“Bible places: Nazareth”
Luke 1:26-27
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
In an article entitled, Famous Landmarks, author Jerry Dunn writes, “The world’s famous landmarks have been celebrated for centuries. Ever since a Greek poet named Antipater of Sidon compiled a roster of the Seven Wonders of the World in the second century B.C., people have made lists of awe-inspiring landmarks.”
So what are the most famous landmarks in the world?
In Australia, there’s the Sydney Opera House. Built to resemble waves on the sea, it’s the most photographed opera house in the world.
And speaking of Australia, the land down-under is also known for a huge rock formation, made entirely of sandstone. It’s six miles around and nearly 1200 feet high. But that’s only part of it—there’s another two-thirds underground! For centuries, locals called it, “Uluru,” a name that means, “Great Pebble.”
England has its share of landmarks. Think of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Stonehenge, the Palace of Westminster, and Windsor Castle.
Ireland has its Loch Ness and Paris has its Arc De Triomphe, the Louvre Museum, and, of course, the Eiffel Tower.
And here in America, we have our own share of landmarks too. In Washington, D.C., there’s the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument. South Dakota has Mount Rushmore. And in New York City, there’s the Empire State Building, the 9/11 memorial, and the Statue of Liberty.
And with each landmark, we seem to say that this is a vital place, an important place. No one should ever forget what happened here.
The Bible has its share of landmarks too, places that have changed the course of history. Think of the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Gethsemane, Mount Sinai, Mount Calvary, and the open tomb.
And today we’ll consider a little town called Nazareth, a place that marks one of the greatest moments in all of time.
Turn with me in your Bible to page 1088, as I read the words of our text. I’ll start where it says, “Birth of Jesus Foretold,” Luke chapter 1, verse 26.
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.”
“In the sixth month,” it said. Sixth month of what? It was the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.
You see, just a chapter before, the Bible tells us of the day old Zechariah came to minister in the temple. And as he tended the fire on the altar and the people prayed outside, the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared to him and said: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son.”
And Zechariah, in his doubt and disbelief, said, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
And the angel answered in verse 19, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
And now as it says in verse 26, “in the sixth month,” the angel Gabriel was sent once more to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.
Notice those words, “a city of Galilee.” Why does it say, “of Galilee”? Because Nazareth was so small, Luke wanted us to know exactly where it was.
Remember when Jesus called His first disciples? When He saw a man named Philip, He said, “Follow Me.” And the first thing Philip did was to find a friend named Nathanael. He said, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, about whom the prophets have spoken—Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph!”
And what did Nathaniel say? “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”
Even Pontius Pilate made fun of it. That’s why he wrote on the sign above Jesus’ head: “Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus of Nowhere, King of the Jews.”
And how did Nazareth get its name? It came from the Hebrew word “netzer,” a word that means “branch” or “shoot.” And they called it that because, centuries before, Isaiah had written: “A shoot shall come up from the stump of Jesse; a branch shall grow out of his roots.”
A “netzer” was a sign of hope and a sign of promise. And that’s how Nazareth got its name.
And to whom did the angel Gabriel come? Luke wrote in verse 27: “To a virgin betrothed…” She was engaged, promised, set apart before both God and man. As their families gathered around, wine was poured, a blessing was spoken, and a ring was given. It was as legal and binding as marriage.
Verse 28: “And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’”
And what did she say? What would you say?
I mean, think about it. Here she was, a young teenage girl, in a little town called Nazareth. There was so much to do and so little time--animals to feed, bread to bake, milk to churn. Besides, her wedding was only months away.
And with all that swirling in her mind, she barely noticed that stranger standing in her yard, with that bright complexion and a close-cropped beard. And just as she was about to say, “Excuse me, sir, but what are you doing here?” for just a moment, her heart stopped. It wasn’t fear exactly. It was more surprise. Who was this man and why was he standing in her backyard?
It was then that he spoke: “Greetings, O favored on, the Lord is with you!”
Favored by whom? And for what?
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”
And what did Mary say? What did she do? There she stood, her young, tender face looking up, her hands trembling, her eyes opened, questioning, but not afraid, wondering, but not terrified, unsure, but not uncertain.
What did she say? As all of time and history rested on the answer of a teenager, she said, “Yes.” She said yes to the plan and the will of God.
In his book, The Person of Christ, author Donald MacLeod, writes, “The virgin birth is posted on guard at the door of the mystery of Christmas; and none of us must think of hurrying past it. It stands on the threshold of the New Testament, blatantly supernatural, defying our rationalism, informing us that all that follows belongs to the same order as itself, and that if we find it offensive, there is no point in proceeding further.”
As another writer put it: “To throw out the virgin birth is to reject Christ’s deity, and the accuracy and authority of Scripture. If we deny Jesus is God, we have denied the very essence of Christianity.” And he said: “No issue is more important than the virgin birth to understanding who Jesus really is.”
If you believe that Jesus was born of a mother and father like everyone else, that He was simply a child of Mary and Joseph, then, for you, He was nothing more than a good man, a moral teacher, some kind of revolutionary, and maybe a prophet.
But if you believe He was truly born of a virgin, then you must believe He is who He said He was—God in human flesh, sent to save us from our sin.
When noted author and world historian H. G. Wells was asked who has left the greatest legacy on history, he replied, “By this test, Jesus stands first.” And in the words of Yale historian, Jaroslav Pelikan, “Regardless of what anyone might personally think or believe about Him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of Western culture for almost twenty centuries…It is from His birth that most of the human race dates its calendars, it is by His name that millions curse and in His name that millions pray.”
And it all began here in a little town called Nazareth.
One more thing. They say that to visit the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, is to step back in time to witness the tiny seed before it blossomed into a beautiful oak tree. For there in that church, you stand at the heart of Christianity.
The first shrine was built three hundred years after Christ. At the time, it was little more than an altar in the cave of Mary’s childhood home. Later on, a much larger church was built, what today is the largest Christian sanctuary in the Middle East.
And if you were to visit, you’d see a two-story building filled with ancient carvings, statues, and mosaics. There’s a dome in the shape of a lily, a symbol of Mary, that’s eighteen stories high. And deep inside the church, there’s a spring, “Mary’s Well,” with the sound of rushing water.
And marking the place where Gabriel once appeared to Mary, there’s an altar, with words written in Latin, chiseled in stone: “Verbum Caro Hic Factum Est,” “Here the Word was made flesh.”
And in that dim, quiet place, Christmas has begun.
We thank You, Lord, for Nazareth, so small, yet the place where Gabriel once appeared to Mary. We thank You, Lord, for Mary, who bore our sinless Savior. And we thank You, Lord, for Jesus, who has come to take away our sin. In His name we pray. Amen