great success. And it was amazing to learn that we raised more than $4,000 for our future sound and light equipment in our Worship and Community Center being built next door.

Now here is a thought that hit me this week as I was working on this message and contemplating Jesus stated mission for his ministry and asking myself are we (and am I) proclaiming good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners and oppressed, and recovery of sight for the blind. What if next year, we made this same effort but instead of the proceeds going toward a construction effort, what if we gave the proceeds to help provide good news for the poor, or resources for the oppressed, or relief for those who are hurting from some physical suffering? Would we have the same response as we did for an effort that we will receive a benefit? What if we made the same sacrifice and gave it all away toward some mission effort?

Let’s make sure that we don’t miss (like many of the people of Nazareth did) an opportunity to identify with Jesus and the poor. Well after Jesus was rejected in Nazareth, he moved on to Capernaum (or Kaphernaum). For some reason, prior to my Israel Pilgrimage, I didn’t realize that Jesus of Nazareth actually moved to another city and lived there for an extended period of time.

Jesus’ New Home Town - Capernaum
Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— Matthew 4:13 NIV

Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town.
Matthew 9:1 NLT

Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue every Sabbath day. Luke 4:31 NLT

So it was a bit surprising to see the sign that greeted us in the village of Capernaum.



And yet with further reflection of the Scriptures we can see that Jesus made this Coastal village of the Sea of Galilee as his home base. It was in this fishing village that Jesus met a resident there by the name of Simon Peter and also a tax collector named Matthew. It was in this village that Jesus taught regularly in the Sabbath, healed people, and performed other miracles.

While we were in Capernaum (Kaphernaum), we visited the remains of a fifth century Synagogue (See Picture Below) and we got a glimpse of an even older synagogue (See Picture), possibly the one that Jesus taught while he lived in Capernaum.





And right next door to the Synagogue were a cluster of houses (See Picture). These houses were much more sophisticated than the homes we had seen in Nazareth, because it was a more prominent city or village in Jesus Day.



As we viewed these cluster of houses, we noticed that these homes larger than the homes in Nazareth shared walls with the home next to them, and then they would have common courtyards between the homes (See Picture).



We couldn’t help but think that it was while here that Jesus formed community with his first followers (Peter, Andrew, James, John, Matthew, and others). It was cool to think about that we were possibly looking at the home that Jesus lived, or that Matthew lived. In fact it is believed from tradition and historical record that Peter’s house is under this “space ship” looking church building. Here is the exterior view of the modern church building, and here is a photo of me looking through the glass floor at what is believed to be the home that Peter lived in and that Jesus would have healed his mother-in-law. And actually outside the church building you can see a clearer view of the remains of Peter’s home.







In Nazareth, we get a glimpse of the humility of Jesus by his willingness to come to earth and live as a peasant in a “cave-like” home and how that he intentionally identified with the poor. And yet in Capernaum, we get a glimpse of how Jesus built community with his first followers and how that close-nit network of relationships continued in the life of the early church as they met from home to home.

Sometimes, I am concerned that the modern church has become too much like an institution or organization rather than a community. It is too easy to simply attend a church regularly, but not really get involved in community life. How are we doing as a church in building community? How are you doing as an individual in experiencing community with others?

Here is another challenge for the summer: Why not intentionally develop community with others by inviting someone into your home or to a cookout at a park. We emphasize small groups here at Southwest Church and I am encouraged by how many have got involved in small groups, but this summer while many of our small groups are not meeting for the summer, then let’s make intentional efforts to build community with others.

Let’s Pray!

Experiencing the Presence of God

And yet here is the good news we don’t have to rely on anyone else offering sacrifice for our sins once a year, nor do we have to go to the Holy Land to experience God’s presence. Here is what the Bible says …

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:19-22 NLT

Possibly it was not just the fact, that I was in the land that Jesus walked, but possibly it was because I had a focus of truly wanting to hear from the LORD while I was in this land. I wrote, in my journal during our first day in Israel, “Please LORD, grant me a willing heart to receive what you want me to receive. Allow me to be a clean vessel ready to receive you.”

And I also wrote, “Ask God to meet me every step of the journey. Dear LORD, please speak to my heart and mind during this journey.”

Could it be that the LORD wants to speak to our hearts every step of our journey whether we live in Israel or in Southwest Ohio, but we must have willing hearts to hear as we make the decision afresh every day to follow in his steps?!

Mount Moriah

One of the highlights of our time up on this Temple Mount my trip was to stand on a slab of rock that is identified by a small gazebo (See Picture Above). This is believed to be the spot that the Most Holy Place of the Jewish Temple was located. It was a thrill to stand on this spot, as I really felt the …

As I reflected on the significance of standing on Mount Moriah on this spot, we discussed as a group all of the significant events of the Bible that occurred on this mountain. You see this is the mountain that God tested Abraham by calling him to sacrifice his son, Isaac.

It is also the location of the threshing floor that David bought so that he could offer a sacrifice to God. And then in turn, it was the location that David’s son, King Solomon, would build the Jewish Temple. And it was on this spot that the Most Holy Place was located that the High Priest would enter once a year to offer a sacrifice for the sins of all the people. And it is also the location that the curtain temple, which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was torn in two from top to bottom, when Jesus died on the cross!

The Temple Mount and The Dome of the Rock

Another high point of my recent spiritual pilgrimage occurred toward the end of our time in Israel, while we were in the city of Jerusalem. On one of our last days in Jerusalem, we went to the Temple Mount, which is where today we can see the Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock is a Muslim Mosque built over the location of the Temple that Jesus would have visited, worshipped, taught, and even on one occasion cleaned it out. The Temple Mount, which is the entire area on top of Mount Moriah, is open to the public after you go through a 21st Century security check.

