“He went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.” (v.23)
This week we move from considering Jesus as the “King of Refugees” to reflecting on Jesus, “King of the Underdogs”. The Cambridge Dictionary defines an “underdog” as “a person or group of people with less power, money, etc. than the rest of society”. Less power; less money; less influence; less ability; less skill; less talent; less prospects; the list can go on and on, but the common theme is clearly “less”.
In Matthew 2 the “King of the Jews” returns from exile with his parents. You’d think the family would settle in the royal city of Bethlehem, or the religious and political capital, Jerusalem. And yet this King, who is God’s anointed King, is taken to be raised in the place that will best serve the Kingdom’s aims, viz, Nazareth. This Kingdom is not about royal splendour, nor is it about power or wealth. This Kingdom is one that prioritises the rescue of the least, the last and the lost. Some would call it “the Upside-Down Kingdom”, where the last are first and the lowest are the greatest. It is a Kingdom where the underdog is loved, included and honoured. And, in the Israel of Jesus’ day, Nazareth was the ideal example of an “underdog” community. Years later, when he was told that Jesus of Nazareth was the long-expected Messiah, Nathanael exclaimed, “Nazareth? Can anything good come there?” (John 1:46)
In being taken to Nazareth by the hand of God the Father, Jesus continues His low road to being the King of the Upside-Down Kingdom. He is immersed in a community that is looked down on, from which nothing much at all is expected, and from which nothing good is believed to come. He identifies Himself fully with the proverbial “underdogs” of our world, and the doors of His Kingdom are flung wide open to all who are despised, undervalued and disrespected.
As the prophet Isaiah foretold, God’s King (Jesus) … “grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by humankind” (53:2-3a).
King Jesus, I marvel at the low road You walked throughout Your life of seeking, serving and saving the least, the last and the lost of this world. Help me never to forget that this is Your Kingdom’s Way. Help me to follow in Your footsteps and to be used by You to continue this ministry of reaching out to include the “underdogs” and the downtrodden of this world in Your Kingdom. Guide me and empower me for this sacred ministry I pray. Amen.
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