Jesus’ Contemptible Hometown

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I think you are aware that there are a number of small U.S. towns that are famous for just one thing. For example, if I say, “Salem, Massachusetts,” you know that it's known for “Salem Witch Trials.” If I say, “Roswell, New Mexico,” you think “Aliens,” of course.  “Hershey, Pennsylvania” is known for “Chocolate”–uh-oh, I just lost some of you and it'll take me a while to get you back. “Woodstock, New York” is known for “Hippies” and “Music,” yes! Other small towns across America have as their only claim to fame that they are the hometown of their famous son or daughter. For example, there's “Cairo, Georgia,” it looks like Cairo, but I've been corrected; it's Cairo, Georgia. It is known only for one thing, and that is the hometown of baseball great “Jackie Robinson.” “West Reading, Pennsylvania” is probably not on your list of places to go, but it is now famous as the hometown of “Taylor Swift.” “Riverside, Iowa,” it is the future birthplace of “Captain James T. Kirk,” only you Star Trek fans get that. “Tupelo, Mississippi,” now there is a destination; Tupelo promotes itself as the “Home of Elvis Presley.” 

But this morning as we study God's Word together, I want us to look at the most famous small town that is known solely for its well-known Son, and that is the town of Nazareth, known solely because of its famous Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the paragraph that we study today, we will discover that Nazareth is His hometown, and we'll learn why that matters, and it does matter. Now, we're in the first two chapters of Matthew, “The Messiah's Arrival.” We've examined all of it so far except the last paragraph, and today we come to that paragraph where we learn about “The Messiah's Galilean Home,” verses 19 to 23. Let's read it together, Matthew, chapter 2, I'll begin reading in verse 19. 

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child's life are dead.” So, Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

This paragraph tells us that Jesus the Messiah, although He was born and initially lived in the very important town of Bethlehem, He would eventually, in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, grow up in the contemptible town of Nazareth. Nazareth was to be His hometown.  This paragraph explains how that happened, but more importantly, it explains why that had to happen. The account of Jesus' family return to the nation of Israel, the land of Israel, from Egypt, and how they landed in Nazareth occurs here in our text in two scenes that take place in two different places. Let's look at these scenes together. 

The first scene in our passage, unfolds in Egypt, and there, Joseph receives “A Promised Message from God,” verses 19 and 20. But to set the context, go back to verse 13, chapter 2, verse 13, there we read, “An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt.”  And then notice the last expression, “and remain there until I tell you.” Now, Joseph had done exactly what the angel commanded. He got up in the middle of the night, he hastily prepared his wife, Child, and belongings, and he traveled seventy-five miles to the border of Egypt, and to safety from Herod who wanted to kill Jesus. And then, possibly, he traveled the entire three-hundred-twelve miles to the second largest city in the Roman Empire, Alexandria, Egypt, on the coast, where there was a population of a million Jews in the first century. But regardless, he went to Egypt, and then he waited; he waited for the promised message from God, “Remain there until I tell you.” 

The first thing we discover in our passage is “The Timing” of that message. Look at verse 19, “But when Herod died,” when Herod the Great died.  Now, Herod died in the 34th year of his reign at seventy years of age. Just to remind you, as we discovered, Jesus was born actually in 5 or 6 B.C., and based on astronomical calculations from the writings of Josephus, the first century historian, we can establish the death of Herod as just before Passover in the year of Rome, 750, or as we would say, in April of 4 B.C. The message that Joseph was waiting on, telling him to take his family back into Israel, came shortly after Herod's death. How did Herod die? 

Well, Josephus tells us the final details, frankly, more details than we really want to know, about exactly what his final illness was and how he died. Among Herod's many symptoms, Josephus tells us, “Are ulcerated bowels, foul breath, constant tremors, and a putrefied, maggot-filled scrotum.” These things were likely caused by complications from several different diseases, including arteriosclerosis, cirrhosis of the liver, and venereal disease. But Herod, realizing that he would soon die, and knowing that the Jews hated him, and that the announcement of his death would actually bring celebration throughout the land of Israel, Herod did something unthinkable. He ordered that, and these are Josephus' words, that “All the principal men of the entire Jewish nation be summoned.” And then he ordered that “Those who actually came be imprisoned in the Hippodrome,” just there in the city of Jericho, and “on his death, that all of those Jewish leading citizens be slaughtered.” His reasoning? So that on the day of his death, there would be genuine mourning across the land. Thankfully, that command was not carried out. But he did die, and his son, Archelaus, saw to it that he had an incredibly lavish funeral. 

