Nazareth was only a small town in Jesus’ day. Philip, who was to become one of Jesus’ disciples, told Nathanael, “We have found the man Moses and the prophets wrote about, Jesus of Nazareth.”

“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”¹ Nathanael replied. The tiny farming village, far from the main trade routes, was not the type of place anyone would look for the Messiah.

Nazareth was also where Joseph and Mary were living when the angel Gabriel appeared first to Mary and later to Joseph to tell them that Mary was to become pregnant with baby Jesus.² Joseph, Mary, and young Jesus also later lived in Nazareth after returning from their flight to Egypt.³

Jesus spent most of his childhood and early adult years in Nazareth, living there until His early ministry days.

Footnotes:
¹ John 1:45–46
² Luke 1:26–35, Matthew 1:18–25
³ Matthew 2:13–23