Jesus being from Nazareth was such common knowledge that even when a blind beggar “ heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mark 10:47). Sadly, Jesus’ hometown would later reject Him, nearly throwing Him out of town in one instance but He was also rejected in many other cities so “He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him” (Mark 6:1). Just before Jesus’ public ministry it says “ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan” (Mark 1:9). We have more scriptural support for Jesus growing up as a boy in Nazareth because “the crowds said, ‘ This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee’” (Matt 21:11) and when Peter was spotted after Jesus’ arrest and identified as the man who “ was with Jesus of Nazareth” (Matt 26:71). That explains a large presence of Roman soldiers in the city. Nazareth was right on the Roman Road and as such, it made it easy for troops to be sent in any direction if needed. Since we know that Jesus grew up in Nazareth, we might wonder why. Jesus’ parents returned to Nazareth with Him and there, he grew in the favor of God and with men and later in this chapter, Luke records that “ Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52). And the favor of God was upon him” (Luke 2:39-40). And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. It was “ when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. After Jesus’ birth, He was circumcised on the eighth day (Luke 2:21) and “ when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord” (Luke 2:22-23). Nazareth lay within the region called Galilee and Nazareth was where Joseph and Mary were at when they both received the news of Jesus coming birth (Luke 1:26). We already know that Jesus parents had to travel from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Bethlehem to be registered (Luke 2:3) so Nazareth was His parent’s hometown. It was “ while they were there, the time came for her to give birth” (Luke 2:6) and so Jesus was born in Bethlehem but was He raised there? Did He grow up in Bethlehem or in Jerusalem? If not, where? Like in most nations, the customs, culture, and dialect can be quite different from one another. Like Bethlehem, Nazareth was looked down upon by the religious leaders of the Jews. This prophecy would have never been fulfilled unless the Roman “ to be registered, each to his own town” (Luke 2:3) if Caesar Augustus had not ordered it and at this exact time so “ Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child” (Luke 2:4-5) so apparently, Jesus soon-to-be family came from Galilee and a small Roman soldier outpost called Nazareth. Jesus was prophesied to be born of a virgin and also to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:1-6) which was more of a village than a city. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar- the Lord of hosts is his name: “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” Thus says the Lord: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord.Where did Jesus grow up? Was it in the same place that He was born? Born in Bethlehem And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ESV / 9 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpfulįor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.
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