MATTHEW 1–4; LUKE 1–4; JOHN 1

Among those who honored the proclamation of Moses and the prophets were those who eagerly awaited the arrival of the anointed Rescuer, also known as the Son of Man, the Prophet, and the Son of David. While this longing persisted through the time between the return of the exiles and the opening pages of the Gospels, geopolitical and social changes had created a very new environment in the land of Canaan. The regional map of the Promised Land during the Greek and Roman periods took on a new appearance. These empires seized the Promised Land and subdivided it according to their own plans. Galilee, Samaria, Judea, the Decapolis, and Perea all found places on the new map. The Romans also brought in new and more complex politics. At the time of Jesus’s birth, Herod the Great, the official king of Israel, was not a descendant of David but an Idumean political appointee of the Roman Senate.

Religious life in the country was also in flux. The Temple rituals and services were still in full swing but were marred by a corrupt leadership of a religious party known as the Sadducees. The Pharisees, on the other hand, made their influence felt in the synagogues that dotted the Promised Land. There the Scriptures were read, but the intended meaning was often lost in the interpretation of the rabbis. And sadly, for many the anticipation of the coming Messiah was also corrupted. They longed for a politician descended from David who would overthrow the Romans and restore political independence to Israel.

Part 7 explores the birth and early years of Jesus in order to reveal how these events related to their locations. We will journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem and the manger. We will travel to the shepherds’ fields in order to review how Jesus’s birth, the angels’ visit, the adoration of the Magi (wise men), and Herod’s paranoia all have important connections to location. But our stay in Bethlehem will be very short. No sooner had Jesus arrived in the Promised Land than we see him whisked away to Egypt. We will explore why some in Egypt safeguarded the precious promises of God. Following the sojourn in Egypt, it is back to Nazareth and then to the Temple in Jerusalem, when Jesus was twelve years of age.

The next time we meet Jesus, nearly two decades later, he has traveled to the Jordan River where John baptized him in a setting suited to the meaning of this event. The baptism of Jesus was such a threat to Satan that he immediately sought to destroy Jesus’s mission through three temptations. We will explore how setting played a role in each of the temptations. And finally, we will see that Nazareth was Jesus’s hometown—a fact that often shaped the initial response to Jesus’s messianic authority and fulfilled the words of the prophets. Many things had changed since the return of the exiles, but this one thing remained the same: the events of Jesus’s birth and early years happened where they did for a reason.

The palace-fortress of Herod the Great, called the Herodium, was built about three miles southeast of Bethlehem (ca. 15 BC).

Seats like this basalt stone seat discovered in the ancient synagogue at Korazin were known as the Seat of Moses (Matt. 23:1–2).
© Dr. James C. Martin. The Israel Museum.

This synagogue at Gamla (located on the hills on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee) was in use when the disciples were sent by Jesus to various villages in the area.

The Church of Annunciation in Nazareth. The angel Gabriel visited Mary in Nazareth. The site is now marked by the Church of Annunciation, which is built over much of the ancient village.

Model of the Jerusalem Temple platform (view looking north). The main entrance into the Temple was from the south, where Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to be dedicated as an infant.

Bethlehem. A shepherd near Bethlehem takes his flocks into the grain fields after the harvest is complete.