JACK BECK: THE LAND OF ISRAEL IS A LAND
OF INCREDIBLE GEOGRAPHIC COMPLEXITY.
I'M JACK BECK.
I'M A BIBLE GEOGRAPHER, AND I'M HERE IN THE HOLY LAND
IN ORDER TO EXPLORE ALL THE GEOGRAPHICAL DIFFERENCES
THAT THIS LAND HAVE TO OFFER.
AND I'M DOING IT AS A BIBLE TEACHER,
BECAUSE IN ORDER TO BEST UNDERSTAND OUR BIBLE
AND THE STORIES THAT ONLY FIT
IN THE PLACES THAT THEY OCCURRED,
WE'RE GONNA GO ON A TRIP
THAT VISITS ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT PLACES IN THIS REGION.
NOW THAT MOUNT HERMON IS IN OUR REAR VIEW MIRROR,
WE'RE FOLLOWING THE JORDAN RIVER VALLEY SOUTH
TO ANOTHER GEOGRAPHIC REGION, THE GALILEE.
I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU
A WAY OF THINKING ABOUT AND READING YOUR BIBLE
YOU MAY NEVER HAVE EXPERIENCED BEFORE.
WE'RE GONNA MAKE THE BIBLE'S GEOGRAPHY MEANINGFUL.
(WAVES LAPPING)
MANY OF US HEAR THE LABEL "GALILEE"
AND WE THINK INLAND LAKE, THE SEA OF GALILEE.
BUT THE GALILEE
IS ACTUALLY A MORE COMPLICATED ENVIRONMENT THAN THAT.
AND WE'RE GONNA START IN WESTERN LOWER GALILEE.
WESTERN LOWER GALILEE IS A LAND OF RIDGES AND VALLEYS,
OF FARMLAND AND GRAPE VINES.
IT'S AN AMAZING PLACE.
BUT NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE IN GALILEE,
WHETHER LAKESIDE OR MOUNTAINSIDE,
IF YOU'RE FROM GALILEE,
MOST CONSIDERED YOU TO BE FROM A REAL BACKWATER PLACE
A LONG, LONG WAY FROM JERUSALEM.
I'M STANDING BETWEEN TWO VERY DIFFERENT WORLDS.
THIS IS THE JEZREEL VALLEY.
IT'S OPEN, IT'S INTERNATIONAL,
LYING JUST SOUTH OF THE REGION OF GALILEE.
YOU KNOW WHAT I'M ALWAYS SURPRISED BY?
HOW VERY QUICKLY THIS LAND CHANGES OVER SHORT DISTANCES,
COMING UP JUST 1,100 FEET AND MOVING ONE HALF A MILE INWARD,
I COME TO NAZARETH.
NAZARETH IS CLOSED, IT'S LOCAL,
AND IF YOU WERE FROM HERE, YOU WERE A NOBODY.
(GENTLE MUSIC)
THE PROPHECY IN ISAIAH 53 SAYS,
"HE WAS DESPISED, AND WE ESTEEMED HIM NOT."
THIS IS DESCRIBING JESUS.
HIS HOMETOWN WAS NAZARETH, OFF THE GRID,
ISOLATED FROM THE WORLD.
THE POPULATION CONSISTED OF MAYBE A DOZEN FAMILIES,
AND PLEASE REALIZE, THERE WAS NO JEWISH EXPECTATION
THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD COME FROM HERE.
TODAY, THE CORE OF NAZARETH HAS GROWN
TO MORE THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND RESIDENTS,
MOST OF THEM ARE ARAB FAMILIES THAT HOLD ISRAELI CITIZENSHIP.
(MOTORCYCLE REVVING)
(SHEEP BLEATING)
TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING
OF WHAT THE NAZARETH OF JESUS' TIME LOOKED LIKE,
I'M HERE AT THE NAZARETH VILLAGE.
IT'S A LIVING OUTDOOR MUSEUM
RECONSTRUCTED ON FIRST CENTURY RUINS,
COMPLETE WITH HOMES AND DONKEYS AND TERRACED FIELDS.
JESUS SPENT OVER TWO DECADES OF HIS LIFE HERE.
