HE
SHALL BE CALLED A NAZARENE
When the
Lord told Joseph and Mary to come back from Egypt where they had fled due to
Herod’s plan to murder all the boys up to two years of age in Bethlehem, they
set their course for the town where they had met and married – Nazareth. Matthew’s
gospel notes that prophets had foretold that the Messiah would be called a
Nazarene. By the time of Jesus, Nazarene was synonymous with despised or
detestable. Apparently, the people from that city had a horrible reputation.
This is why Nathanael questioned whether the Messiah could truly be from
Nazareth. Jesus was so identified with Nazareth that people did not realize He
was born in Bethlehem as evidenced in chapter seven of John’s gospel.
Have you
ever experienced discrimination because of the place you grew up or currently
live? Or perhaps due to your ethnicity or color? Our Lord experienced that
discrimination as well. The word tells us that God doesn’t look at those things
about us. Passages such as James 2, Romans 12:9-21, and 1 Peter chapter 3 speak
about God’s impartiality and how we are to treat one another with
non-judgmental love. Avoid discriminating against others by remembering how God
looks at them and at you:
1 Samuel 16:7b (NASB) God sees not as man
sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the
heart.”
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