Today we visited the ancient city of Megiddo, crossed the plain where Armageddon, and overlooked the city of Nazareth, where Jesus grew in wisdom and stature to become a man. It occurred to me that in that one place, Jesus was surrounded by His past, His present. And he was and is the world’s future. I realize that may sound a little preposterous, so let me explain.
Nazareth was a tiny town, a town so insignificant that, when people heard that the Messiah was in Nazareth, people replied, “What possible good thing could come from Nazareth?”
Think about his childhood in Nazareth. There were only 120 to 150 residents. Everyone knew him, knew what he did, corrected his actions, judged his parents based on how he acted. Probably most of them were related to his family. Talk about having “too many” mommas and everyone knew his business.
We know he was raised as a devout Jew. He knew the scriptures and was taught how to understand them. He was taught a trade, which meant in spent lots of time with his earthly father, Joseph. He traveled with his family yearly to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and to worship in the temple.
When he climbed up the hill above his village, or traveled along the route toward Jerusalem, he would have been reminded of the importance of the plain of Armaggedon. From there he could see 30 miles and could see over twenty battlefields . . . the victories of Barok and Gideon, and the defeats of Saul and Josiah.
He could see the evidence of the past.
What could thing could come out of Nazareth? Only the perfect presence of God’s Son.
Margie Williamson
Community Manager
Comments