Nazareth is the place where Jesus spent most of his childhood years and is also the place where the Angel Gabriel appeared before Mary to tell her that she would be carrying the Son of God in her womb. Herod the Great was King of the Jews at that time and in the Book of Matthew, it is mentioned that he ordered the killing of all boys aged two and below out of fear that he would lose the throne. Before the violent massacre took place, Joseph was warned by an angel in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt where they would stay for a few years until the death of Herod. 
We visited the Nazareth Village in Galilee, on open-air museum which is a re-creation of what Nazareth was like during the time of Jesus.
The Nazareth Village is a non-profit organization that is able to operate through contributions, entrance fees and gift shop sales. Below are names of people and groups who have shown their support through the Builders’ Walk. If you wish to contribute a gift of $250 or more, you get a stone engraved with the words of your choice and then it is installed permanently in the Builder’s Walk.
Daniel Stanger, Tour Manager of the Nazareth Village talked about how they run the organization and also shared some “nerdtastic” stories about what life was like in the first century. My inner archaeologist hungered for more.
![Matthew 7:13-14 13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.](https://ingridnieto.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/p1140568-001.jpg)
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
After the indoor museum tour, we stepped into a farm lined with olive trees.
We also met some volunteers who play Nazareth villagers and illustrate what daily life was like back then.
Inside the synagogue
Here’s the video of our visit:
Ingrid Nieto-Pagulayan 