Nazareth Village – May 19, 2008

We come to modern day Nazareth, which is no longer a small village of a few hundred people when Jesus lived there. In order to get a feel for what life was like there 2000 years ago, we went to Nazareth Village, a re-creation of a village setting with vineyard, wine press, cistern, a house of that era, a synagogue, olive and pomegranate trees, goats and a donkey, with people dressed for that time.

From a watchtower, Glen read from Isaiah 5 – The Song of the Vineyard – “The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight.”

The attention to detail in this re-created village is splendid and as we gather in the synagogue, we read Luke 4:14-29, where Jesus is rejected at Nazareth. As Jesus reads in the synagogue from Isaiah, he sits down at the end of the reading. Apparently, when the rabbi or teacher sits down, this is the indication to all that something important is going to be said and you should listen carefully. As Jesus says, “Today this prophecy is fulfilled in your hearing” clearly indicating he is the Messiah, the people were furious and drove him out of the town, making Jesus words “No prophet is accepted in his hometown” ring true. They wanted to throw Jesus off a cliff “but he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”