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Nazareth is best known as the city of
annunciation where Gabriel appeared to Mary.
But it could also be dubbed the city of
renunciation. When Jesus returned to
his hometown to attend the synagogue on the
Sabbath day, the people with whom Jesus had
spent his childhood years rose up in anger
when they heard his interpretation of
Isaiah’s prophecies. They were intent
on driving him out of town, or rather,
hurling him off the town’s cliff. |
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Some say that instead of picking up stones,
they were going to throw him down to the
stones. In the Hebrew Bible, there are
a number of times that stoning is a
prescribed capital punishment. Some
examples are: touching the mountain of Sinai
(Exodus 19: 13), gathering sticks on the
Sabbath day (Numbers 15: 35), cursing the
name of the Lord (Leviticus 24: 23). |
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In the gospel of John, Jesus’ response to
those who wanted to stone a woman caught in
the act of committing adultery was to
admonish, “Let any one of you who is without
sin throw the first stone.” I wonder
when Jesus bent down to write with his
finger on the ground after this remark,
(John 8: 8) whether he was recalling his own
almost-stoning in Nazareth. |
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We don’t know to which cliff the furious
townsfolk brought Jesus. The
historical geographer George Adam Smith who
came to the Holy Land from the highlands of
Scotland in 1880 and then again in 1891
wrote that the moment you climb to the edge
of Nazareth in any direction, you have an
astounding biblical view. |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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View of the Jezreel Valley
from the Nazareth Precipice |
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Jezreel lies below you with its twenty
battlefields and scenes of Deborah, Barak
and Gideon’s victories, Saul and Josiah’s
defeats, Naboth’s vineyard and the house of
Elisha at Shunem. Literally “you see a
map of Old Testament history.” |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Mount Tabor where Deborah
and Barak defeated the Canaanites (Judges 4
& 5) |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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At the end of the rocks
(foreground) the Jezreel Valley lies below |
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Jesus could have seen Roman Legionnaires on
the highway below, marching from Damascus to
the port of Ptolemais (Akko) en route to
Rome. Or he could have witnessed
throngs of Galilean pilgrims traveling south
to Jerusalem to sacrifice in the Holy Temple
during the major festivals. Rumor and
scandals involving the Roman emperor or one
of the Herods would have reached even the
youth of Nazareth. |
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George Adam Smith notes that in Jesus’ day,
messianic tempers were strong in Galilean
hearts. And indeed, in 66 AD, a large
number of Galileans took a leading role in
the revolt against Rome. In contrast,
the Judeans could be characterized by a
religious zeal for the law. Whereas it
was the Galileans who were fired up with the
passion of hope.
So it makes sense that once Jesus was
renounced by people in his own hometown,
that he would establish the headquarters of
his public ministry in yet another Galilean
town. That would be Capernaum. |
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Copyright
2013 by Gila Yudkin |
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Renowned Old Testament
battlegrounds can be seen from the Nazareth
Precipice |
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But getting back to the
attempted stoning at the “brow of the hill,”
we have a great precipice in Nazareth to
read Luke chapter 4. At 1310 feet
above sea level, it’s simply called “The
Precipice.” If you’ve visited the site
before, you may not recognize it now.
In the prelude to Pope Benedict’s pilgrimage
to the Holy Land in May 2009, the goat hangout
was moved, the trash collected and now a
smooth black asphalt road is beckoning. |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Goats grazing on the
ascent up to Nazareth's Precipice |
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On your next pilgrimage, after visiting the
Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth,
let’s allow time to visit the “brow of the
hill” -- or "the precipice" -- for
some in-depth Bible study along with
panoramic “Kodak moments.” |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
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Rainbow striking the Church
of the Annunciation January 2013 |
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Copyright 2009, 2013 Gila Yudkin. Permission
needed for any reuse. |
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Gila Yudkin,
a holy land guide for over thirty years, is
always on the lookout for new angles on
ancient sites. She loves working with
groups thirsty for biblical insight,
archeological anecdotes and old-fashioned
fun. She wishes she could have toured
with George Adam Smith in 1880, or been Mark
Twain’s tour guide way back in 1867. |
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If you are a Mark Twain fan, or
contemplating a holy land tour, see
Mark Twain's tips for Holy Land Pilgrims
for tongue-in-cheek travel tips still
relevant for twenty-first century holy land
pilgrims. His description of the
two-hour journey from Nazareth to Mount
Tabor is hilarious. |
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Postscript on stoning |
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To take a leap to the present day, when I
first wrote this highlight, Israel had just
celebrated 61 years of independence and the
most popular Hebrew newspaper published an
eye-opening survey entitled “What do they
[Europeans] think of us.” One of the more
unusual questions in the survey was, “Does
modern Israel have a death penalty and if
so, what is it?”
I was startled by the results. Of
those who believe that Israel has a death
penalty (we don’t!), a full 20% of the
Spanish and !5% of both the German and
British respondents thought that the death
penalty was by stoning!!! They are probably
remembering that Jesus said, “O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and
stone those sent to you….” (Matthew 23:37)
Stone-throwing occasionally occurs at the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem, so it’s wise to
avoid planning a visit to the Temple Mount
during the Jewish holidays of Tabernacles,
Passover or Pentecost. But during the
rest of the year, a tour of the Temple Mount
could be one of your most treasured
highlights in Jerusalem. Be sure to
check out
Ten Tips to a Terrific Temple
Mount Tour. |
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If you have already visited the Temple
Mount, or are planning to in the near
future, you may enjoy listening to the
Gila's Temple Mount MP3
audio tour. Walk the Temple
Mount with your iphone in the company of
Abraham and Isaac, David and Solomon, Jesus
and the disciples, the angel Gabriel and
Mohammed -- and Gila.
Now available also as a written
24-page PDF with a
Temple Mount plan,
guidelines for passing the security check
and ten recommended reads on the
Temple Mount from Gila's bookshelves. |
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