Get Your Pretense On!

48 • Get Your Pretense On!

cities of Galilee to him, 1 Kings 9.11-13). In the book of Acts, Nazareth was associated with sectarian and cultic behavior as seen in Tertullus’ oratory before Felix in Acts 24.4-5: But, to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. [5] For we have found this man a plague, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. ~ Acts 24.4-5 Add to this, the historical references by Tertullian who cites that Jews used Nazarene as an anti-Christian slur, as did Muslims and Persansm, and emperor Julian 10 who used “Nazarenes” and “Galilean” as anti-civil descriptions of weird folk. God chose to raise his Son, the victor over evils, in Nazareth . He can raise anyone from anywhere to do anything he wishes to do. Because of reversal, we need never judge a person by where they are from, or what their history or background is. God is reversing the trends and odds for every person who believes, regardless of their past or place of origin. Because he is Lord, we all can be free! What about unlovely people ? No one who spends time in the Kingdom Story can avoid the unsavory cast of characters that make up the historical narrative of God’s kingdom rescue. The patriarchs all had moral blind spots: Abraham was a liar, Isaac was clueless, and Jacob was a schemer. Moses was a murderer and a fugitive, Rahab was a prostitute, and Samson was a showboat. David was an adulterer and murderer, and Jonah abandoned his post. God’s people (in both Israel and Judah) were idolaters, and slow-responders to God’s will. What a cast of characters!

Frankly, the New Testament is no different. Zaccheus was an embezzler, Matthew, the publican, was a traitor, Mary Magdalene