Continuing archaeological excavations at Sepphoris are yielding evidence of a sophisticated urban culture that places Jesus in a radically different environment that challenges traditional assumptions about his life and ministry. The popular picture of Jesus growing up in the relative isolation of a small village of four hundred people in the remote hills of Galilee must be integrated with the newly revealed setting of a burgeoning Greco-Roman metropolis boasting upwards of thirty thousand inhabitants - Jews, Arabs, Greeks and Romans - powerful, prosperous, peace-loving - was linked with other Greco-Roman centers on the trade routes of the Greek speaking east. During the 1980s a series of archaeological digs took place at Sepphoris. Found were thousands of pieces of datable pottery, a dozen colors of imported marble, fragments of bright frescoes, artistically molded plaster, smooth, round, limestone columns, ornately cut capitals, hundreds of coins, scores of whole ceramic vessels, beautiful mosaics, bronze figures, gold chain, carved ivory, and other artifacts all demonstrating that Sepphoris, in the early and middle Roman periods, was indeed a thriving metropolis.

Following Herod's death, there are uprisings in Galilee - Sepphoris is the center. Judas, son of Hezekias, attacks Herod's arsenal so he may arm himself. The Romans, under Quintillius Varus of Syria, attack and burn the city. In the spring of 3 BC, when Antipas returned from Rome where his father's will was ratified by Augustus, he chose this site for his capital city for ruling over Galilee. It is just 4 miles north of Nazareth, described by Josephus as the largest and most beautiful city in this region.

While Jesus grows up in Nazareth, Sepphoris is being constructed, becoming a city with 30,000 inhabitants, sophisticated, cosmopolitan, Jewish, Roman, Greek and Arab. Just ten minutes (walking) north of Nazareth brings one to the top of a ridge overlooking the Bet Netofa Valley. The hill of Sepphoris may be seen 3 miles north, rising four hundred feet from the valley floor. ("A city set on a hill cannot be hid." Matthew 5:14) "Carpenter" meant more than "worker in wood", but also referred to one who worked in the building trades in general. Perhaps Joseph, and Jesus were involved in construction projects in Sepphoris.

No visits to Sepphoris are recorded, but Jesus did travel throughout all the cities and towns of Galilee, as well as to Caesarea Philippi and Decapolis. It would be hard to believe that He would not have taken the one hour walk from His home town to the capital city.

A theater at Sepphoris was discovered by Leroy Waterman in 1931. It's construction was dated at or before the time of Antipas, or during the time Jesus was a young man in Nazareth, four miles away. Of course where also was a lavish theater in Jerusalem built by Herod the Great prior to 28 B.C. There were also theaters built in Jericho and Samaria (renamed Sebaste) as well as in Caesarea Maritima and Sidon. Jesus traveled throughout these areas as well as the Decapolis, Greek speaking cities where theaters also would have been featured. However, of all these, Sepphoris would have been the closest. Chiseled into bedrock, this theater could seat 4,000, and the acoustics at the excavated site remain very good to this day.

No doubt Jesus was familiar with the theater. He often alludes to the role playing motif in his tirades against hypocrisy, "Hypocrites" primarily meaning "stage actor". In Jesus' understanding, this refers to those whose outward display of religiosity is not matched by a genuine commitment to the rule of God, or the "Kingdom of God." So He chides them because they are concerned about the outward appearances, they wash the outside of the cup but on the inside is extortion and greed. They are described as whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the exterior, but filled with death and decay. And He quotes Isaiah when He complains that while they honor God with their lips, "their heart is far from me." (Mark 7:1-8; Isaiah 29:13)

When Jesus made allusions to "king", and "kingdom", He no doubt was doing that from a frame of reference learned at Sepphoris. For example when talking about John the Baptist, He asks if they expected to see a man clothed in "soft raiment". Then He said, "Behold, those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts" (Luke 7:25). In addition to locations such as Jericho and Jerusalem, the Herodian family built royal palaces at both Sepphoris and Tiberias. "One of Jesus' followers was Joanna, the wife of Antipas' finance minister, Chuza. She followed Jesus about Galilee along with several other women, who together underwrote the expenses of his itinerant ministry (Luke 8:3). Joanna could easily have informed Jesus of the splendid style in which Antipas and his court officials lived. The excesses and extravagances of the royal family stood in sharp contrast to the conditions of the poor peasants dwelling on the land." (120)

The parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18) has as its setting a "king's accounting office in a great banking center, like the city of Sepphoris." (122) There's also the parable about the king who receives a kingdom and returns to execute his opponents (Luke 19), and the one about the ten servants with whom are entrusted a pound each (Luke 19, Matthew 25). "The image of a sovereign king and the mention of a bank paying interest suggest a cultural milieu similar to the capital at Sepphoris of Tiberias." (125,126)

Another parable tells the story of a royal wedding feast (Matthew 22). Great anger is displayed toward those who at first reject the invitation, and revenge is taken by the sending of an army to annihilate - a possible reference to the destruction of Sepphoris in 4 B.C., an event well remembered by the residents of Galilee in Jesus' day.