Josephus tells us that Herod the Great's body was wrapped in purple with a crown of gold on his head and a scepter in his hand. The platform that his body lay on was solid gold surrounded by gemstones. Five hundred slaves surrounded his body with perfume so that there wouldn't be the smallest whiff of odor from decay. And he was buried with great pomp and circumstance in his palace near the city of Jericho. But all the pomp and the perfume couldn't remove the stench of a life poorly lived. It's like Jesus said, “What does it profit a man who gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” Sadly, Josephus summarized the life of Herod like this, “He was a man of great barbarity toward all men equally, and a slave to his passions.” That's the story of Herod.  The thing Herod is most remembered for across the world is his antagonism against and his effort to destroy Jesus Christ. You know, when I think about Herod, this great powerful man who held people's lives and death at his very whim, we can be intimidated by such men.  But the story of Herod, the tragic story of Herod, is a reminder that God's enemies always perish–they always die, and God's work marches on.  The promised message from God came when Herod died. 

Next in our text, we learn about “The Message” itself.  Notice, verse 19 continues, “But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.”  Again, God chooses to communicate with Joseph during a dream through the vision of an angel. This is unusual, as I pointed out, this isn't something you should look for or I should look for; it didn't happen often even in biblical history. But Joseph again has this dream, and this one happens while he is in Egypt waiting on a message from God, with his family. Verse 20, “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel.” Again, the Greek command ‘get up’ here has a sense of urgency to it. It means, “Wake up from this dream you're in and get up and immediately get your family together and go back to the land of Israel.” Now, I just want to make note of the fact that the angel here doesn't tell Joseph exactly where to go. That's going to come later, and it's important, I'll come back to that. Verse 20, goes on to describe why it's now time for him to return to the land of Israel, “For (because) those who sought the child's life are dead.”  You'll notice the angel uses the plural, ‘those.’  Obviously, he's referring primarily to Herod, who was trying to kill Jesus, but because of Herod's death, now there's no one who is seeking to kill Jesus. With that, the curtain closes on the first scene. 

The second scene, which is the bulk of this passage, occurs in Israel, and it's there that we learn “The Unexpected Hometown of the Messiah;” this is verses 21 to 23.  This scene begins with “The Return to Israel,” verse 21. “So, Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.”  That's almost identical to what happened when he was told to go to Egypt, and now he's returning home.  As we've come to expect from Joseph, he obeyed as a true believer, a true Old Testament believer, who has been now, by grace, given the privilege of being the adoptive father of Jesus the Messiah. He obeyed immediately, and he obeyed completely. When he arrived in Israel, Joseph apparently again intended his family to live in the city of Bethlehem, as they had before Herod's attempt on Jesus' life. 

But instead, something else happens. We come to, in verse 22, “The Move to Galilee,” the move to Galilee,” verse 22, “But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father, Herod. Now, it's clear, in the text, that even after being forced to flee their new home in Bethlehem, in coming back to Israel, Joseph still wanted to settle again in Bethlehem. We aren't told why; there are several possible reasons. Maybe he wanted to settle there because they had relatives. Remember, they went there for the census; that was sort of their tribal hometown, the place where they went to register for the census. So, it may be that they had relatives there, or it may be that he'd found work there. He came from Nazareth, a tiny little town, and maybe there was more work available for him as a carpenter in the city of Bethlehem. Or maybe he wanted to be in Bethlehem because it was only six miles away from Jerusalem and the Temple, and it just made sense for the Messiah to be close to the center of Judaism. Or maybe it was because Joseph wanted Jesus, the King of Israel, the great descendant of David, the Messiah, who would sit on David's throne, he wanted Him to grow up in David's hometown, Bethlehem.  We don't know. Whatever his motive in wanting his family to live in Bethlehem, Joseph decided against it for two very important reasons. 

First of all, “Because of Herod's Successor,” because of Herod's successor. Look at verse 22, “But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod.” Now, it's clear that this news surprised Joseph. He expected Antipas, Herod's son, Antipas, to be ruling over Judea; that's what he fully expected. Let me say this, “The reason he expected that was because in a previous will, Herod had directed that Antipas would succeed him and receive the entire kingdom.” That was well known; it was in his will, well known, that's what everybody expected, it’s what Joseph expected.  But during the last months of his life, Herod being Herod and being very impulsive, he actually revised his will several times in the last few months of his life. In his final will, made literally at the last moment of life, Herod divided his kingdom among three sons. 

