Tuesday, July 4 Can anything good come out of Nazareth?​—John 1:46.

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Tuesday, July 4

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?—John 1:46.

 

Many in the first century did not put faith in Jesus. To them, he was just the son of a humble carpenter. And he was from Nazareth, a city that may have been considered of little importance. Even Nathanael, who became a disciple of Jesus, at first said: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” He may have had in mind the prophecy found at Micah 5:2, which foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, not in Nazareth. The prophet Isaiah foretold that Jesus’ enemies would fail to concern themselves “with the details of [the Messiah’s] generation.” (Isa. 53:8) If those people had taken the time to examine all the facts, they would have learned that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and that he was a descendant of King David. (Luke 2:4-7) So Jesus’ place of birth was in line with the prophecy found at Micah 5:2. What, then, was the problem? People were too quick to make a judgment. They did not have all the facts. Because of this, they were stumbled. w21.05 2-3 ¶4-6