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Home , Luke 4, Matthew 4, Xmas

Jam Notes for December 7, 2020

The Time of ’ Birth: Thoughts on

First Century Nazareth - Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQlF0TrB4eU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyDyIyn-yRE

Resources: https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2018/08/09/did-first-century-nazareth- exist/#:~:text=It's%20known%20as%20the%20Christ,is%20said%20to%20 have%20lived. https://jesus.christ.org/questions-and-answers/what-was-nazareth-like-in- the-first-century/ https://www.nazarethvillage.com/about/research-and-archaeology/first- century-travel/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#:~:text=The%20first%20recorded% 20Christmas%20celebration,the%20subject%20of%20great%20interest.

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When was First Celebrated

Etymology "Christmas" is a shortened form of "'s ". The word is recorded as Crīstesmæsse in 1038 and Cristes-messe in 1131.[3] Crīst (genitive Crīstes) is from Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), a Messiah", meaning" ,(שִׁ יח ָ מ) translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ "anointed";[30][31] and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist.

The form Christenmas was also historically used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal.[32] The term derives from Middle English Cristenmasse, meaning "Christian mass".[33] Xmas is an of Christmas found particularly in print, based on the initial letter (Χ) in Greek Khrīstos (Χριστός), "Christ", though numerous style guides discourage its use.[34] This abbreviation has precedent in Middle English Χρ̄es masse (where "Χρ̄" is an abbreviation for Χριστός).[33]

Other names In addition to "Christmas", the holiday has been known by various other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as "midwinter",[35][36] or, more rarely,as Nātiuiteð (from Latin nātīvitās below).[35][37] "Nativity", meaning "birth", is from Latin nātīvitās.[38]

In Old English, Gēola () referred to the period corresponding to December and January, which was eventually equated with Christian Christmas.[39] "Noel" (or "Nowel") entered English in the late 14th century and is from the Old French noël or naël, itself ultimately from the Latin nātālis (diēs) meaning "birth (day)".[40]

December 7, 2020 2 Nativity acc to Luke: 2:1-20

The Birth of Jesus

2 1-5 About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to in Judah, ’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

6-7 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

An Event for Everyone

8-12 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, ’s stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”

13-14 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

15-18 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

December 7, 2020 3 19-20 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!

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The of Luke and Matthew describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem to the Virgin Mary. In Luke, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census, and Jesus is born there and laid in a manger.[41] Angels proclaimed him a savior for all people, and shepherds came to adore him. Matthew adds that the magi follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, born the king of the Jews. King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later returns to Nazareth. The nativity sequences included in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke prompted early Christian writers to suggest various dates for the anniversary.[42] Although no date is indicated in the gospels, early connected Jesus to the Sun through the use of such phrases as "Sun of righteousness."[42][43] The Romans marked the winter solstice on December 25.[24] The first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome on December 25, AD 336.[44][45] In the 3rd century, the date of the nativity was the subject of great interest. Around AD 200, Clement of Alexandria wrote: There are those who have determined not only the year of our Lord's birth, but also the day; and they say that it took place in the 28th year of Augustus, and in the 25th day of [the Egyptian month] Pachon [May 20] ... Further, others say that He was born on the 24th or 25th of Pharmuthi [April 20 or 21].[46]

Various factors contributed to the selection of December 25 as a date of celebration: it was the date of the winter solstice on the Roman calendar and it was nine months after March 25, the date of the vernal equinox and a date linked to the conception of Jesus (now ).

December 7, 2020 4 Christmas played a role in the Arian controversy of the fourth century. After this controversy ran its course, the prominence of the holiday declined for a few centuries. The feast regained prominence after 800 when Charlemagne was crowned emperor on Christmas Day. Later during the Protestant Reformation, the Puritans banned Christmas in England, associating it with drunkenness and other misbehavior.[47] It was restored as a legal holiday in England in 1660, but remained disreputable in the minds of many people. In the early 19th century, Christmas was reconceived by Washington Irving, Charles Dickens, and other authors as a holiday emphasizing family, children, kind-heartedness, gift-giving, and .[48]

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Life in Nazareth of the First Century

I. What realities affected travel and movement in the First Century during Jesus lifetime?

Jesus was born around the time that the Roman Empire had expanded throughout the Mediterranean region, creating a network of land and sea routes used for transportation and communication. The Roman road system was comprised of a network of over 63,000 miles of paved roads, connecting centres of government, culture and power stretching from present day Spain to Iran.

Roman roads were used by traders, builders, soldiers and government officials and greatly contributed to the efficiency of the empire’s expansion. A passport system was used for identification of prestigious officials who had privileges of staying overnight in mansions. A horse-based relay postal system could transport a letter over 500 miles in 24 hours. Regional borders, such as the that separated Jewish and Gentile regions on the north side of the sea of , were stationed with tax collectors and possessed increased cultural diversity.

