18/09/13

Jesus a Nazarite of Nazareth

Mark 14:67 - And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth [Nazarene].


I have received this scripture numerous times and every time I ask God what new is He going to reveal or speak to us via this scripture. Today also as I got it the first words that came out of me was 'oh no, not again'. But when I started to meditate on this I noticed the way the maiden acknowledged Jesus. She verifies with Peter that he was with Jesus of Nazareth.

I use a NASB Bible in hand (when I sit to write) and have many electronic versions from KJV, NIV etc. on my computer system, in the NASB and also KJV the scripture states and 'Jesus of Nazareth' but when I checked with Greek words on the face I saw a mistake been made by the translators. The Greek word in this scripture is Nazoraios which should mean Nazarene and not Nazareth that is the name of a place.

Like we have seen in previous cases also due to lack of spiritual understanding of scriptures the translators by their seer linguistic expertise and limited spiritual understanding translated the scriptures. Knowing the restrictions in the English language there are many words that comes to a situation of 'choose one of the following'.

I do not point a finger at the translators for even if this scripture was given to a Jew for translation he or she would have very likely done the same mistake.

Firstly we need to understand the Greek word Nazoraios translated as Nazarene in NT has 2 meanings one that is Nazarene which means 'a person of Nazareth' and second a Nazarite which means 'a person separated to God'. Matthew 2:23 says when Joseph was instructed by the Angel in Egypt he went with his wife Mary (they were married after Jesus was born) and the infant Jesus to Nazareth. There Jesus grew up and was called Nazoraios, when they said it they considered it to mean a Nazarene - a citizen of Nazareth. But calling Jesus Nazoraios was necessary to fulfil a prophecy given through the Prophets which stated He would be a Nazarite - separated unto God.

It is interesting to note that the prophecy was fulfilled and people called Him a Nazarene but yet not understand what the prophecy was truly about and how they fulfilled it.

A Nazarite was a term used for a person who separated oneself to God and had some conditions to fulfil. Jesus as being an example of a dedicated worker of the vineyard of God separated Himself to God. When the evil spirit as we saw in yesterday reference scripture Mark 1:24 acknowledged Jesus they too called Jesus as 'Jesus the Nazarene' there too the translators did the mistake of translating as 'Jesus of Nazareth'. The same is the case with Mark 10:47 when Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus. Bartimaeus was not a Jew, he was a Roman and from history it is known that he was a son of a high official in Jericho and had rebelled against the authorities therefore blinded. When he heard Jesus a Nazarene was passing by he knew a Nazarene was not an ordinary person. Bible records very few people as a Nazarene. In the New Testament Jesus was the only one who was called by the name. In Acts we see Paul to please some people went to do the Jewish customs of a Nazarene along with a few others and got himself in trouble with the Jews, was arrested and later taken to Rome by the Romans to be killed.

Bible does not says Jesus cut or did not cut his hair but yet it says He was called a Nazarene. As per Jewish customs a Nazarene was not to touch wine but Bible says Jesus did drink wine. These were among the other few things which caused the Jews not to acknowledge Jesus as a Nazarene but by this way of life and the glory of God around Him many others acknowledged Him as one.

Jesus showed us a glimpse of what it means to lead a holy life even thou we are not totally like God. He being man yet was acknowledged as the Holy One of God not only by man and the Angels but also the evil spirit (fallen angels) knew Him as the Holy One of God.

God is asking of us to be a Nazarene not according to the customs of the Jews but by the true understanding of the Word of God as manifested in Jesus Christ. To be a holy people we need to be people totally living under the grace of God, not getting intoxicated with spiritual things [desire the good as per our need and keep away from the bad], keeping distant from the things of the dead [not physically dead but thing that lead to death], not relying on worldly knowledge nor running after the lust of the flesh.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord we pray for wisdom and understanding for your people. We pray that they do not seek You in customs but in Truth, Truth that comes by understanding and following your Word. Lord, like your Word says in the end days your people will follow You in Spirit and Truth, we pray this in fulfilled in our time...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference ]
Matthew 2:22-23
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Numbers 6

Mark 10:46-47
46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

Mark 1:23-24
23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
24 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

Isaiah 1: 1 - And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse [father of David], and a Branch [netser] shall grow out of his roots:

Acts 24:5 - For we have found this man [Paul] a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes [Nazarites]:

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)