So the timeline of Jesus’ life and ministry starts with a preparation phase (phase 1) where he was born and prepared to live out his ministry life. He learns Scripture, is presented and shown to be unique in the Temple. He lives in Bethlehem for part of this time, lives in Egypt for a time and spends much of the rest of the time in Nazareth. It is at some point in Nazareth that He is led by the Spirit to go to John, who is baptizing in the Jordan River valley, and be baptized. After this baptism, He is tempted and shown faithful and then He starts to teach and preach. His followers grow, He does a few miracles and He beckons with a command: “Come and See.” This baptism ministry all the way to His rejection at Nazareth and setting up shop in Capernaum is Phase 2, or what some call “Ministry Foundations.” This is what we explored today.

We started today in an old theatre in Sepphoris. This place is not mentioned in Scripture, but is a very short walk/journey from ancient Nazareth. It is possible that Jesus worked in this city with His earthly father, Joseph. Joseph, as you may know, worked with his hands and was a craftsman. The Greek “tekton” had been translated “carpenter” by us, but is better understood as “home builder.” This likely means that Joseph (and Jesus) worked on stone and wood structures – and it is likely that they would have been used in building Sepphoris as Herod Antipas called all local craftsmen to work starting in 3BC and ending in 19AD or so. So it is very likely that a teenage Jesus worked in this city with His dad.

A view from the top of the lookout.

A mosaic in a rich woman’s house. Dionysus is winning the drinking game.

After we spend some time digging for artifacts, we ate lunch and prepared to go to Nazareth.

We then made our way to a site where they gave us a glimpse of 1st Century Nazareth with a bunch of reconstructed buildings and some people dressed in 1st Century garb and some animals. We ended in a full size replica of the synagogue in Nazareth and considered Jesus making a ruckus by his words and being taken to a place to be dropped off a height and/or stoned. Check out the photo I shared on Facebook for a 360 shot from my friend Brandon.

We then went to a cliff outside of town where some believe Jesus was led after His “troubling” teaching. They threatened to throw Him off. He disappeared through their midst. The views from there were amazing!

Below the cliff is the Jezebel valley. This is the direction an Assyrian or Babylonian army would come to conquer Jerusalem. This is the path of the Via Maris and a very strategic location for all commerce of the ancient world. Overseeing it made Herod rich. It helped the message of the Gospel spread quickly. It is a very strategic location and from the hill outside Nazareth, it is all there to see. We wondered how many times Jesus snuck up to this mountain to consider how this planet has rebelled against the ways of God. We wondered how many times He asked, “is it time, yet?” We wondered if we were in the spot our Savior sat 2000 years ago after a long week of working Sepphoris. Very strategic indeed.