December 7, 2020 5 :12-16 states that Jesus went to live in the region, near the Jordan River on “the way to the sea”. This ancient land route is called the Via Maris, connecting eastward to Damascus and serving as one of the major thoroughfares through first-century Palestine between the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. The Via Maris connected the silk and incense routes that extended to Iran and China to the ports of Ptolemais (Acco) and Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast of western Asia. The fact that Jesus spent most of his life in close proximity to the international trade route offers insight into the diversity of people and ideas he encountered. This reality also helps explain how his message was able to spread from humble Nazareth to the ends of the earth.

The Bible leaves us hanging for approximately 18 years after the 12 year- old Jesus visits the temple in (:41-52). During this time, we can speculate that he likely lived in Nazareth, working with his father as a builder in the region. Some theories suggest that he may have traveled during this time, accounting for his knowledge of foreign cultures, languages and political structures. When Jesus emerges from the wilderness after his trial of temptation, he returns to Galilee which serves as the geographical backdrop for most of his adult life and ministry.

Less than four miles from the small village of Nazareth (pop. 200-400) is one of ’s capitol cities in the Galilee, Sepphoris. This city boasted a population of 30,000 and was a centre for culture and art in the Galilee, hosting beautiful mosaics and a Roman theatre that give it the reputation as the ornament of the Galilee. It also served as the political and banking capitol of the region, housing many of the social elite.

Although scripture does not mention Sepphoris by name, it is likely that Jesus was aware of it’s existence, as a “city on a hill cannot be hidden” and is very visible from the ridges of Nazareth overlooking the Tiran and Bet Netofa valleys. Proximity to Sepphoris would have provided Jesus with an opportunity for employment with his father Joseph, exposure to a diversity of foreigners from across the Roman world and the opportunity to learn to speak and read the three languages: Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic.

December 7, 2020 6 Through archeological evidence of the systems of cities and transport during Jesus’s life and informed speculation when interfaced with scripture, it is probable that Jesus would have been in contact with the broader world. The region surrounding Nazareth and Capernaum where Jesus spent most of his time included powerful cities such as Sepphoris and Tiberias that were connected to the international transport routes. Many activities and examples used in Jesus’s teaching would not have occurred in a small farming village like Nazareth, but could have been found after a two hour walk down the hill to Sepphoris.

II. How did Jesus travel during his life? :35 states that Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their , preaching the good news of the Kingdom [of God] and healing every disease and sickness. In :7-12, Jesus sends his disciples out on foot in pairs, instructing them to take nothing for the journey except a staff, no bread, no bag and no money in their belts. He calls his followers to a life of movement to spread the good news throughout the region. He encourages them to travel light, taking only what they need and to experience the hospitality of people in the region.

Since Jesus and his followers were not wealthy Roman diplomats or military leaders, but mostly a band of low-class fishermen and subsistence farmers, they likely traveled by foot to the villages and towns in the region. Walking between the towns listed in scripture literally meant that Jesus and his followers would have spent much of their time hiking through fields and valleys, up mountains and cliffs and relying on others for their sustenance. The range of Jesus’s travels as an adult extends at least 50 miles east to west and 150 miles north to south through present day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Jesus and his followers would have likely had a diet based on bread and olive oil supplemented by fruits and vegetables found in the region. A staff was used for protection against wild animals and thieves, which were more present in both the rugged hill country and on border regions where authority and security were ambiguous. It is unlikely that Jesus had much money or even possessed Roman coins, although some of the finances of

December 7, 2020 7 Jesus’s itinerant ministry were funded by Joanna, wife of Herod Antipas’s finances minister, as well as several other women who were probably from Sepphoris (:3).

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What was Nazareth Like in the First Century:

Jesus of Nazareth, a phrase occurring seventeen times in the , has identified a small, unwalled town in southern Galilee with Jesus for all time. Located some fifteen miles west of the and twenty miles east of the Mediterranean Sea, Nazareth had a population between two hundred and four hundred people at the beginning of the first century. An obscure town, Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, by Josephus, or in the Talmud. It is situated in the hills four miles southeast of Sepphoris, Herod Antipas’ early capital.

Nazareth’s archaeological record indicates that the inhabitants exploited the soft limestone in the area to build basements, cisterns, grain storage facilities, and olive and wine presses, reflecting its main economic enterprise-agriculture. Nazareth had no palaces, bathhouses, or paved streets, indicating that the people lived in humble homes that spread across a south-facing slope. It was an all-Jewish village that was most likely settled during the Hasmonean expansionist period just before Jesus Christ’s birth.

