Walking in the steps of Jesus took on almost literal meaning Tuesday as our group trekked through the 1st century re-creation of the village of Nazareth. Appropriately named Nazareth Village, the 15-acre terraced hillside showcases workers in period dress as shepherds with a flock of sheep, women spinning wool into yarn, a carpenter crafting wooden tools by hand and farmers tilling the ground with those wooden tools. Primitive structures built by hand out of stone include dirt floor homes, a synagogue, and olive press.
But what caught my attention was the ancient wine press carved out of the hillside and representing an authentic view of life in this poor, rural village of 2000 years ago. Consider that historians believe less than 1,000 inhabitants lived in the Nazareth of Jesus’ time and that such a community may only have had a very few wine presses, our guide suggested that there was perhaps a 50% chance that Jesus himself used that very stone press and played on those hills as a child.
For more information on this fascinating village operated by Arab Christians and tucked away in the middle of a bustling modern Nazareth, log on to http://www.nazarethvillage.com.
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