Nazareth
Episodes 21 and 28
Although Nazareth, in Galilee, is now a busy town where about 60,000 people live, when Jesus was a little boy it was a very small, poor village with about 200 people. You can see where Nazareth is on the map.
Jesus wasn’t born in Nazareth; he was born in Bethlehem because Joseph and Mary had travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census before he was born. You can find more information about Bethlehem here. When Jesus left Bethlehem with Joseph and Mary they went to live in Egypt because King Herod was angry that a new king had been born but when Herod died they were able to go back to Nazareth. You can read the story here or in Matthew 2:1-18 and watch the story in Episode 21, Hostages.
Jesus spent most of his life in Nazareth, where he lived with his father and mother, Joseph and Mary, and his brothers and sisters. His dad taught him about the Jewish faith and how to be a carpenter (that’s someone who makes things from wood) but we really don’t know very much about Jesus’ life as he grew up.
It was in Nazareth that the Angel Gabriel came and told Mary that she was going to have a baby. This story isn’t in one of the Friends and Heroes episodes but you can read about it in Matthew 1:18-23.
Jesus lived in Nazareth until he was an adult and started to tell people about God’s love for them. We sometimes call that telling the “Good News”. Then he moved away from Nazareth and lived in various places with his disciples, including a town called Capernaum.
On one occasion he went back to Nazareth on the Sabbath, to go to the synagogue. The synagogue is the building where people of the Jewish faith worship, and Sabbath is the name of the Jewish holy day.
Jesus started to read from the book of Isaiah, which is a book in the Old Testament, and then he spoke to everyone gathered in the synagogue. They were amazed at the way he spoke but then some people became very angry with him when he said things they didn’t like and they tried to throw him off a cliff edge.
Sadly, although Nazareth was Jesus' home town, as far as we know he never went back there again. You can see the story of Jesus speaking in Nazareth in Episode 28, School’s Out, and read it here or in the Bible in Luke 4:14-24 and 28-30.
A large church has been built over the place where people believe the Angel Gabriel spoke to Mary about the birth of Jesus and many people go to Nazareth each year to remember Jesus and worship him.
Click the pictures to see a larger version - you might want to save or print them too!
To find out more, read...Herod and the Wise Men – Matthew 2:1-18
Jesus speaks in Nazareth – Luke 4:14-24 and 28-30
and watch Friends and Heroes...
Herod and the Wise Men - Series 2 Episode 21, “Hostages”
Jesus speaks in Nazareth - Series 3 Episode 28, “School’s Out”