Luke 4:29 Matthew 4:13 Matthew 8:5-13 Mark 2:14-20
This is Day 4 if you have the book: The Holy Land Companion Guide
Biblical Sermons & Lessons to guide you through the Holy Land and Egypt.
Today, we are going to study about a little town called Capernaum. This town was located just outside of Nazareth. The city of Nazareth was where Jesus grew up, but in Luke, chapter 4, verse 29, Scriptures informs us that Jesus was thrown out of the city.
Remember, Scripture reports that Jesus came into the synagogue, and read out of the good book; which proclaimed him to be Messiah, and the towns people would not have it, because they witnessed his natural birth. They seen him as having natural parents: Mary and Joseph.
So first, let’s read that scripture, and it is as follow:
Luke 4:29 “And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.”
So, logically, if you are kicked out of your apartment or your home what do you do? Well, you look for another place to live. However, the activities of Jesus was just a little bit more structured than that, because he was sent here to do the will of the Father. Jesus was sent here to free the captives and save souls; therefore, he wanted to go somewhere his Earthly ministry would profit. It seems that this location was called Capernaum. Let’s read Matthew and note what takes place.
Matthew 4:13 “13 He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 13 He moved from his hometown, Nazareth, to the lakeside village Capernaum, nestled at the base of the Zebulun and Naphtali hills. 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:”
So, after Jesus taught in the synagogue, and the people did not want to hear what Jesus had to say he move down to Capernaum. Our first question for today is: so why did Jesus move to Capernaum? If you know a little about the city of Galilee; then you may also know there were several cities built around that body of water. The above scripture even told us that two of the tribes of Israel specifically inherited that body of water. Those tribes were Zebulun and Naphtali.
So we are stilling wondering: why Jesus choose Capernaum?
Well, this is why we, as God’s children, need to dig into scripture! There really are nifty little stories buried in the geography of these Scriptural recordings.
Many of us get hung up in maps and just read over the territories, but we miss a lot of pertinent details. But for us today, I’m happy to report, we’re going to stop, and follow the unction of the Holy Ghost and investigate!
This lesson is really good to study out! To my surprise what I learned about Capernaum, has added to my knowledge of biblical history. It has even connected other biblical accounts and made their details more effective in my mind.
Of course we are going to look at the Holy Ghost to guide our study, and he seems to be guiding me through a study of historical contracts and maps.
The pages of the Bible do not describe the daily lives of its people, because it was well-known back then. Things like where people worked and what they wore were probably understood 2000 years ago, but it has become a little fuzzy to us today. The way people ate, the way people dressed, and the reason why they did such things was common knowledge and it was not included in the pages of the Bible. I don’t believe that the writers of Scriptures knew the Bible would be alive more than 2,000 after their deaths. Therefore, it’s not so clear why Jesus left Nazareth and moved to Capernaum. Therefore, we must do a little deeper investigation. Some of these things, I reveal come directly by the Holy Ghost revealed, some will come directly from Scripture, but others will come from the places ancient archives and maps. So, let’s go to the Bible itself.
I think one of the first accounts of Capernaum in the bible was introduced through the centurion soldier. Well, do you know what a centurion soldier is? Many of you would not confess that you do not know or that you do not remember? A centurion soldier is a ruling soldier. The position of centurion would be like our captains in the army. However, a centurion soldier was over 100 soldiers. I mean this guy was a bigwig.
The Roman government would not just have put a centurion and 100 soldiers, in every town, in every village, or even in every city. So, this makes Capernaum even more important!? Capernaum was a city of influence! What makes a city have influence? Its ability to trade and survive on its own.
We know from scripture that the centurion soldier was living there, because in Matthew chapter 8, starting in verse five it is reported that he has a roof there. No, we normally don’t say we have a roof in Charleston. But this centurion soldier had been living there, and he had set up a camp with 100 men for the purposes of tax collection and protection.
Matthew 8:5-13 (New International Version) The Faith of the Centurion. “5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” 7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” 8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.”
People living and effected by this miracle were astonished! Jesus just spoke the word, and the centurion servant was healed. We should still be amazed today! This testimony should quicken our Spirit and give us comfort. For God is not a respecter of persons. What he does for one he will do for all! So, if you need a healing touch today, ask God to speak the word!
Then, scripture tells us that Capernaum was a place where taxes were gathered. Mark reports this tax collection in Mark chapter 2 verse 14. Now let us read it together!
