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(Sergio) Today, we are visiting a very special place.
Like this.
(Sergio) A place that takes us back in time,
to the 1st century,
and recreates the life as it was in the times of Jesus.
Exact replicas of the 1st century houses,
synagogue, mikveh, and olive presses
have been carefully built using the same methods
that would have been used by Joseph the carpenter.
The scenes are brought to life
as villagers populate the farm and houses,
living and working with the same type of clothing,
pottery, tools, and methods
that Mary and Jesus would have used.
A carefully researched recreation of Jesus' home town,
there is really no other place like it.
These are the last remaining fields
worked by Jesus' friends, family, and fellow villagers.
This is Nazareth Village.
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Welcome to the 1st century!
This is how Nazareth would have looked like
during the time of Jesus.
Let's see it.
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All right. We are in Joseph's workshop,
Joseph, the husband of Mary. Yes.
And, we have some 1st century tools here.
We have the adzes. We have the chisels.
We have a sharpening stone, a sanding stone.
All tools from the 1st century.
And we have an olive crusher.
But the coolest tool is the drill.
This is a completely environmental-friendly drill.
Let's see.
So, we grab the tip, and we keep a good, um...
Like this.
I should keep my day job.
So, while Joseph would've worked right here on his carpentry,
Mary would have been right next to his side
cooking the meal for the family,
preparing the food for everybody.
And the Bible tell us that women weren't only housewives.
They also had some occupations.
Come. Let's see Hannah's workshop.
Just like a Proverb 31 woman,
or Lydia, or Tabitha in the New Testament,
worked, and they used their hands to produce something.
They earned their wages in a good way.
And here, we have Hannah's workshop,
where she sits all day and she weaves.
We have the sheep on the land.
They sheer them, and she takes care of the rest.
She washed the wool and unknots the wool.
She spins the wool, dyes the wool,
and she makes beautiful 100% wool scarves
that are like these.
This is an old one, but they are just wonderful.
And they used them for winter because it kept them very warm.
(Sergio) We are in the only
This is incredible.
This is what it would have looked like 2,000 years ago.
What was it used for?
Take a look at those seats.
These are not like your regular pews in church
where you sit and look at the stage.
No. You sit here, and you look at each other.
Look at it. It goes all the way around.
And the person sitting here is looking at the people
sitting on the other side,
You look at each other's faces. It's a fellowship center.
So, if you already guessed it, it was multi-functional.
Synagogue in Hebrew is beit knesset.
Beit knesset means "the house of gathering."
A fellowship house.
It was used for teaching children to read and write throughout the week.
It was used as a courthouse to solve disputes among the people.
And on Sabbaths, it was used to study the Torah.
This is how Jesus would have come and read from the Isaiah scroll,
open it and read it
in a synagogue looking very much like this one.
It's quite remarkable that after 2,000 years,
this piece of land remained untouched by the modern civilization.
And to that, we can thank Nazareth Trust,
a nonprofit that owns this land
and oversees the oldest hospital in Israel
right around the corner.
It's impossible to show you
all of the incredible attractions of this place
in these short five minutes.
The actual tour takes more than an hour.
They take you on a guided tour, first through a museum
where the artifacts bring the scriptures to life,
and then, out into the fields,
wine press, the farm, the dressed up villagers.
When I was done with the tour, my mind was blown away.
Nazareth Village is truly remarkable.
And the best part is,
they're focused on being a living presentation of the life,
times, and teachings of Jesus
for all the world to see.
So, if you are in Israel,
don't miss the opportunity to visit the Nazareth Village.