Luke 2:39

When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.

From Background Notes [BN] for Dec 20th & 21st written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Placing Mary in Nazareth of Galilee was, to a large degree, to assign her a place on the margins of Jewish society. Galilee itself was nicknamed "of the Goyim [the Gentiles]"...

 

...indicating the influence of paganism within the northernmost province of Israel. The Romans had a brothel there to service soldiers on leave in that area. Later followers of Jesus would wonder aloud, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth" (John 1:46). Still, God had a habit of choosing the lowly and the unlikely for his purposes. From obscurity, Mary would rise to assume a significant place in the life of Jesus. [BN,6]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am