The Nazarene

by David Gibson

“Where are you from?” is often asked when people get acquainted.

Where is Jesus from? Born in Bethlehem, He lived briefly in Egypt but spent His youth in Nazareth of Galilee. That’s why He is often called the Nazarene. Mary and Joseph were Nazarenes before Jesus was born (Luke 1:26-27; 2:4, 39).

When Jesus returned to His hometown synagogue and preached, His fellow Nazarenes rejected Him violently (Luke 4:16-30).

Needless to say, they did not erect a sign at the city limits: “Welcome to Nazareth: Hometown of Jesus the Messiah.” They did not believe in Him (Mark 6:1-6).

When Jesus was crucified, Pilate had a sign placed on the cross above Jesus’ head: “Jesus, the Nazarene, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19 NASB).

The Nazarene connection was not lost even after Jesus completed His earthly mission and returned to heaven. Appearing to Saul of Tarsus, He announced: “I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 22:8). Of all the ways Jesus could have identified Himself, isn’t it remarkable that He chose as His reference point the very place that had rejected Him?

In their preaching, both Peter and Paul refer to “Jesus the Nazarene” or “Jesus Christ the Nazarene” or “Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 2:22; 3:6; 4:10; 10:38; 26:9).

Though from heaven, He was willing to enter our atmosphere, reside in a very specific location, and be widely known as a citizen of that small community—one that evidently did not have a good reputation. Hearing that Jesus was a Nazarene, Nathaniel exclaimed, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

He is universal and local, heavenly and earthly, and divine and human. Jesus had dual citizenship, and so can we (Philippians 3:20).

After the earth is destroyed at Christ’s coming, if we have united with Jesus of Nazareth through faith and baptism (Galatians 3:26-27), we can have a home in “the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).

That’s where Jesus is now, anticipating our arrival.