(GENTLE UPBEAT MUSIC)
(MEN CHATTING)
NOW, THIS IS NATHANIEL,
A TOUR GUIDE WHO TEACHES VISITORS
ABOUT VILLAGE LIFE IN NAZARETH,
HOW THIS ENVIRONMENT SHAPED JESUS.
(MEN CHATTING) (GENTLE UPBEAT MUSIC)
SO NATHANIEL, IF I WOULD...
COULD DIAL MYSELF BACK IN TIME, RIGHT?
HOP IN A TIME MACHINE AND STEP INTO THIS PLACE
AND WALK NEXT TO JESUS FOR A WHILE,
WHAT WOULD... WHAT WOULD A DAY LOOK LIKE?
WHAT MIGHT HE DO THROUGHOUT THE DAY EVERY DAY?
NATHANIEL: SO, BECAUSE WE THINK THAT NAZARETH,
WE DON'T REALLY KNOW, HISTORICALLY,
A LOT ABOUT NAZARETH,
IT WAS PROBABLY A REALLY SMALL PLACE AND A FARMING AREA,
SO SUBSISTENCE FARMING WOULD BE KIND OF THE EVERYDAY.
YOU KNOW, LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT SHEEP,
LIKE THE TREES AND GRAPES, AND WHAT HAVE YOU.
SO A TYPICAL DAY, PROBABLY WAKING UP WITH THE SUN, RIGHT?
EATING A LIGHT MEAL TOGETHER.
THE WOMEN ARE ALREADY BEGINNING THE DAY PREPARING FOOD,
AND THE MEN GOING OUT TO THE FIELDS
TO DO THE EVERYDAY KIND OF LABOR,
OR IN THE CASE OF JESUS AND HIS FATHER, JOSEPH,
OF COURSE, THEIR WORKSHOP.
AND THEN WORK ALL DAY
AND THEN COME HOME PROBABLY AS THE SUN WAS SETTING.
THEY PROBABLY PACKED A LUNCH, OR IF THEY WERE HARVESTING,
THEY WOULD EAT WHATEVER THEY WERE HARVESTING.
AND THEN COME BACK, HAVE A LIGHT MEAL.
JACK: IN THIS HUMBLE SETTING,
THE WORKING CLASS COMMUNITY OF NAZARETH
ANCHORED THEIR LIVES IN THE SYNAGOGUE
BECAUSE THEY WERE OBSERVANT JEWISH PEOPLE.
NATHANIEL: HERE WE ARE IN A REPLICA
OF A FIRST CENTURY SYNAGOGUE.
JACK: VERY COOL.
NATHANIEL: PRETTY UNIQUE BUILDING.
OF COURSE, WE FOUND THE REMAINS OF OTHER SYNAGOGUES
FROM THE FIRST CENTURY AND THE DESIGN AND THE MATERIALS,
EVERYTHING IS INSPIRED BY THOSE PLACES.
AND THERE'S SOME FEATURES THAT ARE COMMON
TO FIRST CENTURY SYNAGOGUES.
ONE OF THE KEYS TO THIS IS, OF COURSE, THE NAME,
SUNAGOGE IN GREEK AND BEIT KNESSET IN HEBREW,
BOTH MEAN "THE HOUSE OF GATHERING".
AND SO WE BELIEVE THAT IT FUNCTIONED
MORE LIKE A COMMUNITY CENTER.
JACK: INTERESTING.
NATHANIEL: AND SO WE THINK WHATEVER USES
WERE NECESSARY FOR THE COMMUNITY.
SOME PEOPLE SUGGEST
THAT MAYBE IT EVEN FUNCTIONED LIKE A SCHOOL,
CERTAINLY, A COURTHOUSE.
JACK: YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU JUST SAID,
A LIGHT BULB WENT ON, RIGHT?
THE LAST VERSE IN LUKE 2 SAYS, "JESUS GREW IN STATURE,"
SO HE MATURED PHYSICALLY.
AND THEN IT SAID HE GREW IN WISDOM.
SO, IN A PLACE LIKE THIS,
HE MIGHT LEARN TO READ AND WRITE AND STUDY HIS HISTORY.
AND IN THEOLOGY, IS THAT RIGHT?
IF THIS WAS AN EDUCATIONAL PLACE
THIS IS WHERE JESUS WOULD LEARN TOO, RIGHT?