As we walked around on top of the Temple Mount (See Pictures Above) around this amazing structure called the Dome of the Rock, we were reminded by our guide that it was only 2/3s of the size of the Tempe in Jesus Day. And although the Temple built by King Herod before Christ was born was completely destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, we have a good feel from records of the day, what it would have looked like and the basic location of it.

Panoramic View of Sea of Galilee

It was truly amazing to realize that in one panoramic view, we were looking at the entire area that Jesus carried out the majority of his ministry. You can see me trying to grasp this realization, while comparing what I saw with my own eyes with the Bible maps (Sea Picture of Sea with Map) that I had looked at for years! And yet this is what really dawned on me while taking in this panoramic view was what I recorded on one of 130 pages of journal entries: “I was actually surprised to see how close these villages were. It reminded me that although at times my work in Springboro might not seem that significant in the big world picture, the truth is that Jesus changed the world from a ministry that was in a relatively small geographical area.” And so can we!!

We live in a big world, but we can impact our world by sharing Jesus, the light of the world with those around us. We are also called to be a light to those around us. To let our light shine as Jesus explained by “let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:16 NLT) and bring to those around us the same message that Jesus brought to this earth and taught.

Panoramic View from Arbel Cliff

From the top of Arbel Cliff, one can see the landscape of the majority of Jesus ministry along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Listen to Matthew’s description of this ministry:
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah:
“In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.”
From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” Matthew 4:12-17 NLT

It is interesting to see that Jesus began his ministry in an area that a lot of non-Jewish people lived. He came to bring hope to those that would have been considered the outsiders by the religious elite of his day. Jesus came to be a light to the irreligious. This reminds me once again, that as a church we are not called to cater to the religious, but to instead reach out to the unchurched and share with them the good news that it is found in life not by adopting religion, but it is about developing a relationship with Jesus, the one who has come near from Heaven!!

One of the things that really struck me, while on top of the Arbel Cliff looking down on the Northern part of the Sea of Galilee is that the Sea wasn’t as large as I had imagined. Although beautiful, it is only 64 square miles and from the panoramic view of the Cliff of Arbel, we could see the entire area that Jesus did the majority of his ministry. We could see both the modern day city of Magdala and the remains of the ancient city of Magdala that Mary Magdalene came from. We also could see the plain of Genesaret, the area called Tabgha (where we believe Jesus fed the 5,000), the Mount of Beatitudes (where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount), and also the cities of Capernaum and Bethsaida.

Cliffs of Arbel

Cliff of Arbel (See Pictures): And although the Arbel Cliff is never mentioned in the Bible, we know by its location that Jesus would have at least walked by this cliff in the nearby Valley of the Doves as this would have been the direct path between his home town of Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee.



It took a while to get up to the top of this cliff, and of course when we got to the top, some of my fellow pilgrims who were OSU fans couldn’t resist.

Jordan River

In the Bible, we know that Jesus grew up in the small village of Nazareth and then at the age of 30 he was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. While in Israel, we had the privilege to visit the Jordan River (See Picture Above of the Jordan River).



Some of the guys were baptized (or immersed) in the Jordan River, but I simply had some water poured on my head to be reminded of my baptism into Christ 32 years ago.



This by the way, was a very touching time to revisit the river that Jesus was baptized and that many people throughout the history of Christianity have been baptized to experience forgiveness and a new life in Christ. Of course Jesus was not baptized for forgiveness, but his baptism did mark the beginning of his ministry, just like baptism marks the beginning of a new life for the follow of Christ.

Quiet Time by the Sea of Galilee

After a moving opening night ceremony that we received our pilgrim crosses, the next morning, following an early morning quiet time by the Sea of Galilee (See Pictures Above) in the town of Tiberus and breakfast, we drove to the top of the Cliff of Arbel.

The Way of the Lord

One author, NT Wright in a book entitled, “The Way of the Lord,” said that visiting the land that Jesus walked is like discovering the “Fifth Gospel.” Throughout my time in Israel, I asked the LORD to reveal to me this “Fifth Gospel” so that I could understand Jesus more fully!

Purpose of Pilgrimage

This is one of many prayers that were answered while I was on my pilgrimage, but my number one hope and prayer that I recorded in my journal was … “To more deeply fall in love with Jesus, my Lord and Savior. My hope is that I will know Christ in a more full way and that my relationship with him will grow so much deeper!” And the Bible verse that continued to echo in my head as I began this pilgrimage was the words found in … I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10-11 NIV

And my hope is that during this message and the five that follow, that you will gain a deeper appreciation of Christ and that you too will fall more deeply in love with Jesus!

Retracing the Steps of Jesus - Message Series

Our theme verse for this message series that we are beginning this morning is on the cover of the bulletin and it simply reads: To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21 NIV

And by the way, the steps that you see on the cover of the bulletin (See Picture to the Left) are the actual steps that Jesus walked on the way to his trial and eventual crucifixion. It was a privilege to actually see, touch, and step on the actual steps that Jesus walked and realize that all of us have been called to follow in his steps. And over the next six weeks (Show Message Series with Picture of me by the steps), I am going to do my best to share some of the highlights of this amazing trip along with some of the 3,000 pictures that I took, while I was there. And don’t worry, I won’t show them all. By the way, my roommate, a pastor in Cincinnati, said that I should have received the award for Mr. Photogenic and of course he also called me his Amish friend (I liked what one person said – Indiana Jones), because I wore long sleeves and long pants the whole trip due to my sun allergies, but the good news no sun rash while in Israel!!