First of all, Herod Antipas became Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea; you can see it there on the slide. The yellow circles mark the area that Herod Antipas came to control. A second son, Philip, who was mentioned in the New Testament only in Luke 3:1, became Tetrarch of the northern regions.  You can see it there in the blue circle, that was the area that he oversaw. And then thirdly, Archelaus received half of Herod's kingdom. He became the ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea, the bulk of the land of Israel, and that's what Joseph learned. 

When Joseph heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father, notice verse 22, “He was afraid to go there.” He was afraid to go there because Archelaus, like his father, was a cruel and impulsive man. Again, Josephus tells us that shortly after Herod's funeral, shortly after Archelaus came to power, he squashed a rebellion in Israel by killing 3,000 people, including many who had come to celebrate the Passover. That's the kind of man he was; he was truly a chip off the old block. His cruelty eventually moved the Jewish leaders to complain about him to Rome, and as a result, Rome removed Archelaus from power in the ninth year of his reign, in the year 6 A.D.  From that point forward, from 6 A.D. onward, Rome says, “We're done with local rulers in Judea; we're going to appoint governors, Roman governors, over Judea,” and of course, the most famous of those was a man named Pontius Pilate. 

But there's a second reason that Joseph decided against Bethlehem, not only because of Herod's successor, but also because of “God's Warning.” Look at verse 22, “Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee.”  In spite of his concerns about Archelaus, it's clear that Joseph was torn. He really wanted his family to live in Bethlehem, and so it was probably hard for him to make the final decision to abandon that plan and to move to Galilee. So, God again intervened, and He confirmed Joseph's decision in a dream. In the dream, God communicated two things. First of all, He explicitly warned him not to settle in Bethlehem, and He confirmed the decision to settle in Galilee. So, Joseph collected his belongings, possibly some they had left in Bethlehem before they left for Egypt, but regardless, he collected his belongings, and he moved his family to Galilee. Galilee, of course, is in the north of the land of Israel. It's between what we call the Sea of Galilee, or the lake that's there in Galilee, and the Mediterranean, that's the region of Galilee. 

Now, the word ‘Galilee’ actually means ‘district’ or ‘circle.’ So, when you read about ‘Galilee of the Gentiles,’ literally it's the ‘district of the Gentiles.’ You say, “Why would a place in Israel be called the ‘District of the Gentiles?’” That's because all the way back to the time of Joshua, the tribes that were granted that area never completely drove out the people of the land, so there were many Gentiles still there.  And after the exile, after 586 B.C., and the return that followed that, the enemies of Israel populated that area with a lot of Gentiles in order to undermine the nation. And so, it was Galilee, not of the Jews, but Galilee of the Gentiles. 

Now, the Old Testament predicted that the Messiah's ministry would be in Galilee.  In Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 1, it talks about the “Galilee of the Gentiles” having the light of the Messiah. In fact, Matthew quotes that Old Testament prophecy, a prophecy by the way, that focuses primarily on the second coming and the millennial kingdom of Jesus, Matthew quotes it as being partially fulfilled in Jesus' first advent.  Turn over to Matthew 4, verse 12.

Now, when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been taken into custody, He withdrew (Notice this.) into Galilee; And leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.  This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet (Here's Isaiah 9:1.): “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE (or the district) OF THE GENTILES–THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT HAS DAWNED.”

The light, of course, is Jesus, the Messiah, He has come, and now through His teaching, He's bringing light to those who only knew darkness.

In our text, we learn not only that the Messiah would minister in Galilee, the text we just looked at, but also that he would grow up in Galilee. That's important, remember, it's the ‘District of the Gentiles.’ What does that tell us about Jesus? It tells us about His international ministry, even during His earthly life. And, of course, He continued that through the disciples after His ascension when He said, “Go unto all the nations.”

