If anyone
ever came from a Podunk town, it was Jesus. Nazareth, where Jesus grew up, sat
on a hillside in a remote valley southwest of the Sea of Galilee. Along one of
its dusty alleyways, lined with sun-baked mud walls, Jesus’ father ran a
carpenter’s shop. Certainly there were no bragging rights about being from
Nazareth.
Nazareth
was such a backwater town that when Nathaniel first heard that Jesus was from
there, he exclaimed, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” But after
meeting Jesus, Nathaniel changed his mind. In Jesus of Nazareth, he met the one
who fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, the one for whom the people of Israel
had been waiting and longing. He had met the Son of God and Son of Man.
Not only
had Jesus of Nazareth come to fulfil God’s promises to the people of Israel,
but as the Son of Man, Jesus said, he would open the gates of heaven and be the
way for all humanity to find peace and full life with God.
The
invitation to know Jesus of Nazareth began with a simple invitation from
Nathaniel’s friend Philip: “Come and see.”
Won’t you
offer your family and friends today the opportunity to come and see Jesus? Then
they too may know his presence in their lives and worship the Son of Man.
Prayer
Jesus of
Nazareth, forgives us when we fail to see who you really are. Help us to
recognize you today as King of kings and Lord of lords, and to share you with
the world. Amen.
