Archives for May 13, 2015

Touring Nazareth

Dr. Beeke is presently in Israel with a tour group. Here are some devotional thoughts about locations he is visiting.

Though the name of the town Nazareth is well known to us today as the hometown of Jesus, it was an obscure village in the ancient world. It was located a few miles off the main road to the south, and a few miles from Sepphoris, a Roman city, to the north. When Philip told Nathanael that the promised Christ came from Nazareth, Nathanael exclaimed, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). It did not have much of a reputation.

Yet it was in Nazareth that the angel Gabriel appeared to a young woman named Mary to announce the conception and coming birth of Jesus, the Son of David and the Son of God (Luke 1:26). After their registration in Bethlehem and sojourn in Egypt, Joseph and Mary returned to Nazareth and raised their family here (Matt. 2:23). This little village, of perhaps a hundred people, was the hometown of our Lord until He began his public ministry (Mark 1:9; Luke 2:51). Thus to His dying day (and beyond), Christ was known as “Jesus of Nazareth” (Luke 18:37; Acts 2:22), and even called Himself such when He appeared to Saul of Tarsus as the Lord of glory (Acts 22:8). Early Christians were even sometimes mockingly called “Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5).

It is exceedingly precious to us to know that the King of kings and Lord of Lords would become Jesus of Nazareth. He could have chosen to live anywhere. His hometown of choice speaks of His humiliation for our sins. Paul wrote, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). The God of all the earth decided to live most of His life in a poor village that few knew, and that those who did know despised. What amazing mercy!

Man’s pride does not welcome such mercy. Ironically, the very people of Jesus’ hometown rejected Him when He announced in their synagogue that Isaiah’s ancient prophecies were fulfilled in Him (Luke 4:16–30). People do not want a humble Savior who ministers to those who are broken over their sins. We are too committed to our pride and righteousness.

Are we willing to become Nazarenes in order to follow Christ? Will we lower ourselves, yes, admit that we deserve to be lower than the lowest on earth? If we will follow Jesus, we must follow Him on the path downward in humility. We must accept rejection by this world, sometimes by our own families. Yet if we do so, then we may glory in the name, Jesus of Nazareth.

Caesarea Maritima on the Coast of Israel

Dr. Beeke is presently in Israel with a tour group. Here are some devotional thoughts about locations he is visiting.

At Caesarea Maritima once stood the magnificent man-made harbor that Herod the Great had constructed. We must remember to distinguish this Caesarea on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea from the inland Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Maritima, or Caesarea by the sea, was once a center for trade and the Roman army and administration of Palestine. However, for Christians, we remember Caesarea especially for its connection to the great mission of the gospel.

It was here that Philip the Evangelist settled after the Lord sent him to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the Ethiopian eunuch, using the prophecy of Isaiah 53 (Acts 8:40; 21:8). Thus Caesarea reminds us that faithful evangelism is done by the preaching of the Scriptures.

It was here in Caesarea that the apostle Peter, directed by the Spirit of God, preached the gospel of salvation to the household of Cornelius, a devout centurion of the Roman army (Acts 10). Thus Caesarea reminds us that the gospel is not for any one nation, but under the new covenant overflowed all national boundaries to reach people of all kinds and colors.

It was here that the apostle Paul was imprisoned after being attacked by a mob in Jerusalem (Acts 23:23, 33). On the one hand, this reminds us that the gospel will only advance through the suffering of God’s people. On the other hand, we see here how God’s providence uses even wicked men to extend the gospel mission. For in taking Paul to Caesarea, the Romans saved his life. And while here, Paul preached the gospel to Festus, King Agrippa, Bernice, Felix, and the officials attending them (Acts 24:24—26:32).

As we think of the ruins of Caesarea Maritima, and the vast expanse of the Mediterranean Sea, let us consider the great call of gospel missions that God has placed upon His people. Philip, Peter, and Paul were faithful servants to spread the gospel. Likewise, we must serve the cause of the gospel today. People must hear the preaching of Christ from the Scriptures in order to be saved. The gospel is God’s message of hope for people who are very different in color, culture, and location. The gospel will reach people who have never heard of the Savior only at great cost to faithful Christians. May God use our time here to impress us all with the fact that the great construction projects of men will crumble into ruins, but the kingdom of Christ will triumph and remain, as Christ works mightily through faithful men and women.