 But verse 23 in Matthew 2, goes on to tell us not only about their settling in Galilee, but about “The Home in Nazareth,” the home in Nazareth. Now, here's where I want to draw back to your mind what's gone on in our text. It's interesting that Joseph was first told simply to return to Israel, no details, just go back to the land. And then later, it became clear that he was to go to Galilee, through this dream. But he apparently chose Nazareth on his own; there's no mention of his being commanded to live in Nazareth. What we learn here is a lesson about divine direction. You see, God doesn't give us dreams, but He does direct us providentially in much the same way. Like Joseph, He usually directs us just one step at a time. He doesn't give us a view of the full future; we don't know all that's coming. We have to make a decision; we make a decision. So, God directs us like that, and He expects us to make wise decisions, and He providentially shapes those decisions for His own purposes. If you're unclear on that, if you still have this sort of mystical idea of God's will, that you get this feeling and that's how you know what God wants you to do, I encourage you to read one of two books.  There's a short one that was written by Kevin DeYoung called Just Do Something, talking about how to make wise biblical decisions. If you want the fuller version, then you can purchase Gary Friesen's book, Decision Making and the Will of God, but both of those will sort of get rid of the idea that you ought to live by your feelings. No, God calls you to make wise decisions and to act on revelation. In our case, it's not dreams, but the Word of God. 

So, Joseph, verse 23, came and lived in a city called Nazareth. The Greek word ‘lived in’ there means ‘to dwell,’ ‘to reside,’ ‘to settle down.’ But why Nazareth? Well, there's an obvious answer; it's because it was the hometown of both Joseph and Mary. In Luke 1:26, we read it a few minutes ago, it was in Nazareth that Gabriel found Mary and announced the birth of Jesus to her. In Luke 2:4, both Joseph and Mary left Nazareth and went to register for the census in Bethlehem. But turn over to Luke 2; look at Luke 2, verse 39, it says, “When they (Mary and Joseph) had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord (That is, they had circumcised Him on the eighth day, they had committed Him to the Lord as the firstborn on the 40th day.), they returned to Galilee (notice this), to their own city of Nazareth.”  Now, let me just tell you that it's unclear whether this happens right after the 40 days and they go to Nazareth and they get their belongings and move back to Bethlehem, and that's where the Magi find them at the beginning of chapter 2, I think that's most likely; or it's possible that Luke is summarizing the move to Nazareth.  But either way, I want you to see the end of that verse, it was “their own city,” that's why it was the obvious choice. 

But it's not obvious in the fact that Nazareth was a very unimportant, insignificant town.  Just to give you a flavor for that, it's not mentioned in the Old Testament once; it's not mentioned in the Jewish Talmud. Josephus mentions forty-five towns in Galilee by name, but not Nazareth.  In the first century, the population of Nazareth was likely about two-hundred. Think, one section here in the bowl of this room–that was the entire population of Nazareth.  At the most, archaeologists tell us, based on the size of the village and all the archaeological discoveries, it was five-hundred. So, about the number of people in this bowl. So, between one section and the entire seating of this bowl, that was the entire population of the town of Nazareth in the first century–very unimportant! As the crow flies, it's about fifty-five miles north of Jerusalem. It's located in an elevated basin with an opening on the south to the Jezreel Valley, the Valley of Armageddon, as we call it.  And that area of Nazareth is a fertile valley known for its produce, its fruit trees, and even for its sheep and shepherds. From the western hill of Nazareth, you have one of the best views in Israel, including not only the Valley of Jezreel, the Valley of Armageddon, but also the Mediterranean Sea. 

So, it was a spectacular place in some ways, but at the same time, the people of Nazareth were known as really rough stock, at times, even violent. They were some of the best fighters in the nation, some of the best soldiers and warriors, and they were given to even personal violence, as you can see when they tried to kill Jesus after His sermon in the synagogue. It was a most unlikely place for the Messiah to grow up.  I mean, think about it for a moment, if you were sort of writing a script for the Messiah, the Son of God to come in the world, and you wanted to give Him a hometown where His ministry could take root, it wouldn't be Nazareth. It wouldn't be a community of two-hundred people, a backwater town, with a terrible reputation.  But that's what Joseph chose. He chose Nazareth because it was His and Mary's hometown. 

But there was also a divine reason that Jesus had to grow up in Nazareth. Look at verse 23, “This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’” Now, that is a most unusual statement by Matthew. This statement about the Old Testament being fulfilled in Jesus living in Nazareth is unique to Matthew in three ways. Number one, this is the only time Matthew uses the plural, “through the prophets,” instead of “prophet.” Secondly, it's the only time he omits a word that sort of introduces a quote. So, it was “through the prophets saying,” no word like that.  In fact, literally, the Greek text reads, “in order to fulfill the word through the prophets, that a Nazarene He will be called.” So, this isn't a direct quote of the Old Testament at all, but apparently a summary of what the prophets teach about the Messiah. The third unique thing about verse 23 is that this is the only time Matthew speaks of something fulfilling the Old Testament when it's not written in the Old Testament. There is no passage in the Old Testament that says, “Jesus will be called a Nazarene.” So, what's Matthew saying? What's he doing here? 