In direct contrast to its first-century political and economic obscurity, Nazareth plays a significant role in the Gospel narratives. In Nazareth, the angel appeared to Mary and announced the birth of the Messiah (:26). Joseph and Mary returned there sometime after Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem (:23). From Jesus Christ’s youth until He was thirty years of age, Nazareth was Jesus’ home. Finally, it was the place Jesus chose to announce the fulfillment of messianic concerning Him (see 61:1-2) as He began his ministry (:16-30). <<<<<*>>>>>

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Did First-Century Nazareth Exist?

It’s known as the Christ Myth: the theory that Jesus of Nazareth never existed as a historical person. One of the arguments that mythicists often use is that the town of Nazareth never existed in the first century at the time Jesus is said to have lived. If Nazareth never existed, then Jesus didn’t exist, right? René Salm has even written an entire book on the subject entitled, The Myth of Nazareth, The Invented Town of Jesus.1

Because this argument is becoming increasingly popular, how does one respond?

Quite easily, actually.

First, the argument is illogical. Atheist, Bart Ehrman has pointed out, “ I could dispose of this argument fairly easily by pointing out that it is irrelevant. If Jesus existed, as the evidence suggests, but Nazareth did not, as this assertion claims, then he merely came from somewhere else. Whether Barack Obama was born in the U.S. or not (for what it is worth, he was) is irrelevant to the question of whether he was born.”2

Secondly, the argument has been falsified through numerous archaeological discoveries which clearly establish that Nazareth was indeed a town inhabited in the first century at the time of Jesus. Consider the following:

• Tombs with fragments of ossuaries have been excavated in Nazareth, indicating

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• A first-century courtyard house discovered in Nazareth. Photo Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority

Jewish presence there in the first century.3

• Hellenistic and early Roman artifacts, including pottery shards, a cooking jar, and lamps discovered in the 1969 Nazareth excavations led by Bellarmino Bagetti, come from a first-century context.4

• In 1997 and 1998, excavations at Mary’s Well, an ancient spring in Nazareth, led by archaeologist Yardenna Alexandra revealed coins from the Hellenistic and early Roman periods – coins that would have bene used in the time of Jesus.5

• In 2009, a first-century dwelling was discovered6 in which were found pottery and chalk stone vessel shards which date from the late Hellenic through Early Roman periods (100 BC to 100 AD)7

• Another first-century courtyard house was excavated in Nazareth8, which still had windows and doors intact. In 2015 Dr. Ken Dark, the lead archaeologist, noted evidence of early Christian veneration at the site, suggesting that it may have been the childhood home of Jesus.9

December 7, 2020 10 •

The rock-cut doorway of a first-century house discovered near the Sisters of Nazareth Convent, which may have been the childhood home of Jesus. Photo Credit: Ken Dark. Used by permission. • While there once was a lack of first-century evidence in Nazareth, recent excavations have conclusively demonstrated that in Jesus’ day, Nazareth was a backwater village of around 50 houses about four acres in size and populated by devout Jews of modest means.10

• In the historical biographies of Jesus in , Nazareth is identified as his hometown by each of the writers: Mathew (Mt 2:23), Mark (Mk 1:24), Luke (Lk 18:37), and John (Jn 19:19). Some 30 years after Jesus’s death and resurrection, Christians were still known as the “sect of the Nazarenes.” (Acts 24:5). These writers, along with the many people who spoke about “Jesus of Nazareth” were familiar with the village. Upon hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, one even asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Jn 1:46)

December 7, 2020 11 • Some have objected that Nazareth is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) nor in any other ancient sources outside of the New Testament. This is true, and with good reason: Nazareth was too small and too insignificant to have warranted being described. This in itself is evidence that Nazareth truly was the hometown of Jesus; who would make up a place like this for the hometown of the Messiah?

• While there are those who would seek to transform Jesus of Nazareth from an actual person into a legendary figure, few scholars and historians subscribe to the Christ Myth. Arguments such as, “Nazareth never even existed at the time of Jesus,” may make for entertaining rhetoric and interesting conspiracy theory, but they are far from compelling. As an archaeologist who reviewed René Salm’s book summarized: “By ignoring or dismissing solid ceramic, numismatic, and literary evidence for Nazareth’s existence during the Late Hellenisitic and Early Roman period, it would appear that the analysis which René Salm includes in his review, and his recent book must, in itself, be relegated to the realm of ‘myth.’”11 The reality is the historical evidence for the existence of the first-century rabbi known as Jesus of Nazareth is overwhelming.

Hellenistic: relating to Greek history, language, and culture from the death of Alexander the Great to the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Antony by Octavian in 31 BC. During this period Greek culture flourished, spreading through the Mediterranean and into the Near East and Asia and centering on Alexandria in Egypt and Pergamum in Turkey.

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