What if the greatest king in the world came from the smallest town in the land?
This is Scripture for Students. I’m Steve Whitacre, president of Trinity College and a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. I want to help students build a daily habit for life-long Bible reading. Today is December 20, 2024 and this episode of Scripture for Students is called There and Back Again. Grab your Bible and let’s get started.
Open your Bible to Matthew 2. When I was a teenager, our youth group took a ski trip in Colorado. We lived in Kansas City, so we had to drive across Kansas and half of Colorado to get to the slopes. We were in the middle of nowhere when the van got a flat tire. Fortunately, we were right at an exit for a very small town that had a mechanic. There was a—very—small town out in the middle of the Kansas prairie. A long, long way from anything else.
I remember sitting on a bench looking at this town. I could see the whole thing just by turning my head a little. I tried to imagine what it would be like to live there. There was a post office and a gas station with a little store and this mechanic. Didn’t seem like much else. Didn’t even have a McDonalds. Need groceries? Take a road trip! Entertainment? Gotta make your own. Working on a home project and need something from the hardware store? Better plan ahead and make sure you get all your supplies.
What would it be like to be from such a small town? Well, Jesus could probably tell you.
Let’s learn more about where Jesus was from in Matthew 2:19–23,
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.
23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
May the Lord bless the reading and the hearing and the keeping of his Word.
You might remember from reading Luke 2 last week that Joseph and Mary were from Nazareth before they went to Bethlehem to be counted in the census. Jesus was born in Bethlehem and it seems that the family stayed there a bit before fleeing to Egypt to escape from the murderous king Herod. But they finally get to return home when Herod died and so Joseph and Mary return to Nazareth, to the town where Jesus grows up. He eventually becomes known as Jesus of Nazareth.
What comes to mind for you when you picture a town like this in the Bible? Sometimes we assume that because a place had a name, it must have been a reasonably sized city. But if you could time travel to the ancient world, you would probably be surprised by how small most places really were. Other than a few major cities like Rome, Corinth, or Ephesus, but most towns and villages were really small.
No one knows for sure how big Nazareth was at this time, but I’ve read estimates that say it could have been as big as about 1500 people. But at the time Jesus was born, it was much more likely about 200–500 people. That’s amazingly small. If you grew up in a town like Nazareth, you would know everyone.
Why do you think Matthew and Luke would both be so careful to note that Jesus was from Nazareth? It could be that they want to highlight the humble origins of Jesus, in contrast to the powerful and wealthy people who would reject Jesus and condemn him to death.
In John 1, when Philip tells Nathanael to come meet Jesus, Nathanael is in disbelief. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Now that the whole story is unfolded before us, we know that, “Yes, something very good can come out of Nazareth!” God good have done it very differently. Jesus could have been born in Rome so everyone would know that he was born for political power. He could have been born in Athens so that people would associate his name with wisdom and philosophy. He could have been born in Corinth so people would recognize him as wealthy and influential.
But God chose that he would be born in Nazareth because God loves to make great reversals. The creator of the world was born among animals in a stable. And the king of kings was born in Nowheresville, Israel. I’m sure God did this for many more reasons than I can possibly fathom, but at least one reason was surely so that Jesus would fulfill Isaiah 53:2–3,
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Reversals like this are so encouraging because they remind us of other great reversals that God has given to us.
- Sinners have been saved by the grace of this king.
- The enemies of God have been made his friends.
- Spiritual orphans have been brought into his family.
How many more great reversals can you think of, in the Christmas story and throughout the gospel story? Start a conversation at dinner tonight and see what your family can come up with too. And then thank God together for the great reversal of the gospel of Matthew 2:19–23.
That’s all for today. If you enjoyed this episode please share it with a friend and follow us on Apple Podcasts.
This content is sponsored by Trinity College of Louisville. We shape young men and young women for Christ and for the church. Learn more at TrinityCollegeLou.com. Until next time, keep growing!