The Good that Came Out of Nazareth (John 1:46)

THIS IS…Galilee. Of the Gentiles. Where Saul and Jonathan died. Where Elijah sarcastically ridiculed the prophets of Baal. Where widows receive their sons back from death. Where Jesus grew up. Now I know the previous sentences are not sentences technically, but they are for effect. I wish I could attach dramatic music to this to prove my point. Galilee is a big deal and today we started our tour of it.

We began at Bethshan, an early Canaanite city that fell to the Egyptians by Thutmoses III and was then occupied by the Philistines after him. On Mount Gilboa, right by Bethshan of the Philistines, Saul and his sons, including Jonathan, died (1 Samuel 31:4). His body was brought back to Bethshan and fastened to the wall there (1 Samuel 31:10) but the men of Jabesh-Gilead came by night and took Saul’s body as well as the body of Jonathan and burned it at Jabesh-Gilead (1 Samuel 31:12). In all honesty, it was mildly interesting to see this area but the best is yet to come.

From Bethshan we moved to Megiddo, the believed site of “Armageddon.” I say believed because it is such a common notion that I can’t ignore it and after what I heard today I cannot adhere to it. First and foremost, Armageddon is a name found in Revelation 16:14-16 and no one knows where “Armageddon” is. John writes as if it is a name transliterated from the Hebrew, but we have no idea of any city named Armageddon. So, being good toponomists (those who study the names of places across languages) scholars figure it could be Har-Megiddon (the mount of Megiddo), but the problem with that is there is no mountain at Megiddo! We could go on and on but the biggest argument against Megiddo being the last place of the end times is that there is nothing important at Megiddo! No one cares about an old city. There is nothing of value around it. But the argument becomes pointless after that (including where “Armageddon” really is). The end times are going to happen, trust Jesus. That’s all. What happened of significance at Megiddo? I’m glad you asked. The story of Deborah and Barak found in Judges 4 happens on Mount Tabor right by Megiddo. In one of the most action-packed stories of the Old Testament, Jael, the wife of Heber, drives a tent peg through the temple of Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite armies, and kills him. Oh, but it gets better.

After Megiddo, we went on top of the Mount Carmel ridge and looked down upon the Jezreel valley. Does the name Mount Carmel ring any bells? Of course! It is where Elijah asked the prophets of Baal if Baal was too busy on the toilet to answer their cries (There is definitely more to the story than that but that’s my favorite part). In the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal (found in 1 Kings 17-18) a few things are interesting to note. First and foremost, the land is in a season of drought because Elijah told Ahab that it would not rain anymore until Elijah prayed. In the story he has the people of Israel drench his altar with water from the Kishon. He had them use precious water, and a lot of it, for his sacrifice. Elijah may have been showing the Israelites how to have faith in God and how they would have to sacrifice to come back to Him after following Baal. The other thing to note is that the sacrifice was a bull. Baal is portrayed as a god of fertility and his image is that of a bull. I can imagine the smirk on Elijah’s face as he cut the bull for the sacrifice (1 Kings 18:33). But there’s more!

The last place we visited was Nazareth and as Nathanael said I wondered, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth (John 1:46)?” It is literally in the middle of a bowl with no access to the Jezreel valley. It was poor and isolated and our Savior grew up there. This was by far my favorite part of our trip today because of the story we looked at in Luke 4:16-30. Teacher Jesus goes to the synagogue in Nazareth as an adult and as was His custom. The people expected Him there and it was not surprise to them when He stood up to read the Scriptures. By this time it is believed that the synagogues already had a set schedule for the year of what to read when. What a coincidence then that Jesus reads a Messianic prophecy that He fulfills. He reads the first two verses of Isaiah 61 and sits down. In that day the teacher sat down and taught (maybe on a stool with black square-rimmed glasses and blonde hair and…did I just make a Rob Bell reference?) and the people turned and listened. So this is what happened and Jesus said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:21).” The people rejoiced! This is the one we have been waiting for. The rest of Isaiah 61 talks of blessing and riches. The people of Nazareth will finally be recognized and honored! And Jesus, as always, has something different in mind. In Luke 4:25-27 Jesus pointed out that God sent prophets to Gentiles instead of Israel. In not so many ways Jesus is saying God loves everyone. The Jews are only special because God chose to reveal Himself through them, but they are not superior. And immediately the crowd took Jesus to the mountain ridge we were sitting on to stone Him and He just walked through them. The Jews forgot the promise given to Abraham that through them the nations of the Earth will be blessed. They forgot that they were to be the blessing to everyone and they were waiting to be blessed. That was definitely an eye-opener for me. God has created me to love, first Him and then others. I cannot wait until He blessed me. I cannot be selfish and claim the promises of God for myself just because. I cannot seek instant gratification. I must live to love Him and others. My purpose in this life is not to be blessed but to be a blessing.