A tale of three cities

Transcription

1 A tale of three cities A few verses give a quick summary of the story of the tale of three cities. Luke 1:26[KJV] And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth. Luke 2:4[KJV] And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. Luke 2:22[KJV] And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him (i.e. Jesus) to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord. Matthew 21:10[KJV] Jerusalem, the capital, was obviously a city and, when Jesus made His last visit there, scripture records: And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? Were they all cities? Jerusalem today has a population of over 700,000, Bethlehem has about 22,000 people and Nazareth about 65,000. Apart from Jerusalem, would we call them cities today, and what about 2,000 years ago, when populations were much smaller? It is difficult to find census figures or population estimates from the 1 st century AD, although a census was the cause of all the journeying for Joseph and Mary. One estimate for Nazareth in the time of Christ says the population was 1,600-2,000 people but another scholarly one puts it at a maximum of about 480. For Bethlehem, William Barclay comments that the population was so small that the slaughter of the innocents by Herod would only have involved about 25 children. No wonder this is not found in the historical records as it is probably only a minor atrocity compared to others perpetrated by Herod in preserving his throne. As the 25 were boys, and assuming there would be a similar number of girls born in the same period (i.e. 50 children aged 0-2), there would be about 25 births a year, so probably 25 families were directly affected by Herod s action. If we assume there would be 7 people in an average family of the day (2 parents, 4 children and 1 old person), it gives a total of 175. If we add a further 125 people (for other families and individuals, including extra old people), we have a possible total of 300. At around 500 (possibly 2,000) for Nazareth and 300 for Bethlehem, the term city doesn t seem to fit either place. However, it is easy to elevate the rank of a settlement depending on how important you think it is and these places were important, and still are, to Christians.The Greek word translated as city in the verses first quoted above is the same for all polis - and polis means a city or a town, usually with walls. Perhaps all three of these settlements did have walls for protection.

2 When John refers to Bethlehem (John 7:42), he uses the word kome (ko-may) which can mean a hamlet, town, or village. Even if we turn to the Old Testament we don t get much help. In 1 Samuel 20:6, it says that David could run to Bethlehem his city. Here the Hebrew word is awyar and, though this can be translated as city, it also indicates simply a place guarded by a watch or watchtower and, in the widest sense, a mere encampment or a place where people dwell on a permanent basis. Modern translations take into account the small size of Bethlehem and Nazareth and call them either towns (as in NEB, GNB, NIV) or villages (as in LB), or can t make up their mind (The Message has both town and village for Nazareth). Writing in 5 th century AD, Jerome said Nazareth was a mere village. How do we picture them? We have mental images of Jerusalem from pictures on the TV or in Bible illustrations, and of Bethlehem from Christmas cards (with little room on them for more than a few houses) or from carols, e.g. O little town of Bethlehem. But we don t really have any images of Nazareth. It seems to be left out, with few pictures or illustrations readily available. Where are they? Nazareth The name is possibly derived from the Aramaic naserat meaning watch tower (so does it qualify as a city?), or from the Hebrew neser meaning shoot (as Eusebius and Jerome suggest). It lies in a hollow in the limestone hills of Southern Galilee, overlooking the Plain of Esdraelon. It was a place to pass through, or probably pass by why go up the hill to it when you could just continue along the plain? It has been described as Hicksville or Little Snoring in the Wolds, but William Barclay says it wasn t such a quiet little backwater. He makes interesting comments on this place that others would see almost as the back of beyond. Barclay says, the ends of the earth passed the foot of the hilltop. This was because important trade routes went along the plain. One was the road from Damascus to Egypt the Way of the South or the Road of the Sea - possibly the route followed by Joseph and Mary returning with the infant Jesus after Herod s death. Another major route was that from Acre and Ptolemais on the coast going eastwards either north round the Sea of Galilee to Decapolis or south of the Sea of Galilee to cross the Jordan fords to Gilead and onwards. So, as Barclay says, from the hills half the world was at your door. Not only did people of many nationalities pass close to Nazareth but from the hills around Nazareth, rising to 500m/1500ft, there were great views. To the west, there was

