MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron
We’ve been writing about the coming of the Messiah, in light of Galatians 4:4 which reads, “But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.” Not much is written of Jesus’ boyhood, but today we’ll take a look at some things that shaped the Son of God, “born of a woman”, into the Man of God.
The article last week mentioned that Joseph and Mary returned after fleeing to Egypt, and settled in Nazareth, a small, unremarkable village located on a high plateau with mountains to the north. In 2019 we were fortunate to visit an open-air museum that provides guided tours of reconstructed and reenacted village life in the time of Jesus, illustrated with people in costume acting out parables (nazarethvillage.com). In Jesus’ day, Nazareth had contact with the rest of the world, but because of its topography it enjoyed a degree of isolation and detachment. For the boy Jesus, it provided a place to grow in simplicity, while serving as a doorway to the world in which He would minister.
While there are no Old Testament prophecies specifically about Nazareth, Matthew drew a connection between the town and the generally accepted teachings about the reign of the Messiah. “Then a shoot [ne-tzer] will spring from the stem of Jesse [David’s father] and a branch from his roots will bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1; see also Isaiah 4:2; Jeremiah 23:5, 33:15; Zechariah 3:8). Rather than something to boast about, there was no advantage to being from Nazareth: Nathanael asked his friend Philip, “’Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’” (John 1:46). Jewish leaders frequently referred to Jesus and His disciples as “Nazarene”, a title of disrespect. The term was written by Pilate as an inscription on His cross (John 19:19).
The prophet Isaiah gave a glimpse, 700 years before his birth, of a lowly Suffering Servant (chapters 52 and 53). Experiencing boyhood in a town such as Nazareth helped shape the life of the Messiah. The village was small enough, it would likely have supported only one carpenter, and then not very well. Mary’s husband Joseph does not appear in scripture after the family’s journey to Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-52), so it is assumed he passed away, perhaps leaving Jesus responsible for the family and the carpenter shop. He thus was known as “the carpenter”, identified only with Mary and siblings, and no mention of Joseph (Mark 6:3).
Surrounded by hillsides that supported fields of grain, vineyards, and fig groves, Jesus grew up with nature. As a child, He may have watched people’s behaviors as they sought a lost sheep, kept their lamps lit, or prepared ground for planting. Each of those observations later colored the parables that he shared with multitudes of followers. It’s likely as a boy He developed habits of finding a place of retreat and reflection with His heavenly Father.
Just as His birth in a stable, Jesus’ childhood and identification with Nazareth carry a message for us today. Things of greatest value are not found in wealth or appearance or status. In the Sermon on the Mount, He cautioned, “’Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, ... but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven’” (Matthew 6:19-20). We are promised that He is concerned about our life and necessities. But those who read further may misinterpret “and all these things shall be added to you” as guaranteeing riches. Jesus’ meaning instead is that kingdom riches are sufficient, and God is enough, for now and eternity.
I read an article citing economist Melissa Kearney of the University of Maryland. Titled, “What happens when a whole generation never grows up?”, one quote is, “Our expectations are so much higher today. Generations before us didn’t expect to have large houses where every kid had a bedroom and there were multiple vacations.” We’ve been taught a distorted value system based on success, education, and wealth. Children believed in rainbows and unicorns, with expectations that they’d start out with what their parents have, rather than working their way from the bottom up.
God values love, righteousness, justice, and peace. He also values children. Aging populations usually at least had children to turn to, but when today’s young people today become elderly, there may be no responsible adult kids to rely on.
The apostle Paul wrote, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).
Out of Nazareth came One sharing the answer - a value system that esteemed love, sharing, tenderness and compassion, unity, and humility. As a servant, Jesus valued others and placed their needs above His own. He came from heaven to an unremarkable village and lived among common people with little visible wealth, to demonstrate remarkable faith and purpose.
