Can Anything Good Go to Nazareth?
Scripture Reading — Matthew 2:19-23; John 1:46
He went and lived in a town called Nazareth.
Matthew 2:23
From the book of John it sounds like Nazareth was a town that got no respect. Nathanael wondered how anything good could come from there. And yet it was the place to which God drew Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus as they came out of Egypt.
On the way back to Judea, it seems that Joseph had planned to return to Bethlehem to set up a new life there for his family. But when he heard that Herod’s son Archelaus was now reigning over that area, Joseph continued on to Galilee and went back to his hometown of Nazareth (see Luke 2:4).
Are some places better than others? Do some places have absolutely no worth at all? Lots of people think that way, but they are usually proven wrong.
The God who owns every animal of the forest and the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), not to mention the forests and hills themselves, can make amazing things happen wherever he chooses.
God is not influenced by our small-minded understandings of worth in this world. The depth of the riches of his wisdom and knowledge is completely beyond us (Romans 11:33).
So, yes, something good can come out of Nazareth and from any other part of this world—and any heart, for that matter! Come and see!
We have hope, dear God, because of your amazing knack for bringing beauty out of unlikely places, through your Son, Jesus. Do your work in us, please! Amen.
About the author — David Den Haan
Pastor Dave Den Haan has served at Fairway Christian Reformed Church in Jenison, Michigan, since 1999. Previously he served a church in Minnesota. Dave and his wife, Connie, have three children.
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