Well, those three differences I just mentioned to you, all point out the fact that Matthew here isn't quoting one Old Testament passage, but rather he's making the point that what the Old Testament prophets collectively teach about the Messiah is consistent with His being called a Nazarene. Why? What's the point of connection? Well, there are three common explanations for why Matthew said the prophets predicted that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.  Let me give them to you. One of them is a bad choice. I think the other two are true.  Let's start with the bad one. Some say it's “A wordplay on the Hebrew word for Nazarite, which is ‘nazir,’ a word play between ‘nazir’ for Nazarite and Nazareth.” This is very unlikely because not only is Nazarite spelled differently, that's a pretty serious problem, but the Nazarite vow has no connection to the Messiah anywhere in Scripture and the Nazarite vow has no connection to Nazareth.  So, it makes no sense, alright? 

Secondly, a second explanation is that He's called a Nazarene because it's “A wordplay on the Hebrew word for branch, which is ‘netzer.’” It's used of in Messiah as well as the city named Nazareth. I think this is in part what Matthew means; let me show it to you. Turn back to Isaiah. Isaiah, chapter 4. Now, it's going to start kind of unclear, but it'll get clearer. Look at Isaiah 4, verse 2, it's talking about the future, and the prophet Isaiah says, you know, when God takes away the reproach of Israel (verse 1), when a remnant is saved, verse 2, “In that day (Future day) the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious.” What is that, “the Branch of the LORD?” You'll notice in our version it's capitalized because they see it as referring to a person. Why? Well, go over to chapter 11 because here it becomes very clear who this Branch is. Isaiah chapter 11, look at verse 1, “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” Now, it's clear in verse 2 that we're talking about a person, this branch, “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him.” So, the branch is a person. 

What's going on here? Well, in context, Isaiah 11, this is clearly a prophecy about the Messiah, and the image here is a very familiar image to you. If you've ever walked through the woods, picture with me, for a moment, an old rotten tree that's been cut down, and there's nothing left but a stump, nothing but a stump.  It looks desolate, it looks hopeless–all life is gone–just an old dead tree stump. But months later, it's not uncommon if you walk past that stump, to see a tiny little shoot, a little stem coming up from the stump of that old dead tree. I've seen that several times in the woods that I walk in not too far from my home.  I'm sure you have as well. Isaiah says here that Israel, in his time, was like that rotten tree, no sign of life, dead. And God was going to judge her; He was going to use the Babylonians in 586 B.C. to cut her off at the stump, basically. Israel was going to become like a stump. But when it looked like all hope was gone out of that dead stump, God would bring forth a tiny shoot, a sign of life, hope, life. That's the Messiah! You see, the dead stump is Israel, and the tiny shoot is the Messiah. He would bring life and hope again. 

Two other Old Testament prophets use a different Hebrew word, but this same picture of the branch or shoot, which is the Messiah. Turn over to Jeremiah, look at Jeremiah 23; Jeremiah 23, and verse 5, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch (And here again, it's clearly a person.); and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.”  Turn over to chapter 33, Jeremiah 33, and verse 15, start in verse 14.

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David (A shoot off of David.) to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.” 

You say, “Okay, so the Branch is the Messiah, but what's the connection between the Branch and Nazareth?” Well, Nazareth is literally ‘Branch-town,’ and Jesus is ‘Branch-man’ from ‘Branch-town.’ He's the branch; He's the shoot; He's the hope! Out of the dead stump, here He comes. That's why the town of Nazareth was important. 

But there's a third possible source of this Old Testament prophecy, and I think not only is that one true, not only is Nazareth, you know, Jesus is ‘Branch-man’ from ‘Branch-town.’ He's the fulfillment of those prophecies. But in addition, I think when Matthew said that the Old Testament prophets predicted Messiah would be Nazarene, he meant this, thirdly, it's “A reminder that Messiah would be despised and rejected as a person like the town of Nazareth was as a town,” He would be despised and rejected as a person just like Nazareth was as a town. It's a common Old Testament theme that the Messiah would be despised and rejected. I've given you a list of references; you can look them up. Let me just give you a couple of examples. Isaiah 49:7 speaks of the Messiah and says, “the despised One,” “the One abhorred by the nation.” But of course, the famous one is in Isaiah 53, the prophecy about our Lord's death.  In Isaiah 53:2, it says, the Messiah “grew up before Him (God) like a tender shoot.” There He is again, He's the shoot.  He's the Branch. He's that little, tiny shoot off the dead stump.

