Day 1.3 Nazareth
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Nazareth in the Bible:
- Luke 1:26-28 Gabriel appears to Mary
- Matthew 2:21-23 Mary, Joseph and Jesus return from Egypt
- Luke 2:41-51 Jesus' early years
- Luke 4:16-30 Jesus rejected
- Mark 6:1-6 Jesus unable to do many miracles here
On the drive down the slopes of Mount Carmel we passed by a rather remarkable site visible only for a few seconds: right on the roadside, a first century tomb complete with a rolling stone that was apparently discovered during construction of the road. Certainly bore a resemblance to my perception of the tomb where Jesus was laid for 3 days!
In about 45 minutes we came to modern day Nazareth, one of the larger cities in Israel with a population of about 75,000. Not surprisingly, there is nothing that remains to see of the small first century village that was the childhood home of Jesus. There is, however, a wonderful "living museum" called Nazareth Village where we had the opportunity to enjoy a delightful and informative visit and an authentic first century meal. The owner and manager is a friend of Jeff and has visited WoodsEdge in the past. Here's what Nazareth Village says about itself:
Set on the outskirts of old Nazareth, the Nazareth Village is built on ancient agricultural land that boasts the area’s last remaining first-century wine press. The original farm has been restored with its ancient wine press, terraces, irrigation system and stone quarry, and exact replicas of first-century houses, a synagogue, a watchtower, mikveh and olive presses have been carefully constructed using the original building methods and materials.
Together, these elements form the Nazareth Village, an authentic first-century farm and archaeologically accurate re-creation of the hometown of Jesus with real ties to the life and time of His friends, family and fellow Nazarenes.
Walking through the various re-creations, complete with people and animals playing the first century roles, really did bring to life what daily life was like for a young Jesus as he grew up. And particularly nice was that we had the entire place to ourselves for the full visit ... another sign of the dearth of tourists that all of the locations and hotels have been suffering through for the past two years.
All in all, the stop was well worth the time! And Josiah enjoyed feeding the goats and sheep! :)
Concluding our stay at Nazareth Village, we reboarded the bus and continued eastward, making a quick stop along the way Cana (yes, that Cana ... though today just a modern day town) to pick up a tasty traditional pastry & cheese delicacy for all to try. Yummy! Another 45 minutes and we arrived after dark to our hotel for the next two nights in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. They held dinner for our late arrival, and after that everyone was so worn out that the decision was made to forgo meeting that evening as a group but instead allow everyone to rest up (and continue jet lag recovery!) for another big day tomorrow.
Day 1 was a tremendous start to our journey through Israel!