Have you ever felt stuck in neutral? Maybe it was a dead end job with no upside. Or did you grow up feeling trapped by living on the wrong side of the tracks? Maybe you have walked alone through the daunting challenges of being a single parent. Or has an injury, illness or tragedy put life on pause for you or a loved one?

Regardless of the specifics, many of us have faced seasons in our lives that have left us feeling stranded. Jesus of Nazareth was no different.

One of the unique elements of the story of Jesus Christ is the commonness of His life. We love legends like King Arthur who defends the Brits from the Saxons and fairytales like Robinhood, who robs from the rich to give to the poor. When it comes to historical figures – both political and religious, Jesus stands alone in His rise from obscurity. Jesus was not born into wealth or royalty, like Plato or Alexander the Great (Yes, Jesus was an ancestor of King David, but his family was no longer ruling Israel when Jesus was born), nor did He ascend to power by force, such as Muhammad’s conquering of Mecca.

Commoner to King

Not Jesus. He was just a carpenter (tekton is the description in Greek- which translates as a stone worker and is probably a more accurate characterization of Jesus’ profession) in an unimportant Galilean village called Nazareth. In both fact and fiction, the story of Jesus is one of a kind. If you were going to write the story, this would probably not be the script you would use. Before Jesus was a prominent teacher and became the Savior of the world, He was just a somebody living in the middle of nowhere.

John 1:14(MSG) says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood…” Since His time on earth, there has been intrigue about what Jesus was doing and where He was living, before entering His ministry in the late 20’s and early 30’s CE. Jesus is present at the Temple with His parents, Joseph and Mary when He was twelve (approximately 6-10 CE). But where is Jesus from 10-30 CE?

Jesus- God in the flesh- appears to have spent the better part of two decades wasting away as a marginal, blue-collar carpenter in a small town. Why would God do that? Why would he allow His own Son to leave His “Savior-of-the-World” potential untapped for so long? Jesus in his late twenties would have been a 100% anonymous Galilean. But just three short years later, Jesus would be called King during His triumphant entry to Jerusalem during Passover week. It was a meteoric rise from commoner to King. It was unprecedented in all of antiquity, especially in Jewish history.

Hometown Boy

Jesus path of preparation for His purpose was not one of refinement, but obscurity. Nazareth was nowhere in year one. However, by 10-20 CE, it had become an outlier to the growing ancient city of Sepphoris, which was only four miles away. Sepphoris underwent an aggressive building campaign and was the capital of Galilee, for a few years under the rule of King Herod Antipas. So here lies Nazareth, just a small town, on the outskirts of an up and coming Galilean city. Galilee, though, played second fiddle to Judea and Jerusalem within the nation of Israel. And Israel, was just a nominal outpost in the Roman Empire. It was hardly the breeding grounds for royalty. But to Jesus, it was His hometown.

It was here that the Savior of the world waited for greatness. In Nazareth, Jesus was the son of Mary and Joseph. It was here, and possibly in Sepphoris, that Jesus and Joseph got up every day and practiced their trade as carpenters. In Nazareth, Jesus was an older brother to His four brothers and at least two sisters. For twenty years or more, Jesus just got up and went to work every day and lived life among the people. He would have laughed, cried, ate and drank, sweated and bathed as an everyday, average Joe in an ordinary village in 1st century Israel. It appears that Jesus knew if He was going to save the world, He, first, needed to live in it.

A Message Lived Reaches a Life

The message of Jesus is not of a mind reaching the mind, nor is it of a heart, reaching a heart; but it is of a life lived, and then died, to save lives. Most of Jesus life was silent. Only three short years records His teachings. What He taught was forged through leaving heaven and living life in Nazareth with the people. He spent most of His life waiting. If anyone ever had the right to say something, it would have been God incarnate. Yet, Jesus was content to prepare for His destiny by doing construction work in Galilee, instead of orchestrating a following in Jerusalem.

We remember what He taught because it was caught, by marrying life on earth and in Heaven. It was this message that has resonated with the masses. Jesus would not have been Jesus, without His time in Nazareth. It made Him authentic. His Nazareth season made Him Savior OF the people and not just FOR the people.

Nazareth to Seattle

In my life, I spent a season, as an inside software salesman in Seattle, after I had failed in real estate during the great recession. My Seattle experience was filled with paying off $100k in debt, learning a job I had never done before and feeling depressed due to spending years of my life that felt like a waste of my time and talents. But that was not the case.

When I reflect on that season, I needed Seattle to become a better me. Whenever you have a Nazareth experience, it becomes a part of your identity. In Seattle, I learned how to be a father to my kids, in spite of the pressures of life. I became a better husband by leading and loving my wife in the face of adversity. And I learned how to be a better Son of God, by turning to Him during my crucible, instead of running away. I learned that I love to write and enjoy taking pictures (like the ones on this blog). And I also learned that one failed endeavor, doesn’t make me a failure- it just made me wiser before I started my second business. I became a richer version of me, by being in debt in Seattle. Oscar Wilde puts it this way, “What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.”

Jesus OF Nazareth

Jesus most likely faced numerous challenges during His Nazareth experience. Not only was he an apprentice carpenter, but chances are that he endured the death of His earthly Father, Joseph. (Joseph is excluded from the Gospels during the ministry years of Jesus life, leading most scholars to conclude He died before Jesus’ public ministry began) Jesus then would have carried on the family trade to provide for Mary and His six younger siblings. In ancient Jewish culture, Jesus, as the oldest Son, would have taken on the role of the father, due to Joseph’s premature death.

This experience marked Jesus. He was no longer Jesus from Heaven. He was Jesus OF Nazareth. Many times the struggles we face during our Nazareth experience, prepare us for our purpose. Jesus was no different. Before Jesus could save those who were lost, he had to endure the life that was losing them. It was in Nazareth that Jesus learned how to relate to the people that He was trying to save. He learned by living life and experiencing all of it – the good, the bad and the ugly. The pain, the disappointments and the struggles of everyday life.

Maybe it was the life He lived among the people, that gave Him the ability to influence so many. When He died for them, they also knew He was one OF them, and that made all of the difference. And maybe He can do the same with our lives, as well. He can take our seasons of pain, struggle, and tragedy to use us to love and influence people. If we let Him, He can recycle the challenges we have overcome to inspire others to do the same.

What is your Nazareth? And how do you think God could use your current struggles to accomplish the purpose that He has for your life?

What is your story? We all have a story, and the chances are that someone else needs to hear it. Please feel free to leave some of your story below or share in our community forum.