Can Anything Good Come from Nazareth?


Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

“Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.
John 1:45-46

“Jesus of Nazareth” is a beautiful name to those of us who follow him. Ironically, Jesus was often criticized because of his home town (John 7:52). Even Nathanael was surprised to learn that the Messiah had come from Nazareth. In fairness to Nathanael, he was probably surprised because he knew that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem (this was in fact Jesus’ place of birth, but he grew up in Nazareth). Nathanael quickly decided to follow Jesus despite his initial shock.

Nazareth was located in the Galilee region, which was the northern section of Israel. Due to Galilee’s history and location, Galileans had frequent interactions with Gentiles (Pagans; non-Jewish people). Nazareth itself was actually home to a large Roman military outpost.

Galileans were known for having more simple religious customs than Judeans. The elite religious leaders considered Galileans inferior in terms of their religious practices. Perhaps they thought Galileans were “corrupted” by their contact with Gentiles.

Galileans were also easily recognized by their accent (Matthew 26:69) and had a reputation for poor grammar.

We know, of course, that these stereotypes were not true of Jesus. He was raised in a devoutly Jewish home—he knew the Scriptures by the time he was twelve years old (Luke 2:41-48). We know that he was a powerful public speaker who could awe entire crowds. There was also a well-known (though unwritten) prophecy that the Messiah would be called a Nazarene (Matthew 2:23).

There is a point to all of this information. Your destiny is not determined by your hometown or place of birth. You may be from a place that others look down upon. Your hometown may be known for poverty and crime instead of its good qualities. Don’t allow this to bring you down or destroy your hopes.

Jesus never apologized for his home town. He never seemed too concerned about what people thought of Galilee (he actually never seemed concerned with man’s opinion at all). He simply obeyed the will of the Heavenly Father and fulfilled his mission here on earth.

Don’t get too concerned with where you are from—none of us decided our birthplace or our hometown. Focus instead on where you are going—the direction God is leading you in your life.

Ask Kuya Kevin: Poverty and Revenge

Here’s a few good questions from an anonymous writer:

“Some Questions to Kuya
Why God created human?
Why God created beggars?
Do they have more sin than us?
I don’t think they have more sin than us.
All of us are same degree sinners.
Right?
Then, why do they have to spend their life on the road and beg or collect the trash for living?
Why God does not provide them food and place to live?
Why God create people without our will?
Doesn’t God selfish?”

Anonymous,
These are wonderful Questions and I appreciate your honesty. I’ll do my best to answer them.

God created us to have a relationship with Him. You can see this all the way back in Genesis when He created Adam and Eve and walked with them in the Garden of Eden.

Let’s look at this passage in regards to your question about beggars:

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
John 9:1-5

Just because someone is suffering it does not mean they are sinful. There are many factors involved with poverty. Poverty can be caused by the environment someone grew up in, by unwise life choices, or both.

Sometimes we suffer due to the sins of others (we are hurt by wicked people, corrupt governments, etc). It isn’t fair, but it’s the way things are.

Remember that God created a perfect world. Poverty and other problems happen because we live in a world that has been corrupted by us. The Bible does not promise that this world will be perfect.

Let me give you an example. If you saw a house that had broken windows, holes in the walls, and cracks in the roof, you would not blame the architect. You would probably blame the people living in the house who did not take care of it.

We cannot blame God for the problems that we’ve created. God has given us the freedom to choose. We should do our best to try to help those who are poor and correct systems that create poverty.

“God said that he will revenge for us, if we leave our anger with Him (I don’t remember where it was written in the Bible).
But why doesn’t God leave those sinners and do not kill them?
Why does God leave good people in suffering instead of kill their enemies?”

Here’s the passage you are referring to. Look at it in context and it will become clearer:

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge;
I will pay them back,”
says the Lord.
Instead,
“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads.”
-Romans 12:19-20

Christians should forgive and bless our enemies. God will take revenge in the final judgment, but not necessarily right now. He gives people the chance to repent first. We should desire that they repent, not that they be judged.

Jesus is the ultimate example of this. He asked God the Father to forgive his tormenters as he was being crucified.

I’ll give you a few final thoughts for both of these questions.

1. If we want to understand God’s love for us, we must look to the cross: The cross is where God demonstrated His ultimate act of love and sacrifice (thus He is not selfish). Look to the cross—not to the problems of this world.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
-Romans 5:8

2. One day God will judge everyone, but not necessarily in this life. The story of the Rich man and Lazarus is a good example (Luke 16:19-31).

See also: this post on Typhoon Durian. It deals with some of the issues of worldwide suffering.

This is a short answer to a complicated question. I hope it is helpful to you. Thanks again for your question and your honesty.