Hiding in Plain Sight

Summary: Joseph and Mary hid in Nazareth, a town with a poor reputation. But Jesus changes everything, and today when we hear "Nazareth", we think of the Son of God.

After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 

That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” 

Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 

“A cry was heard in Ramah—
weeping and great mourning.
Rachel weeps for her children,
refusing to be comforted,
for they are dead.” 

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” 

So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:13-23 NLT)

Time Had Passed

In the Christmas story, we normally talk about Jesus' birth, then the angels appearing to the shepherds, then the wise men arriving from the east and bringing gifts. And in most nativity displays, the wise men appear alongside everybody else at the stable in Bethlehem.

But if you go deeper, you'll notice that...

• The star didn't appear until Jesus was born.
• The wise men traveled from far, far away.
• Travel in ancient times was a lengthy process.

There's no way that Joseph and Mary were still camped out in that stable when the wise men arrived. Jesus was probably a toddler, walking around and playing with Joseph's carpentry tools.

We see this as well in Herod's solution to the Jesus problem. Herod knew when the star appeared. He wanted to end the threat of a new king. So his solution was to kill every boy two years old and younger. That means Jesus was likely two years old.

Carpentry in Bethlehem

Two years is a long time to stay for a visit. Joseph and Mary met in Nazareth; it makes sense that they would return to Nazareth after the Roman census was over.

Yet when the wise men arrive, Joseph and Mary are still in Bethlehem. What happened? The easiest explanation is that Joseph set up shop in Bethlehem, with no plans to return to Nazareth.

My hunch is that Joseph decided he could make a better living in Bethlehem. Throughout the gospels, people speak poorly about the region of Galilee (and Nazareth in particular). It's the "wrong side of the tracks" for the entire Jewish region. But Bethlehem in Judea? Maybe the money was better there!

So Joseph sets up shop in Bethlehem. Two years later, the wise men arrive, Herod plans to kill Jesus, the angel warns Joseph, and the family escapes to Egypt. Herod dies, and the family returns.

Back to Nazareth

Joseph had worked as a carpenter in Bethlehem and in Nazareth, and we think he preferred Bethlehem. But he doesn't stay in Bethlehem, because he knows that Herod's son is now king. What would happen if a family came back in town with the only boy of a certain age? People would remember when they left and put two-and-two together.

So Joseph hides the family back in Nazareth. He returns to the "wrong side of the tracks" to keep his family safe. We talk about the sacrifice Joseph made in marrying Mary, but I'm guessing that this was a significant sacrifice, too.

It's easy to hide in plain sight if you're hiding where nobody's looking. And nobody's looking in a place that gets 1-star reviews on TripAdvisor. Prophets didn't come from Galilee (John 7:52). Nothing good ever came from Nazareth (John 1:46). Why on earth would the Messiah, the future King of Israel, come from there? It was inconceivable!

Jesus of Nazareth

This is how we get the King of the Jews, born in the City of David, yet speaking with the accent of Galilee. A teacher greater than any Rabbi, but a man who can connect with the lowest social class. I wonder if it would've been harder for Jesus to make "sinners and tax collectors" feel comfortable around him, had he grown up all his life in Bethlehem?

Later in Acts, when Peter gives the speech at Pentecost and converts thousands, who does he name as the Lord and Messiah? Jesus of Nazareth. The hometown of embarrassment becomes the common name for the Son of God. The last has become first. The town the nation rejected has become the cornerstone. The kingdom of God has left its mark.

Postscript:

I don't know how many of you feel like you didn't come from much. Maybe circumstances in your life pushed you or your parents to where you are now, and it's been an uphill battle ever since.

But I take comfort in the idea that a carpenter's son led a revolution, and a fisherman's son became his right-hand man. And what may be your shame can become God's glory at work in you.