Nazareth

Etymology

Matthew 2:22 And hearing that Archelaos reigns over Judaea in place of his father Herodas, he feared to depart for there. But being warned in a dream he withdrew into the parts of Galilaia, 23 and coming he settled in a city called Nazaret, that that which had been spoken by the prophets would be fulfilled, that He shall be called a Nazoraian.

That Christ was to be called a Nazarene, is a literal interpretation of the Hebrew word for branch, which is netzar, Strong's number 5342, which is translated branch at Isaiah 11:1. This word also apparently gave the town of Nazareth its name.

Life of Christ

Announcing Ministry

It appears that after the ending of the 40 days that Christ had gone to Nazareth to announce His ministry, and then being rejected there as it is described in Luke, he travelled to Capernaum. This appears to be abbreviated in Matthew's account, as John the Baptist is depicted as not having yet been arrested at this time in John's gospel.

Matthew 4:12 And having heard that Iohannes had been handed over [arrested] He withdrew into Galilaia. 13 And leaving Nazareth, having come He settled in Kapharnaoum by the sea in the regions of Zaboulon and Nephthalim,

Return

Matthew 9:1 And having boarded into a vessel He crossed over and had come to His own city. 2 And behold! They brought to Him a paralytic placed upon a cot. And Yahshua, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic “Have courage, son, your errors are forgiven!”

In Luke's account, when He returns there are multitudes of people anxiously awaiting Him. Here Yahshua does not necessarily assert that He is God, having the authority to forgive this man of his sins, but the way His statement is worded reveals only so much as His having knowledge of the fact that this man's sins are forgiven. The scribes took it the first way, that He was asserting to be God – although of course Christians should know that is also true.