Jesus the Nazarene
John 1.45-46
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
In Matthew 2, when the magi arrived in Jerusalem after following the star, Herod asked the religious leaders where the Messiah would be born, and they told him Bethlehem, as promised in Micah 5.2. Nobody expected the Jews’ Messiah to come from Nazareth, a town not even mentioned in the Old Testament. But it became a badge of honour – Pilate wrote “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” on the sign placed on the cross, and the rest of the New Testament calls him ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ a further 19 times. A town which people despised, with no claim to fame, God chose as the place for his anointed Saviour to grow up.
Thank-you Lord for choosing the lowly and the insignificant, and making them special.
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