Can Anything Good Come From Nazareth?

This is the first of what I hope to be a regular inspiration sharing session.  For the past two years I have shared mostly about God's provision in the healing process of our son.  However, being fed daily from God's Word is just as important as any other aspect of our lives.  So, now that that season has ended, it's time to begin a new one.

I started reading again this morning in the book of John.  The first chapter sets the stage for who Jesus really is.  So, if you are wondering who He is...that would be a great place to start.  (You can Google "John 1" and read it in any number of versions.  I suggest the New Living Translation, especially if this is new to you.)

Background:  Jesus had just begun being known by His true identity: "...the unique One, who is Himself God..." (John 1, 17)  John the Baptist had been announcing His impending arrival, and there He was.  God had instructed John the Baptist that when he saw the Holy Spirit descending upon someone he would know that that was Jesus.  So, when John baptized Jesus and saw the sign, he knew for sure that Jesus was the One that he had been announcing for so long.  Jesus then began gathering his disciples.  One of His disciples, Philip, went to look for a friend of his named Nathaniel.  When he told Nathaniel about Jesus being the Messiah prophesied by Moses, Philip said, "..His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth." (John 1:45)

 ""Nazareth!" exclaimed Nathanael.  "Can anything good come from Nazareth?..."" (John 1:46)  This is the thing that jumped out at me today.  Nazareth was known as a small, very unimportant place.  Nathanael was basically saying that he knew about Nazareth, and no one who is anyone comes from Nazareth.  No, that couldn't be right.  The Messiah was to be the biggest deal ever.  There was no way that this could be right.

Later on in the text Jesus, Himself, calls Nathanael "...a man of complete integrity." (John 1:47)  So, if Nathanael was a man of complete integrity, how could he jump to such a conclusion?  How could this man of character get it so wrong?  How could this completely trustworthy, wise council of a man be so wrong about something so important?  The answer is that he was a man, and he jumped to a conclusion just like you and I do.  He had probably heard comments about Nazareth all of his life.  Evidently Nazareth had a reputation that had not been proven wrong.  So, as far as everyone knew, the reputation was fact.

I started to write that I didn't know about you, but I do know.  We have all been the Nathanael who jumps to a conclusion, and we have all been the one about which the conclusion was drawn.  It seems to be our nature as humans to gather tidbits, often unwittingly, about a person or situation.  We take on others opinions, prejudices, and offenses without even realizing that we have done it.  Then we act on the gathered tidbits as though they were fact, when in reality, they may be completely erroneous.  Very often the cases that we have built in our minds seem ironclad.  We can't even imagine than we could be wrong.   "Nazareth!...Can anything good come from Nazareth?..."  Oh my, yes!

Nathanael very quickly found out that he was wrong, and proclaimed that Jesus was who He said He was.  However, it usually doesn't happen so quickly with us.  People's lives, livelihoods, relationships, ministries, families, and much more can be destroyed so very easily.  All of us know that we are not perfect, but we expect grace and mercy for ourselves.  However, we tend to be very stingy when giving the same.  We want the benefit of the doubt for ourselves, but find it hard to give.

As Christians, Jesus is our example.  He never threw away anyone.  Yes, He rebuked the religious leaders who were behaving badly, but He didn't reject them.  If they had repented there would surely have been full forgiveness.  This is what we all want for ourselves.  We want to know that when, not if, but when we mess up we will be able to find forgiveness and restoration.  We want to know that we will not be defined by someone else's opinion of us, and that we will not be defined by any real or imagined mistakes of the past.  Is this what you want for yourself?  I do.

So, if this is what we want, then this is what we must give.  I am not saying that we must trust someone who has proven himself untrustworthy.   There are people who are unrepentant and delight in evil.  I am simply saying that to comport our lives as true Christians we must strive to follow the words of Jesus in Luke 6:31.   "Do to others as you would like them to do to you."  (...even if they do not act that way in return.)

It is well.