And like a root out of parched ground; 

He has no stately form or majesty 

That we should look upon Him, 

Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. ( Here it is.)

He was despised and forsaken of men, 

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; 

And like one from whom men hide their face 

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 

Here's the greatest indictment of humanity, “We did not esteem Him.” That's spoken by the Jews at the Second Coming when they realize they killed their Messiah and they repent and believe, “We did not esteem Him.” So, the Messiah is despised and forsaken. 

In the same way, so was the town of Nazareth.  It's like an illustration of what would happen with its most famous Son. Because the educated, sophisticated people from Judea, and the capital, Jerusalem, they looked down on the entire region of Galilee. Turn over to John, chapter 7; John, chapter 7, and look at verse 41, Some heard Christ, this is John 7:41.

…were saying, “This is the Christ (Messiah).”  Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ (Messiah) is not going to come from Galilee, is He? (Verse 42) Has not the Scripture said that the Christ (Messiah) comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” (Can't be Galilee. Go down to verse 52.) They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” 

It's Galilee of the Gentiles, for goodness sakes. So, they looked down on Galilee, the educated, sophisticated elite of Judea.  But here's the amazing thing, even the people who lived in Galilee looked down on Nazareth! Go back to chapter 1, John 1, and look at verse 45, “Philip found Nathaniel.” Now, Nathaniel, we know from another text, was from Cana in Galilee, just a few miles from Nazareth; that’s where he grew up. Nathaniel hears from Philip, “‘We found Him of whom Moses and the Law and also the prophets wrote–Jesus of Nazareth’...Nathaniel said to him, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’” He lived a few miles away, like, surely not Nazareth! So, Nazareth was despised. 

Now go back to our text, go back to Matthew, chapter 2, and look at verse 23, and look at exactly what Matthew writes.  He says, “He (Jesus) shall be called a Nazarene.” That's not a good thing; that's a criticism, it's a critique, it's a slur. People would think of and call Jesus a Nazarene in a negative, pejorative way. It's like calling someone “a hick from Hicksville.” One of my friends pastored in Arkansas, and I'm not making this up; you can call him and talk to him. A member of his church lived on “Bird Brain Lane!” Wait, it gets worse, in “Toadsuck Ferry, Arkansas.” Living in Nazareth was like having that as your address. The Old Testament predicted that the Messiah would be despised, and the New Testament reveals that's exactly what happened. Just like the town of Nazareth was despised, looked down on, so was its most famous Son. 

So, what are the implications for us from this text? There's several. Let me give them to you quickly. Jesus' hometown and its reputation, the fact that He grew up in Nazareth reminds us, first of all, “Of the kind of people God saves.” I hate to tell you this, but this is the very kind of people God looks for. Go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 1; 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26, Paul's just talked about those who've responded to the gospel, for whom the gospel is the wisdom of God and not it’s foolishness, the message of the cross. Verse 26:

For consider your calling, brethren (That is, consider the fact that you have been called by God through the Gospel to Himself to believe in His Son.), that there were not many wise according to the flesh (That is, not many of the world's intelligentsia become believers. Oh, there's some.  But he says, not many, not many of the world's academic elites believe the Gospel.), not many mighty (Not many of the world's powerful, influential people become followers of Jesus Christ. Again, there are exceptions, but not many.), not many noble. (Not many of the world's aristocratic bluebloods become followers of Jesus Christ. Verse 27.) But God has chosen the foolish things of the world (I hate to tell you this, but that's you, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ. The foolish things of the world, not the elite, not the intelligentsia.) to shame the wise. God has chosen the weak things…(not the powerful and influential, but those who have very little influence.)…to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not. 

In other words, God has chosen to save ‘nothings and nobodies.’ That's who most of us are; we're not the powerful and influential. You say, “Why would God do that?” Look at the rest of verse 28, “So that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.” God saves nothings and nobodies, for the most part, so that He gets the glory. So, Jesus' hometown of Nazareth that was despised, which meant He was despised, reminds us that that's the very kind of people Jesus saves. 

