One of the most important aspects of Christianity is the Incarnation: we believe God became man, not in some mythological primordial time, but in a specific time and in a specific place. God didn’t just become man, he became Jesus of Nazareth, a 1st century Jew living in Roman Palestine. The reality of the Incarnation makes the following discovery especially profound:

First Jesus-era house discovered in Nazareth

Just in time for Christmas, archaeologists on Monday unveiled what may have been the home of one of Jesus’ childhood neighbors. The humble dwelling is the first dating to the era of Jesus to be discovered in Nazareth, then a hamlet of around 50 impoverished Jewish families where Jesus spent his boyhood.

Archaeologists and present-day residents of Nazareth imagined Jesus as a youngster, playing with other children in the isolated village, not far from the spot where the Archangel Gabriel revealed to Mary that she would give birth to the boy…

Based on clay and chalk shards found at the site, the dwelling appeared to house a “simple Jewish family,” Alexandre added, as workers carefully chipped away at mud with small pickaxes to reveal stone walls.

“This may well have been a place that Jesus and his contemporaries were familiar with,” Alexandre said. A young Jesus may have played around the house with his cousins and friends. “It’s a logical suggestion.”

The discovery so close to Christmas pleased local Christians.

“They say if the people do not speak, the stones will speak,” said the Rev. Jack Karam of the nearby basilica.

As we celebrate Christmas this week, let us remember the reason God emptied himself to become man in such a small, humble town: so that we might one day be glorified with him in heaven.

Subscribe to my RSS feed