3 Mount Carmel and the Mediterranean, only 30 miles away, and recalling Elijah s challenge to the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:17-39). To the east, Mount Tabor could be seen, where Barak mustered the army to fight Sisera, (Judges 4:11-16) and identified now by some as the Mount of Transfiguration. In the distance to the north Mount Hermon would be visible as it would be snow-capped for much of the year. For some, it is the preferred location for the Mount of Transfiguration as it is near to Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27; 9:2). Just to the south was the Plain of Esdraelon, also called the Plain of Megiddo or Jezreel, the strategic valley where King Ahab had stables for 492 horses; where King Josiah was defeated at Megiddo (2 Chronicles 35) and the declared site of Armageddon the final battle. Looking south across the plain, you could see Mount Gilboa, where King Saul was defeated by the Philistines. It could be that, on the whole, Nazareth was a quiet place for a boy to grow up in, and Jesus spent practically all His childhood and early manhood there - some 30 years. But, for such a child, there was this nearby influence of those places of religious and historical significance for His nation and the visions of a wider world beyond. It was a place sufficiently apart from the rest of Palestine to give it a certain independent outlook, as had the rest of Galilee. In many ways Nazareth was a typical little Galilean settlement with a few fields around it, nestling in the hills, and a fairly insignificant place. There were bigger places on the coast to the west or the lake shore 15 miles away to the east, with Sepphoris, perhaps the major Roman town of the area, a little to the north. But God does not ignore the insignificant, and it was to this place that the angel Gabriel came with good but startling news for a young girl, Don t be afraid Mary. God has been gracious to you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. Luke 1:30-32[GNB] Bethlehem: There are 2 places named Bethlehem in Palestine. One is only about 7 miles/11kms from Nazareth in the territory of Zebulon and the other is in Judea. It is the Judaean Bethlehem which is the one that was the city of David, so-called because it was David s home town. Micah calls it Bethlehem Ephratha (Micah 5.2) in his prophecy, the prophecy that Herod would eventually take seriously and so order the killing of all the boys in it under 2 years of age (Matthew 2:16-18). This was the Bethlehem which was at least a 5-day walk away from Nazareth, a world away from the folk back home who would normally be around to help a young mother with the birth of her first-born. Bethlehem was another typical small hillside village but here the hills were to be lit with angel-light and shepherds stunned with their sound and the message that the long-promised Messiah, the Saviour, had been born; a village where the local inn was going to be forever famous for not having enough room for a young woman in labour or for the Son of God.

4 If Nazareth was a place to pass by, perhaps Bethlehem was a place to come away from. There is no record that Jesus ever went back to it after the Holy Family fled to Egypt. Bethlehem is only about 6 miles/9kms from Jerusalem. Jerusalem This was the great city, the biggest place in Palestine by far and a place that would amaze all the country people who went up to the Temple for religious celebrations. Situated on the top of a group of hills, a real hill-top fortress, it could be seen from miles away. Jerusalem had been the last piece of the Promised Land to be captured by the Israelites. Known as Jebus and held by the Jebusites, it was David, the great military tactician, who had taken it (2 Samuel 5:6-9) and he made it his capital, the other City of David. It dominated the political and religious life of the country in the time of Jesus. Politically because it was the seat of power of Herod and his court, backed by the Romans, and religiously because the Temple was the centre of Jewish worship - a Temple newly rebuilt by Herod to gain favour with the people, with the religion controlled by the High Priest and the Sanhedrin. This was the place to visit, with pilgrimages to the Temple for the prescribed religious festivals, and it was near enough to Bethlehem for Mary and Joseph to bring Jesus at the time of her purification and to present Him to the Lord (Luke 2:22-38). Did they also bring Him here for circumcision? (Luke 2:21) All these places are associated with hills, for Palestine is a hilly land. Nazareth is on the side of hills. The old settlement was higher up than the modern town and there were steep slopes down which the people of Nazareth, who knew Jesus from boyhood, would have thrown Him when He was rejected in the synagogue (Luke 4:29). Bethlehem is surrounded by hills; hills remembered over all the world in Advent. Jerusalem is on top of hills, including Calvary. The significance of the places Nazareth is a place of no history or tradition. There is no mention of it in the Old Testament or by ancient historians. It is not included by Josephus in his list of 45 cities in Galilee (1 st century AD), nor in the 63 towns in Galilee mentioned in the Talmud. This makes one scholar suggest that Nazareth only came into existence in New Testament times, i.e. after Jesus had died. Some scholars suggest it had a local reputation for good carpentry. It did gain some importance to the Jews when it became one of the places to which members of the priestly courses (the groups who served in the Temple) moved after the last Jewish insurrection (which ended in 135AD). Hadrian destroyed what remained of Jerusalem and built a Roman city, Aelia Capitolina, in its place. The