Mark 2:14-20 (English Standard Version) “14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
So, we see that Levi was sitting without at the tax booth by Alphaeus; which is Matthew, one of Jesus’s disciples. The two men were they were sitting in the tax office in Capernaum. Wait a minute! There was a tax office. I’m sure it was not a building like we had today, but it was large enough, that the Roman government felt like they needed to have a Centurion and 100 soldiers there to guard it. All of a sudden, in my mind, the Holy Ghost has given me a very good picture of Capernaum and its importance, and the reason why Jesus would want to live here.
So, the next Spirit I asked is: why is there so much money going through this town of Capernaum? For the answer to this question, the Holy Ghost sent me to an ancient map of Capernaum; which, I have here for you.
Now, what we are looking at is a map of ancient Israel. Where the Jordan river is coming down to meet the Dead Sea. Then, the Jordan river, feeds into the sea of Galilee and leavis the sea. This is also a map of some of the ancient roads. Over here on my left is, a road called: the Way to the Philistines.
This road is a major Roman road coming up from Egypt. Capernaum sat on this road that went to Egypt and then went to Damascus. Now, Rome was an organized government! They were organized, they made what we would consider to be our street signs, but they would be far, much farther apart, than our street signs. Therefore, I have included one for you right here.
So, this is one reason why Jesus wanted to live there. There was a lot of international traffic. Capernaum, if it survived today, would have been an immigration haven. This is where people would stop and check in and out of a country. This is the place where people would bring their taxes and pay their tariffs for exporting and importing their goods.
There would have been a lot of money there, and the government would not want to lose out on its money; therefore, you would have soldiers. You’d also need soldiers, to keep the peace and to keep crime down.
So why did Jesus choose Capernaum? Well, God already had his plan, mapped out, but Jesus would have wanted to have as much earthly influence as he possibly could. Capernaum gave him the opportunity to meet and greet new people.
The Holy Ghost sent me on a quest to study some ancient archives about where there were harbors in ancient Israel. I noticed, that the harbor at ancient Capernaum was the largest of all that’s surrounded Israel. Not only was there international travel at Capernaum, but in the area of the sea of Galilee, it had a large population and people would have also traveled. Therefore, the locals which would have reported back things that they had seen and things that they had heard.
So, once again this gave Jesus awesome exposure for his ministry. This is why it is important for us to stop and research some of these Societies mentioned in scripture. Studying the territories showcases God’s work. I’m a static!
Now the Holy Ghost puts all these pieces together for me, and hopefully for you too. Jesus, being rejected of his own people, being thrown out of Nazareth, came to live in Capernaum, which lead us to one of the His first miracles: the healing the centurions servant, And meeting the tax collectors gave reason for the soldiers. Amazing!
Now, we can really answer the question of why did Jesus move to Capernaum?
- Because it was a major town of influence.
- It open Jesus‘s ministry up to meeting and serving thousands or millions of more people.
That’s just like us today, trying to reach people with everything that God has given us. Christian, you should be , using the Internet to reach people for God. You should have social media posts about scriptures, about testimonies, and about church events. You should be creating events to invite people to church. You should be creating events about revivals and fellowship activities. We should be using the Internet for the purpose of reaching lost souls. We need to cut out all of these inappropriate uses of the Internet. We need to cut out the time we waste on social media.
| Stop worrying about your image! Start worrying about lost souls! |
Now, I feel like, and I hope that you feel like, you with all this background have a better idea of scripture. That you have a better idea of its purpose, and that you have a better idea of who Jesus Christ is.
Through visiting Capernaum and through the scripture we have a better understanding of Biblical events. Set up today and take notice! This world has nothing to offer that is eternal. This world, offers sin, death, strife, envy, pain, and suffering. Give your heart to Jesus Christ today and get set in the victory!
Now the Holy Ghost, wants to bring one more thing to our attention today. The Holy Ghost wants to give us another question. Why all these questions? Because Jesus during his earthly ministry asked a lot of questions.
So, here’s the last couple of questions: what are you doing where God has placed you? You are in a prime location today! God has not told me that any of us need to move; including myself, but what we need to question; is our heart in the right place? Are we working for Jesus today or are we working for ourselves? Are we serving in the community to get recognition? Are we coming to church activities to see what we can take home with us? Do we come to learn of Jesus, or do we come expecting our pockets to be full? Do we come here in spirit and in truth? Do you love Jesus?
