Today we pack up our things, load the bus and travel northward from Jerusalem and Judea into the province of Galilee. I LOVE GALILEE!
The second map show what the province of Galilee looked like.
To get a better understanding of what Galilee was like in the time of Christ, you could read more at this
website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/galilee.html
Our first day in Galilee will contain three primary stops:
First: Sepphoris or Zippori. The great 1st century historian
Josephus called Sepphoris, “the ornament of all Galilee.” For many years it was the largest city in
Galilee, as well as its capital. During
Herod the Great’s region, the city was an important cultural center known for
its fabulous theatre (picture to the left),
had an important military post, with many armaments and provisions stored
there. After Herod died Jewish
revolutionaries took over. They didn’t
want another Herod so they stole the weapons and made the city the headquarters
of their rebellion.
After
Herod’s son, Antipas, right to rule had been established by Rome in 4 B.C., the
Roman legion burned the city and killed all of its citizens or sole them into
slavery.
Herod
Antipas rebuilt Sepphoris and made it his capital until her built Tiberias in
19 A.D. With its colonnaded streets
paved with mosaic tiles, rows of shops, and beautiful theatre, Sepphoris now
bore no resemblance to the city that had been destroyed just a few years
before.
Jesus
referred to the theater and actors (hypocrites
in his culture) in His teachings.
Also to the idea of kings and the idea of building buildings, subjects
that would have easily been learned from the nearby capital.
Some
scholars believe that Joseph and Jesus may have helped in the reconstruction of
Sepphoris since Herod’s massive rebuilding drew the entire labor force from the
surrounding countryside. Since Herod
Antipas rebuilt the city about 4 B.C. and since stone is the main building
craft of the area, Joseph, living in nearby Nazareth, was probably a builder in
stone as well as wood. Sepphoris was
about an hour’s walk from Nazareth along a paved Roman road, some 5K or 3.1
miles away. 
Second: Nazareth Village. This is an open air museum in the city of
Nazareth. It reconstructs and reenacts
village life in Galilee during the time of Jesus. The village features houses, terraced
fields, wine and olive presses all built to resemble those that would have been
in a Galilee village in the 1st century.
Actors dress in period costume and show visitors how
farm, domestic, and craft work was performed two thousand years ago.
Third: Nazareth
Precipice. This is the traditional location
where the angry people of Nazareth took Jesus to cast Him to His death. The story is told in Luke
4:16 – 31 and marks the end of the first year and one-half of his
ministry.
The village
during the time of Jesus had anywhere from 150 – 350 people and was mostly a
clan of people from the tribe of Judah, and the family line of Jesse and his
son, King David. Jesus and his family
had re-located here when they came back from Egypt. As a young boy Jesus would have often come to
this site to see the historic countryside that surrounded his village. See this
website for more information and some great pictures; http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/mtprecipice.html
Two simple
lessons stand out to me through these stops:
- We should remember that our place and location in life is not a hindrance to God using us to accomplish His plan and purpose. The key is our devotion to Him and our holistic preparation for whatever course He has for our life.
- And we need to realize that many times others will misunderstand our motives and that can cause them to react with anger and rejection toward us. If we are truly going to follow God’s course for our life, then we must be prepared to pay whatever cost is involved.
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