Jesus of Nazareth
Scripture Reading — John 1:43-51
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathaniel asked.
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 sunbaked 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 fulfill 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.
Jesus of Nazareth, forgive 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.
About the author — Kurt Selles
Kurt Selles is the director of ReFrame Ministries and serves as the Executive Editor of Today. He is a graduate of Calvin College and Seminary, and received his PhD from Vanderbilt University. Before coming to ReFrame, he served 19 years in Taiwan and China with CRC World Missions. Kurt later taught missions at Beeson Divinity School, where he also acted as the director of the school’s Global Center. Kurt and his wife, Vicki, reside in Grand Rapids and have three adult children.
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