NATHANIEL: ABSOLUTELY.
THEY WERE AMAZED AT HIS WISDOM
AND AT HIS ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND,
AND THE KINDS OF QUESTIONS THAT HE WAS ASKING.
JACK: YEAH.
YOU LIVE AND WORK AND BREATHE THIS SPACE
THAT REPRESENTS THE VILLAGE JESUS WAS IN.
HE LIVED FOR AT LEAST A COUPLE OF DECADES IN THIS SPACE
AND THEN LEFT.
AND BY MY TAKE, HE ONLY CAME BACK ONCE, THAT WE KNOW ABOUT.
WHAT DID HE TAKE FROM HERE, FROM THIS VALLEY,
TO THOSE WHO WERE OUTSIDE THIS VALLEY?
NATHANIEL: WELL, LIFE, THE SIMPLE LIFE, THE COMMON LIFE,
YOU KNOW, GROWING UP AS A NORMAL PERSON.
YOU KNOW, WITH FARMERS AND AS A WORKMAN,
HIS LIFE WAS VERY QUIET, VERY PASTORAL.
AND WE SEE THAT IN HOW HE TEACHES.
HE CONNECTS WITH THE COMMON PEOPLE.
YOU KNOW, THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE FROM EVERYDAY LIFE
IN JESUS' TEACHINGS.
JACK: YEAH, HE DOESN'T STEP OFF OF THE THRONE AND COME DOWN.
HE'S BEEN LIVING, RIGHT, IN THIS SPACE
AMONG THE MOST ORDINARY OF ORDINARY FOLKS.
YOU KNOW, I'M ALWAYS STRUCK BY THE FACT
THAT THIS PLACE IS UNMENTIONED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT.
IT'S UNMENTIONED IN THE FIRST CENTURY WRITINGS OF JOSEPHUS,
AND IT'S UNMENTIONED IN THE JEWISH TRADITIONAL WRITINGS.
IT'S LIKE, IT'S REALLY HARD TO HIT ALL THREE OF THOSE,
TO BE MISSED IN ALL THREE OF THOSE,
AND THIS LITTLE COMMUNITY
THAT'S TUCKED DOWN IN THIS VALLEY
SEEMS TO BE OUT OF SIGHT OF EVERYBODY.
NATHANIEL: YEAH, IT SEEMS THAT
IF JESUS DIDN'T COME FROM NAZARETH
THEN PROBABLY WE'D HAVE NEVER HEARD OF NAZARETH, PERHAPS.
MAYBE EVEN THE ROMANS DIDN'T EVEN KNOW OF NAZARETH.
IT WAS NOT AN IMPORTANT POPULATION CENTER.
IT WAS NOT ON ANY IMPORTANT TRADE ROUTE.
AGAIN, A SORT OF NOWHERESVILLE, YOU KNOW. (CHUCKLES)
IT'S NOT AN IMPORTANT PLACE,
AND YET, PERHAPS BY THE DIVINE PERSPECTIVE,
IT'S THE PERFECT PLACE.
YOU KNOW, AS YOU SAID, YOU KNOW, A KIND OF COCOON,
A SPECIAL... A SPECIAL PLACE THAT WAY.
(GENTLE UPBEAT MUSIC)
JACK: HOW COULD THE MESSIAH COME FROM HERE,
A PLACE OF WEAKNESS AND LOW EXPECTATION?
1 CORINTHIANS 1:27-28 SAYS,
"BUT GOD CHOSE THE FOOLISH THINGS OF THE WORLD
"TO SHAME THE WISE.
"GOD CHOSE THE WEAK THINGS OF THE WORLD TO SHAME THE STRONG.
"HE CHOSE THE LOWLY THINGS OF THE WORLD
"AND THE DESPISED THINGS,
"AND THE THINGS THAT ARE NOT,
"TO NULLIFY THE THINGS THAT ARE."
GOD'S WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS.
NAZARETH SHELTERED JESUS
AND GAVE HIM THE TOOLS HE WOULD NEED
TO CONNECT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD.
ONE OF THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS ONCE SAID,
"HEY, CAN ANY GOOD THING COME OUT OF NAZARETH?"
TURNS OUT THE GREATEST GOOD THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN DID.
(GENTLE UPBEAT MUSIC)