Secondly, Jesus' hometown and its reputation reminds us “Of the kind of people God uses.” Look at chapter 4 of 1 Corinthians. Just turn over a page there.  Look at 1 Corinthians 4, verse 9. Paul is talking here about the apostles and how the world thought about them. Verse 9, “For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.” What does he mean? John MacArthur summarizes it like this. He says:

 The imagery here in verse 9 is of condemned prisoners brought into a Roman arena to fight and die. The last ones brought out for slaughter were the grand finale. Like doomed gladiators, the apostles were ridiculed, spit on, imprisoned, and beaten.  Yet God glorified His name through them as He used them to build His kingdom. This isn't how God thought about them; this is how the world thought about them.

He goes on to say in verse 10, “We're fools” to the world “We're considered weak to the world, we're without honor to the world” (Paraphrase). Verse 11, “To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty…poorly clothed…roughly treated…homeless.” And if that wasn't bad enough, verse 12, “we toil, working with our own hands.” That was looked down on that by the intelligentsia of that culture just as it is today. Now watch verse 13, “We have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things.” Again, he's not saying what they were; he's not saying how God saw them, he's talking about how the world saw the apostles. They were scum.  The Greek word refers to what you ‘scrape off of a dish.’ “Dregs” refers to what you ‘scrape out of a garbage can.’ He says to the world, “That's what we're like.” You see, the point is, God uses those who are happy if Jesus chooses to be thought of by the world around Him as “scum and dregs.” Listen, if you're interested in making a name for yourself, if you want to be big in this world, if you want to be impressive, then don't be a follower of Jesus Christ. Because if the apostles were thought of as “scum and dregs,” if Jesus was “despised,” then you shouldn't expect anything different. But God uses such people, people who are willing, who don't care, who want to be faithful to Jesus, even if everybody around thinks they're “scum and dregs.”

Number three, Jesus' hometown and its reputation remind us “That we should expect to be scorned and despised because of our association with Jesus.” It's interesting, in Acts 24, verse 5, the enemies of Christianity report on Paul, “We have found this man (Paul) a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader (Here you go, here's what you're known as.) a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” They are all like people from Hicksville! They're all like Nazarenes! Don’t be surprised.

Number four, Jesus' hometown and its reputation, and I love this, remind us that “We should gladly bear His reproach and patiently wait for our real hometown–the New Jerusalem.” I love the way the writer of Hebrews finishes; go to Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 12. Hebrews 13:12, he says, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood (That is, that He might set us apart to God, He might redeem us through His own blood.), (He) suffered outside the gate (city).”  There's a sort of parable there; it's like He suffered the shame and reproach of not being a part of God's people. Verse 13, “So, let us go out to Him outside the camp (Here it is.), bearing His reproach.” Listen, don't be afraid to be put together with Jesus Christ and to be despised, to be looked down on, to be thought “scum and dregs.” In fact, in John 15, Jesus said, “If they hated Me, they're going to hate you–don't be surprised” (Paraphrase). And notice verse 14, the reason we can bear His reproach now is “For (because) here we do not have a lasting city.” Your hometown isn't here; it's the new Jerusalem, and there you'll be honored and treated with dignity as the Son of the King, as one who belongs to Him. Don't expect to be treated well here; you'll be treated just like Jesus was, but be faithful, and someday we'll arrive at our true hometown! 

Let's pray together. Father, thank You for our time together this morning. Thank You for Your Word. Lord, help us not to be ashamed of Jesus. Help us to willingly, gladly bear the reproach that comes to being His follower. Father, I pray that You would work in our hearts to give us a new vision of our real hometown and help us to live in light of what's coming, and recognize that here, we are sojourners, we are foreigners, we are just passing through, and of course, we will be maligned and ridiculed and despised because we follow Jesus, because we believe His Word. But, Father, help us to remember that one day we'll arrive home. 

Lord, I pray for those here today who don't know You. Lord, they've sung the Gospel in the music we sang earlier. They've heard the Gospel; they've been reminded of Jesus coming to be the Deliverer, the Savior of His people. Father, I pray that You would use the Gospel they've heard and perhaps known even before today, to call them to Yourself. Thank You that You call not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble, but You call the nothings and the nobodies so that You get the glory. May they come to repentance and faith in Jesus even today for the glory of His name, we pray, Amen.