Nazareth: Jesus' Home

Cana may have been closed, but we were in luck a little down the road at Nazareth. What I can't get over is how incredibly hilly these places, including Nazareth, are. Today, of course, we'd just improve on God's creation by bringing in some gelignite and levelling these challenging pieces of real estate. They do it a bit differently, keeping the flat places for agriculture, and building houses on the slopes.

This is Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. It's amazing to look around and imagine him running in these hills, or maybe leaping them in a single bound. (Actually, I don't think he used his powers like that though one of the fanciful Gnostic Gospels written in the 2nd century has him making clay pigeons and impressing his little buddies by making them come alive suddenly and flying away.)

We go to a remake of a 1st-century village right in the heart of Nazareth. The shepherd calls his sheep by name, and his sheep know his voice and follow him.

They make everything in the carpenter's shop, using authentic 1st-century tools, and have a functional olive press which they use to make olive oil from the many olive trees in the "village."

It's a great glimpse into the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth.

The "Jesus Boat" etc

From our boat we went to see the "Jesus boat which is dated to the first century and was discovered by a couple of kibbutzniks maybe 15 years ago. Remember reading a number of articles about it, but great to see. Took 10 years to preserve the wood, it was so fragile from the mud.

From there to the Mount of Beatitudes and Tabgha, the site of the feeding of the 5000. Churches on both sites, but v worthwhile visits.

Next was Capernaum, which I'll cover separately. Lunch in Cana, the site of Jesus' first miracle, was delicious at a local Arab lamb kebab type of place. Sadly, the church on the "exact" site was closed but we did get to taste a little wine from the original brew.

Then on to Nazareth, a primarily Arab town, or rather now, city. In the time Jesus grew up there, it is estimated the entire village was around 500. Now it's somewhere round 150,000--very busy, crowded and intense. Again I was amazed at how big the hills were.

The old city has had some excavations and a very impressive Christian ministry has set up a mock mini village right in the center of town. It is complete with wine press, olive oil press, carpenter's shop, house etc. All superbly done, and with intricate detail to archaeological accuracy. Oh yeah, the only intact synagogue is they're, reconstructed from Jesus' day. Headed up by a young Christian Arab believer (he says only 4000-5000 evangelical believers in the whole country!), it is superb.

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