According to historians Nazareth was 200 plus years old at the time of Lord Jesus Christ. It is about 80 miles from Jerusalem, on the way to Damascus, far removed from the centre of Jewish religion. It is a new city and could not have been mentioned by Moses or Prophets. Nazareth was also considered as ‘pit of the earth.’
Messiah must be a descendant of David. Prophet Jeremiah calls Messiah as a Righteous Branch and called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 23:5-6) Prophet Isaiah also said: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:1,2) Prophet Zechariah also states about the mission of Messiah, the Branch that: He will remove the guile or iniquity of the land in a single day, everyone will invite his neighbour under his vine and under his fig tree. (Zechariah 3:8-10)
The Hebrew word of ‘branch’ is netzer, which is spelt: NZR, same as ‘Nazareth.’ In Hebrew Nazareth means ‘branch.’ Lord Jesus is called Righteous Branch, a Nazarene.
Hebrew and Law scholar was initially sceptical. Lord Jesus was gracious to ignore his insult and spoke with him. When he heard ‘without guile’ and under the fig tree, a light flashed in his mind reminding him of the prophecy of Zechariah. (John 1:47, 48) He understood Jesus the Branch, the Netzer, from the stump of Jesse was right before him. So, He exclaimed: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49) Lord Jesus the Word enlightened Nathaniel from the Word of God propagated by Zechariah.
God can bring everything out of nothing; great things out from unrecognized, ignored, rejected, and neglected places and people.
Do I believe God can use me for His Glory?