jesus in sepphoris

7/27/2019 Jesus in Sepphoris

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Just a leisurely walk from Nazareth lay the dazzling city of Sepphoris, called by Josephus “the ornament of all Galilee.” As we saw in Lesson 48, Sepphoris may

have been the city Jesus was referring to in Matthew 5:14, when he declared thata “city on a hill cannot be hidden,” for Sepphoris was built of white limestone andcolored marble, and at night would have been seen throughout the Galilee basin.This city was probably almost as influential on Jesus, in his formative years, asthe village Nazareth itself.

Sepphoris (called Zippori in Hebrew) had long served as Galilee’s capital, a city second in importance only to Jerusalem. But after the death of Herod the Great,Publius Quintilius Varus (son of one of the assassins of Julius Caesar) brutally crushed a Jewish revolt in Galilee and in the process destroyed the city of Sepphoris,crucifying thousands of Jews.

Throughout most of the years of Jesus’ growth into adulthood, however, Herod Antipas was rebuilding Sepphoris as his capital. In fact, it is possible that Jesusfound steady work in Sepphoris, for James Strange observes:

“As a carpenter, Jesus would have been in a lot of demand in Sepphoris, which was a growing city at the time.”1

Could Jesus have been a member of the construction crews that worked onSepphoris, rebuilding its beautiful colonnaded streets, its forum and palace, andthe many luxurious villas? There is no direct evidence from the Gospel record, but the possibility is strong. One fact, however, is beyond question. Since Nazareth

was, in effect, a satellite village of Sepphoris, Jesus would have had plenty of op-portunity to visit the city. As Shirley Jackson Case explains:

“It requires no very daring flight of the imagination to picture the youthful Jesusseeking and finding employment in the neighboring city of Sepphoris. But whether or not he actually labored there, his presence in the city on variousoccasions can scarcely be doubted; and the fact of such contacts during theformative years of his young manhood may account for attitudes and opin-ions that show themselves conspicuously during his public ministry.”2

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63 Jesus in Sepphoris

7/27/2019 Jesus in Sepphoris

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J E S U S

C O U R S E


J E S U S

C O U R S E


J E S U S

C O U R S E


J E S U S

C O U R S E


J E S U S

C O U R S E

C o p y r i g h t ©

2 0 0 2 ,

T h e O n l i n e B i b l e

C o l l e g e .

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Mario Seiglie explains this further:

“Recent archaeological excavations in Sepphoris show it to have been a bus-tling, prosperous city during the years Jesus grew up in nearby Nazareth.This historical record helps us better understand the background of Christ’s

teachings, which included illustrations drawn not just from farming and ani-mal husbandry, but also construction, rulers and nobility, the theater, gov-ernment, finance and other aspects of city life.”3

As we read the parables that Jesus taught, we come across numerous allusions tolarger city life, indicating that he had not been isolated in a rural backwater. Indeed,“[t]he proximity of Sepphoris to Nazareth...undermines the notion that Jesus wasunfamiliar with sophisticated urban culture.”4 Take a look at these examples inJesus’ teaching:

Â Matthew 6:5-6 – The word Jesus uses –hypocrités– actually describes Greek actors who entertained in a theater. He thus describes the Pharisees as “play

actors,” with plenty of outward shows of piety, but little inward reality. Al-though scholars still debate the issue, there may have been a Greek theater inSepphoris during the time of Jesus. If this is the case, then Jesus would have been familiar with thehypocrités of Sepphoris, although as an observantJew it is doubtful that he would ever have actually entered the theater.

Â Luke 16:19-31 – The story of the rich man and the beggar is probably atrue story, not a parable, for Jesus specifically calls the beggar Lazarus. If this is the case, then the residence of the rich man was not in a small vil-lage. The setting may have been in Sepphoris or a similar large town.

Â Luke 18:1-5 – The story of the unjust judge is not set in a village such as rural

Nazareth. It is set in a larger town, and although Jesus speaks of “a certaintown,” indicating that he may not be referring to Sepphoris specifically, itis likely that in his youth Jesus heard of instances similar to this in Sepphoris.

Given the proximity of Sepphoris to Nazareth, and the likelihood that Jesus visitedthere on numerous occasions, why doesn’t the Gospel record ever make mention of Sepphoris? And why didn’t Jesus ever visit Sepphoris during his messianic ministry?The pattern of Jesus’ travels, as recorded in the Gospel accounts, makes itabundantly clear that Jesus, after he embarked on his messianic mission, purposely shunned the large population centers of Galilee in order to avoid undue politicalattention. And so as important as Sepphoris may have been in the childhood andearly adulthood of Jesus, it played no role in his ministry years.

1James Strange, cited by Lynn Rothman, “Strange Digs,” http://www.tfba.org/projects/sepphoris/body_sepphoris.htm .

2Shirley Jackson Case, quoted by Richard A Batey, Jesus & the Forgotten City: New Light on Sepphoris and the Urban

World of Jesus, pp.70-17.3

Mario Seiglie, “Jesus Christ: The Early Years,” published on http://www.ucg.org/articles/gn24/jesus.html .4

Mark Chancey & Eric M Meyers, “How Jewish Was Sepphoris in Jesus’ Time?” http://www.bib-arch.org/barja00/

sepphoris1.html.

Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations from the Bible are from the New International Version, copyright © 1973,

1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

jesus in sepphoris

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