The Place of the Angelic Announcement

Today we changed jobs and moved to a new location in Israel. Part of our dig team is now working at a first century water project in Sippori (more about this tomorrow). We are staying in Nazareth.

A view of the altar and old house at the Church of the Annunciation

Sipori and Nazareth are three to four miles apart. It is thought that Joseph walked from his home in Nazareth to work on a government building project in Sippori. Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55 list Joseph as a carpenter (τέκτων, a craftsman, or workman).

The Church of the Annunciation in Nazaretth

All four gospels list Nazareth as the place where Jesus grew up. This is the city where Joseph and Mary lived at the time they were engaged to be married. They lived in this city until the time Jesus became active in ministry and moved to Capernaum.

Our hotel in Nazareth

Nazareth was the village where Matthew and Luke report an angel came to Mary with the announcement that she would have a child given by God. The angel also came to Joseph and told him not to divorce his espoused wife for the baby was from God.

The second floor of the Church of the Annunciation

The Church of the Annunciation, which was built in Nazareth in the fifth century, celebrates the announcements of the Angel to both Mary and Joseph to tell them of the miraculous birth.

The altar with an old house where Mary lived

The Church of the Annunciation contains what is reputed to be the home of Mary within the building.

The place of worship at the Church of the Annunciation

The house sits behind the altar on the first floor of the church, The house, built in ancient times, is impressive to see within the modern church building. One room can be visibly seen with a staircase leading up to a second leve. The house can also be viewed from the second floor of the church where there is a circular opening with a railing around it in middle of the chapel. There was a mass on the second floor, and the choir could be heard during my visit to the chapel on the first floor.

The Church of St. Joseph in Nazareth

The Church of St. Joseph sits behind the Church of the Annunciation, and is said to contain ruins of Joseph’s Carpenter shop. Indeed there is a shop with seven steps down, to what is reputed to be a carpenter’s shop.

A picture in the church of St. Joseph

This is the place where Jesus spent his childhood. He was raised as a normal child and probably served in an apprenticeship to his father.

The archeological ruins under the Church of St. Joseph

The first several years of Jesus’ career were spent as a carpenter, possibly in Sippori.

Explaining the Carpenter Shop

There are ruins of what is reported to e the carpentry shop of Joseph in the basement of Joseph’s church. The diagram shows the seven steps down to the shop, the mosaics in the shop and other features. Because of the original rock surface left around the house, one can almost imagine the boy Jesus, playing and working at the site.

Statue of Joseph and Jesus

The churches were not crowded with people when we visited, but the streets were full of people and pigeons.

A plaza in Nazareth with the church in view

The ancient village is now a city which is crowded by people, but within the Church of the Annunciation and the Church of St. Joseph the narrative of this place where Jesus grew from a young boy to a man can still be seen and understood.