John 1:45-46 (NIV) Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.

Of all the places in the Promised Land that are mentioned in the Old Testament, there is no mention at all of the town of Nazareth. It not only was an obscure and unimportant town in Jesus’ day, but it had a bad reputation. It was located in Galilee, which also was looked down upon because of its distance from Jerusalem and because of its mixed population. Nazareth was an insignificant town populated by poor, unimportant people. As Nathanael rhetorically asked in the passage of scripture above, "Can anything good come from there?" Philip invited him to go and see and Nathanael would very soon find out that the answer to his question was a resounding yes!

God purposefully chose this town, which everyone looked down upon, to have Jesus grow up in. Later on when He began His ministry, He would be known and referred to as Jesus of Nazareth, and He never shied away from that title. As a matter of fact, the sign that Pontius Pilate hung at the top of the cross that Jesus was crucified on read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Luke, who wrote the Book of Luke and the Book of Acts continually referred to Jesus as Jesus of Nazareth after He rose and ascended to the Father. Jesus took a town that no one was interested in, that many despised and that had no standing whatsoever and He put it on the map for all time. That town now has the distinction of being the hometown of the Son of God and many people travel from all around the world just to see it and say that they were in Jesus’ hometown. Jesus changes everything!

In the same way that Jesus changed the way that people viewed and thought of lowly Nazareth, He also takes people of no significance, of poor reputation and who are ignored or despised and changes them for His purposes and for His glory (1 Corinthians 1:28-30). The change is so striking that there is no other explanation for the change other than they were transformed by God to accomplish His will on earth. Jesus leaves His divine mark on everyone that He touches and every place that He goes to. Wherever Jesus is or has been, there is radical and significant change for the better. Has Jesus been to your town? Has He been to your house? Has He made His dwelling in your heart? If He has, then you are a new creation! If you haven’t surrendered your life to Him yet, do so, so that if anyone asks if anything good can come from you, the answer will be a resounding yes because of Christ in you, the hope of glory and the one who makes all the difference.

Pastor Joey Vazquez