Reverend Adam Hamilton – “Mary’s
Hometown: Nazareth”
It’s been said that the Holy Land is the
fifth Gospel—that in walking its streets and tracing its terrain you have a
chance to see the biblical story with fresh eyes and hear it with fresh ears.
(To give you greater insight into what Mary's hometown was like, I've included
a short video at the end of the post that will take you through the
archaeological ruins of Sepphoris, a city that was about 3 miles northwest of
Nazareth.)
This week we will visit Nazareth, the
hometown of Mary and later of Jesus. The town of Nazareth was looked upon with
some disdain. We hear that disdain in John 1:46, thirty years after the birth
of Jesus, when Philip told Nathaniel, “We’ve found the Messiah. He’s Jesus of
Nazareth.” Nathaniel replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
The site that Christians visit as Mary’s
childhood home in Nazareth—at least the lower level of it—is a cave. (The cave
may have included an upper level, as there are steps leading from it. You can
see the cave that tradition claims was Mary’s home on the DVD of The Journey).
Seeing this modest dwelling reminds us
that when choosing the mother of the Messiah, God went to a tiny village
considered insignificant by most, likely named after the hope of a Messiah, and
invited a young woman of very humble means to bear the Christ. It was in this
cave, tradition says, that Gabriel came to Mary and announced that she was with
child. It was here, in this place, that the word became flesh in Mary’s womb.
This season, as we begin our journey
through the story of Jesus’ birth, my hope and prayer for you is that you will
come to learn more about who God is, who we’re called to be, and who the child
was who would be born to Mary.
This week especially, ponder the way God
chooses unlikely characters to bring about great purposes.
This selection is from the new book,
Walking the Road to Bethlehem. Find out more at The Journey website at www.journeythischristmas.com.
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Reverend Adam Hamilton
Senior Pastor
United Methodist Church of the
Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, KS 66224 United States
(913)897-0120
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