5 Jews were forbidden to enter it so there was no access to the Temple site and Jewish worship had to be reorganised. Bethlehem has a long history centred on the Davidic line. Its name means the house of bread and from it the Bread of Life would come. [NB there is a recent suggestion that the lehem element of the name comes from Lakhmu, an Assyrian deity. But is this yet another attempt to undermine the Biblical basis of Christianity?] It is where Rachel died and was buried, the wife of Jacob and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin (Genesis 35:19). Naomi originally came from there and she returned to it with Ruth (Ruth 1:2,22). It is where Ruth met and married Boaz and they became the great grandparents of King David (Ruth 4:13-22). In this birthplace of David, the scholar Jerome lived in 4th/5th century AD and completed the Latin translation of the Bible (the Vulgate). Jerusalem has a complicated history since David made it his capital. It is also referred to as Salem, the city of peace, but more often without peace, or Zion, the holy city, where God showed His glory in the shekinah at the dedication of the first Temple and when the Ark of the Covenant was installed as the sign of His presence and protection. It was often the city where God s chosen people were unfaithful and was also the place to which Jesus made His final journey, entering in symbolic style (Palm Sunday). The symbolism of the three places Jerusalem was the place of the rich and the important. It was the place where Jesus was tried and condemned and from which He was taken to be crucified. So it is symbolic of power and prosperity, which all governments seek. Bethlehem, the birthplace of David, the shepherd boy who became king, is symbolic of the shepherd. In looking after his flock, David knew each animal individually, protecting and providing for each of them, and became the example of the ideal king, wanting the best for his subjects. So it was fitting that it was here that the angels came to shepherds to announce the birth of the One who is the Good Shepherd and King of kings, even though the birth was in a stable. Nazareth. Well, it is symbolic of our common life, into which God sent His Son for our salvation, giving up the glories of heaven to take our humanity and become like us. As Paul wrote: Jesus Christ, who, though He was God, did not demand and cling to His rights as God, but laid aside His mighty power and glory, taking the disguise of a slave and becoming like men (Philippians 2:6-7). Known for very little, it was Nazareth that gave Jesus His identification to the people of His day. It could have been Jesus of Bethlehem, linking Him to the royal line of David (Matthew 1:1; Luke 1:32) and identifying His Messiahship (Luke 2:11). It might have been Jesus of Jerusalem, recognising His right to the central place in Jewish leadership, religious and secular. But it was neither, for he was known as Jesus of Nazareth in effect the man from nowhere. Remember the contempt of Nathanael when Philip told him about Jesus Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? (John 1:46). It was as Jesus of Nazareth that the people knew Him, or as a Nazarene (Matthew 2:23). Nazarene was also an early name for Christians. Ananias, the High Priest, accused Paul of being a leader of the party of the Nazarenes (Acts 24:5). Jesus of Nazareth was the title that stirred blind Bartimaeus into activity as Jesus headed through Jericho towards Jerusalem for the last time: When he heard it was

6 Jesus of Nazareth [passing by], he began to shout, Jesus, Son of David! Take pity on me! (Mark 11:47) and it was the title that Pilate ordered to be written on the Cross as the charge for Christ s Crucifixion, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews (John 19:19). The three cities of the Nativity Nazareth - the place of His conception : the Holy Spirit will come upon you said Gabriel to Mary (Luke 1:35) and the place of His childhood. Bethlehem the place of His incarnation : Emmanuel...God with us Matthew 1:23. Jerusalem the place of His commitment : they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (Luke 2:22) - the place of challenge: beginning with Herod s words to the Magi, Go and search diligently for the young child (Matthew 2:8) and continuing with all the later attempts to entrap Him, Some Pharisees and some members of Herod s party were sent to trap Jesus with questions (Mark 12:13). It was the place where Jesus had to make His own final commitment in His last hours (Matthew 26.39) and face His challenges head on. So we have - Nazareth where the divine design for our salvation was finally put in place; Bethlehem where the divine plan was delivered; Jerusalem where the dedication of Jesus to the divine plan finally led to His death and resurrection, and the fulfilment of God s plan for our redemption. And haven t we the same 3 cities in our Christian lives? a Nazareth where the idea of Christ as Saviour begins to develop ; a Bethlehem - where the infant Redeemer is born in us; a Nazareth - where we grow in the knowledge and love of the Lord as we read and study God s word, day by day and week by week; a Jerusalem - an official place where there is a commitment of us in baptism, or where we commit ourselves to Him through confirmation, adult baptism, or being received into church membership, and a worldly place where we meet the challenges in our Christian living. This Advent, may the tale of three cities make the Christmas story more relevant for us all as we journey to each of them in carols and scripture.