He Gets Us: Diving Deeper | Plan 2Sýnishorn

He Understands Us

Everyone you meet has a fascinating backstory. Just ask them about it. Where did you grow up? Who most influenced you? What factors shaped your path? What’s important to you? What do you love?

Jesus grew up in northern Israel. His people were regular folks, living mostly insignificant lives. In fact, nobody expected much to come out of Jesus’ hometown.

Nazareth felt like a first-century diner and truck stop on a hill just north of a trade route moving an endless caravan of creaking wagons across the Middle East. A military outpost camped nearby. Jesus grew up with a rough brand of people from all over the ancient world. On any given day, he spoke Aramaic with a Galilean accent and Hebrew in the synagogue. He picked up Greek from neighbors and traders. His culture demanded he learn all three to talk to every kind of people.

Really, no one expected much from Jesus, either. For the majority of his life, he labored as a blue-collar craftsman, working with stone and wood. He earned an honest day’s wage, barely getting by.

Which is why when Jesus started teaching the crowds and they wanted to crown him king and call him Messiah, the people who knew Jesus his whole life couldn’t believe it. Isn’t that Joseph and Mary’s son? Didn’t he grow up right here?

His neighbors probably wondered why Jesus didn’t settle down, marry a nice girl, and set up shop in Nazareth. Even the twelve students who joined with rabbi Jesus thought he was just another teacher from the Galilee. He never self-promoted. He probably looked like his mom’s family in his face and race. He ate and slept, laughed and wondered, bled and cried—just like any of us. His body and look was unremarkable, not a stand-out in any way. If you picked up the hem of his coat, he didn’t glow inside.

Like us, Jesus lived one day at a time. He knew his life had a purpose beyond the ordinary and that’s where he was misunderstood. Yes, he was more than a good teacher with radical ideas. He was underestimated and marginalized at every turn. (And he appreciates the fact that you may be, too.)

If you look closer, you can see Jesus was everything they said he was and much more. Something good out of Nazareth, imagine that.