Was Christ truly a Nazarene? Part 1

He was called, “Jesus of Nazareth.” To use the word "Nazarene” is to cause others to imagine one speaks of Christ. There are “Nazarene” Bible Colleges and “Nazarene” Churches. Yet for all this, how is it that we call him a “Nazarene?

A Nazarene is generally understood to be someone who has taken a ” Nazarite” vow. We see part of the requirements of a Nazarite vow in the book of Numbers.

Numbers 6:1-3:

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried.

Natzeret

Public domain

 What is interesting about this, is that Christ never kept such a vow. We do know that he drank of the “fruit of the vine”  and even turned water into wine at the marriage feast in Cana.  

Some have even falsely concluded that Christ himself was of the Gnostic Essene cult, referred to as the Nazoreans. This is supported by nothing other than wishful thinking on the part of those who would rob us of the truth.

Still the question remains, how is it that he was called a Nazarene if he was not a Nazarite? 

Joseph, being the husband of Mary, the mother of our Savior, was warned in a dream to escape the persecution of the Edomite ruler of Judea, by settling in a town called Nazareth. The book of Matthew tells us:

Matthew 2:23: 

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

 That does explain how he was called a Nazarene, but it does lead to another question: Where does it say in the prophets, that Christ “shall be called a Nazarene?” The word Nazarene appears only once in the Bible, in Matthew 2:23. This would appear to some, to be proof that the Bible contradicts itself. How is it then, that Matthew made this statement, absent any mention of the word Nazarene in any of the prophets?

For the answer, read the next installment of this series.

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 © 2010 Craig Portwood

This author acknowledges his debt to Bill Robinson for providing direction and to Michael Rood for providing the research which went into this article.

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