Nazarene

When Joseph and Mary brought the child Jesus back to Israel from Egypt, God warned Joseph in a dream not to settle in Judea but to return to their native town of Nazareth in Galilee, about seventy miles from Jerusalem (Matt. 2:19–23; see Luke 1:26–27; 2:4–5). Excavations reveal that Nazareth was not a large city but a humble town of fewer than five hundred people. There are twenty-five references to Nazareth in the New Testament and the word Nazarene is found six times. Jesus was known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Nazarene. Matthew saw in the move to Nazareth a fulfillment of the words of the prophets but he didn’t tell us which prophets. We will try to solve the puzzle and also learn some helpful lessons.

The Historical Jesus

Jesus was a real person who grew up in a real place, Nazareth in Galilee. His birth and name were registered (Luke 2:21), and people knew His parents (Joseph was His foster father) and His brothers and sisters (Matt. 1:16; 13:53–58; John 6:42). If you had told anybody in Nazareth that there was no such person as Jesus, they would have laughed at you. They watched Him grow up and saw Him working in Joseph’s carpenter shop. Some of them would remember when He suddenly left Nazareth for Judea. Later they heard that He had been baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist and had become an itinerant teacher. He returned to Nazareth and preached in the synagogue He had attended most of His life, and the citizens drove Him out of town (Luke 4:14–30). He was a prophet without honor in His own hometown.

The Christian faith is based on solid historical events, including the life of Jesus of Nazareth and His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. These events form the foundation of the gospel, the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:1–11; Gal. 1:1–10). To deny this is to deny history.

The Rejected Jesus

“So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, ‘He will be called a Nazarene’” (Matt. 2:23). Students and teachers have wrestled with that statement because this prophecy cannot be found in one of the prophetic books, let alone several of them (as the plural “prophets” would imply). To claim that this prophecy has been lost is to say that the Holy Spirit failed to get parts of the inspired Word into Scripture and this is unthinkable (see 5:18). Or to argue that this prophecy was spoken but not written is refuted by Matthew 2:15, 17, where the verb “spoken” is used, yet the prophecies referred to in these verses were written in Hosea 11:1 and Jeremiah 31:15.

To relate Nazarene to the word Nazirite is erroneous, because Jesus was not a Nazirite like John the Baptist (Matt. 11:16–19; see Numbers 6; Judg. 13:1–5 for the requirements of Nazirites). Luke records at least two occasions when Jesus touched dead bodies, and this was forbidden to Nazirites (Luke 7:11–17; 8:40–56), and He also drank wine.

Some students believe that the name Nazareth came from the Hebrew netzer, which means “a branch or a shoot,” and there are prophecies about Jesus that use the image of the branch (Isa. 4:2; 11:1; Jer. 23:5; 33:15; Zech. 3:8; 6:12–13). Some authorities consider this explanation farfetched; and it is probably true that most of the people in Jesus’ day connected Nazareth with Nazarene when they referred to Him.

We must not ignore the fact that Matthew wrote “prophets” and not “prophet.” New Testament scholar Leon Morris writes: “It appears that Matthew is drawing attention to the thrust of Old Testament prophecy about the Christ rather than to any one passage.”[4] What one thing about the Christ did all the Old Testament prophets write about? He would be despised and rejected by the people. See Psalm 22:6–8, 13; 69:8, 11, 19–21; 118:22; Isaiah 49:7; 52:13–53:12; Zechariah 13:7–9. His suffering and rejection are also seen in the Old Testament types, such as the Passover lamb (John 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7) and the uplifted serpent (John 3:14; see Numbers 21).

Many of the people of Judah considered Nazareth a town of backward people whom they despised. When Philip told Nathanael that “Jesus of Nazareth” was the promised Messiah, Nathanael replied, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:45–46). In calling Jesus “the Nazarene,” people could be identifying His hometown but also ridiculing Him and rejecting His claims. When speaking to Peter, the servant girl called Him “that Nazarene, Jesus” (Mark 14:67). Had He been known as “Jesus of Bethlehem,” it would have identified Him with a famous city in Judah where David was born, but He humbled Himself and accepted the title “the Nazarene.”

Hebrews 13:11–13 pictures Jesus as the sin offering that was taken outside the camp (Lev. 4:12; 16:21). Just as He was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem, we should “go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore” (Heb. 13:13).

The Obedient Jesus

Twice in the Christmas narrative, Matthew tells us that Joseph was obedient to the Word of the prophets: taking Jesus to Egypt (Matt. 2:13–15) and settling in Nazareth (vv. 21–23). Even wicked King Herod fulfilled prophecy when he had the children slain in Bethlehem (vv. 16–18), and so did the devious priests when they purchased the potter’s field (27:1–10). Jesus lived in Nazareth because the Father put Him there.

But six times in his Gospel, Matthew points out that Jesus did certain things that fulfilled what had been prophesied centuries before (4:13–16; 8:17; 12:15–21; 13:34–35; 21:1–5; 26:47–56). Look up these references and see in Jesus an example of how we should live by the Word of God and seek to please the Father.

The Exalted Jesus

As we have seen, our Lord humbled Himself when He allowed people to add Nazarene and Nazareth to His name. But God’s promise is that humility leads to exaltation (1 Pet. 5:5–6), and Jesus took the name Nazareth with Him to the cross! Pilate had a sign written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that said, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” (John 19:19). Perhaps the people of Nazareth didn’t appreciate this embarrassing public announcement, but those who put their faith in Jesus would eventually glory in the cross (Gal. 6:14).

But Jesus lifted the name of His hometown even higher. Jesus revealed Himself to Saul of Tarsus who was persecuting the church, and Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” Jesus answered, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 22:8). Jesus spoke the word Nazareth from the glories of heaven! The name of Jesus had been exalted to highest heaven—it is “the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9)—but in His grace, He still linked it with Nazareth. What a lesson Saul of Tarsus learned that day!

Can anything good come out of Nazareth—or out of our lives? That same Saul, now Paul the apostle, wrote, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature” (Rom. 7:18). But Someone good and gracious came to Nazareth and offered the people salvation, and they rejected Him. Jesus has never withdrawn His invitation, yet people continue to reject Him.

Jesus of Nazareth is still passing by (Luke 18:35–43), and He stops to help all who call on Him and trust Him. “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21).

 See: Immanuel, Jesus, King, Messiah

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[4]. Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), 49.