Jesus Was from Nazareth
Jesus Was from Nazareth
No one would invent Nazareth as a background for Jesus. As we noted earlier in the book, Nazareth is too insignificant a site56 for tradition to have invented;57 indeed, such a place of origin could count against one’s credibility (cf. Jn 1:46).58 (It is rarely disputed today; that Jesus was from Nazareth is multiply, independently attested.)59
Likewise, despite the appeal to the rejected-prophet motif after the fact, no one would invent Jesus’ rejection in his home town. Nevertheless, this home-village disdain may fit its village gossip lifestyle just as Jerusalem’s less informed but swift execution of Jesus would have fit the city’s expected disdain for a country prophet.