2 ordinary towns, 1 extraordinary man

‘and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.’ Matthew 2:23

We went and spent a few hours in a town called Nazareth. What's Jesus' home town like? Much like many other Arab towns with plenty of traffic and some very narrow streets. 

Google maps has been wonderful at getting us to where we wanted to go (and Isaac has been a great navigator) but sometimes it takes the most direct route and you end up on some tricky roads. The road this time was very narrow and steep and eventually it was impossible to get through. So we turned around and tried to make our way back. After some concerned coaching from the locals and from my own son, I managed to ride the clutch all the way back up the hill and not hit any of the walls and parked cars. My legs were still shaking for quite a while afterwards, but Isaac kindly refrained from commenting.

Eventually we found our way to the old town walking tour. As it turned out there really isn’t much of an old town – everything you can see is no more than 300 years old and not very interesting (you can tell I've been out of Australia for a while can't you?) Why hasn’t the real old city been excavated like Jerusalem or Caesarea? Because this is not an important town with important buildings. Jesus' home town was ordinary - he was  an ordinary Jewish man growing up in an ordinary Jewish house in an ordinary Jewish town.

So our old town walking tour turned out to be little more than a shopping tour with an interesting spice shop.

The highlight was the carpenter’s corner – a few carpenter’s workshops next to each other. In the age of Ikea and cheap furniture there’s not much business for them these days. Mainly they are in the coffin-making business for local Christians. This reminded me of another carpenter from Nazareth who was in the coffin-breaking business!

Bored with the local shop tour, we decided to cut our losses and head for the prominent churches.

The Catholic church of the Annunciation is built on the supposed site of Mary’s (ordinary) home, the site where the Catholic church says she received the news that she would give birth to the Son of God. The entire extraordinary church is built on archaeological remains, and centred around the home itself. 

By contrast we liked the modern touch of these electric candles – just flick the switch.

Around the walls and around the colonnade outside were paintings and mosaics of Mary and Jesus from perhaps a hundred different countries. The most fascinating thing about this was the way Mary and Jesus took on the appearance of the people of each country:

Of course this isn’t any different to what we do in Anglo cultures – we make Jesus look like us rather than a middle-eastern Jew.

The Orthodox church on the other hand believes that the angel annunciated the wonderful news to Mary when she was at the local well fed by a spring, and so we visited the church built on that site, with a free flowing spring in its crypt.

And so we drove back to Galilee, being careful to stick to the main roads – indeed the main roads here are wonderful, this trip we enjoyed a three lane freeway.

‘Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum …’ Matthew 4:13.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth, but moved to Capernaum to begin his ministry around Galilee.

And we went on a church tour:

The church of the loaves and fishes at Tagba – where they think Jesus fed the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. 
Our verdict – an ordinary church in a beautiful spot.

The church of the primacy of Peter – where they think Jesus made breakfast on a rock for his disciples after his resurrection and reinstated Peter. 
Our verdict – an ordinary church building with a rock in the middle in a beautiful spot.

The church of the Beatitudes’ – where they think Jesus delivered his sermon on the mount. 
Our verdict – lovely gardens surrounding an ordinary church in a beautiful spot. 

Finally, Capernaum – Jesus’ home-base.

The 4^th century synagogue was quite impressive, 

as was the modern octagonal church built over the remains of what they think is the apostle Peter’s house. 
Our verdict – a clever structure but a shame it obscures the ancient house … in a beautiful spot.

A little up the road at Capernaum, the orthodox monastery and church. Peacocks wondering outside, but the paintings inside were even more beautiful – so many scenes from the gospels which occurred nearby, 

plus a scene from the Old Testament which warmed Isaac’s heart …

The greatest irony about the monastery at Capernaum is that this is where Jesus called Matthew the tax collector, and then he and his apostles ate and drank with more sinners and tax collectors. How did Jesus respond when he was criticised for this? ‘I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.’ So surely the last thing you would do is retreat from the world to a monastery. What a wonderful symbol of what all Christians so easily do.  

Weary but satisfied with the day, we drove back to Tiberias for dinner and a gentle stroll along the sea-front.

Tomorrow. Roman ruins at Beit She'an, and perhaps a little down time.