Part 1 - Nazareth and Cana

March 16 -  We stayed near the Tel Aviv airport the first night.  This area is cross-crossed with freeways and on-ramps, and reminds me of Los Angeles.  There is high rise development and then, on the next very plot, is a farm or orchard.  We wandered in the wilderness for 40 years - OK, 40 minutes - before we found our promised rest.

This morning we headed for Nazareth.  We took Highway 6, the main north-south Interstate-5 of Israel, and the scenery didn't look a whole lot different.  It was surprisngly green.   Narareth is the largest city in the Western Bank, containing some 80,000 souls.  We learned that, in Jesus' day, the village contained between 400 and 1200 people.  It was so insignificant that it was not even mentioned by Josephus when he enumerates the places taken by the Romans.  There is an open air reenactment museum there called Nazareth Village, which shows daily life and exhibits of first century Israel.  Very interesting, as we tend to read the Bible through American eyes.  Our guide was a Messianic Jew, and very knowledgable about the prophetic prophesies.  

John 1:43.  "The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow Me.  Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see."

This synagogue was about the size of Nazareth's synagogue when Jesus read the messianic passage from Isaiah.

This was "Joseph" explaining the woodworking tools of the first century.

This was a first century wine press.  The rock was hollowed out, the grapes from dumped in, and then the grapes trod barefoot to keep from breaking the seeds.  Jesus "trod the wine press alone."  Normally, the whole community came out for the activity.  But only Jesus could atone for the sins of the world.

Then we drove through the neighboring village of Cana, where we thought we might see some of that excellent wine the town is known for.   OK, I made that up, but it was the scene of Jesus' first manifestation of divine power.  Cana is only about six miles from Nazareth.  I found out that, in the first century, Cana was a far more important town than Nazareth.  

John 2:1.  On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”  ..........  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim..............  And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!”  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.