When Jesus emphasizes the need to count the cost of discipleship, He refers to a king deciding to wage a military campaign. Certainly Antipas, who ruled Galilee during the life of Christ, was preoccupied with matters military.

Jesus contrasted the leadership style of His disciples to that of the "kings of the Gentiles" who "exercise lordship" (Luke 22:25). Jesus is obviously aware of "kings and political rulers" whose authority often led to cruel and abusive use of power. These kings frequently assumed the title 'benefactor' - especially in Syria and Egypt - as a claim of good deeds performed for the state." (131) But for Jesus, the true 'benefactor' is the one who ministers to human needs.

A king is also the main character in the parable of the end time judgement when sentences are pronounced on the good and evil depicted as sheep and goats (Matthew 25). This and other references to kings and kingdoms ". . . suggest that his (Jesus') cultural horizons are far wider than those of a remote Galilean village. The image of king points consistently to the concept of the king's sovereignty over his subjects. He determines their economic fortunes, freedom and slavery, and life and death. The king's judgements at times are harsh and exacting and at others tempered with mercy but his authority is never successfully challenged. Such an understanding of kingship may well reflect an awareness of Antipas' rule from Sepphoris and Tiberias. Antipas' appointment as king, or tetrarch, came directly from Rome and he represented the vast power of the empire in his territories. Jesus skillfully employs the figure of the king as an unquestioned authority to point toward God's sovereignty over creation and to challenge his disciples with the seriousness of life in the dawning kingdom of God." (134)

According to Josephus (Life 235), Sepphoris had a population of between 25-30,000: he called it "the ornament of all Galilee". In Galilee there were 204 cities and villages; there was a population of 200,000 for the entire region during the time of Jesus.

As a carpenter, Jesus may have worked building boats like the one found on the western shore of Galilee in 1986. Its construction was dated to be 40 B.C. (+/-80 yrs) and it was 26.5 X 7.5 ft with a sail and rudder; there was a one sail mast.

While Jesus based many of his lessons on familiar rural objects such as seed planting, grain and harvesting, vineyards and setfreeding (sower, day laborers, Mt. 20:1-16, the ninety and nine - Luke 15:7), He also spoke of the lifestyle of the rich (Luke 16:19-21). There were many wealthy land owners (more barns needed - Luke 12), some rented their lands to the farmers (Luke 20:9-18) expecting a good profit. (The family of the prodigal may have been another example, as well as the banquet instructions (Luke 14). Jesus' teaching draws a contrast between seeking the wealth of the privileged within Antipas' kingdom, to the giving to those in need in order to be a subject in His own kingdom. Jesus speaks of the wealthy in other stories such as the rich nobleman (Luke 11:21, Matt. 12:29; Mark 3:37), the householder who brings from his treasure house valuables (Matt. 13:52), and the one who, had he known when the thief was coming would have stayed home to protect his belongings (Matt. 24:43; Luke 12:39). Jesus counsels not to "lay up treasures..."(Matt. 6:19-21). The contrast between rich and poor is especially in view in the "Sermon on the Plain" recorded by Luke (6:22-26). Levi, the tax collector turned disciple is an example of a wealthy official within Antipas' regime (Luke 5:27-28; Matt. 10:3). We also remember that Chuza was Antipas' treasurer, and the husband of one of Jesus' supporters.

Sepphoris was located on major trade routes: from Damascus to Ptolemais or Caesarea Maritima on to Egypt. A branch of this route, just south of Sepphoris, ran south through Samaria to Jerusalem. No doubt Levi's toll station was on another route which crossed the Jordan just north of the Sea of Galilee.

It is also apparent that Sepphoris had priestly ties, being one of the very few priestly towns in Galilee. In fact a report from the time of Herod the Great tells that a priest from Sepphoris, the cousin of the high priest Matthias, substituted for the Day of Atonement high priestly duty in Jerusalem. (This was due to a perceived defilement in that the high priest dreamt the night prior to Yom Kippur that he had intercourse with a woman.)

Although Jesus and Antipas lived only 4 miles from each other, they are nonetheless very far apart. They only meet at the trial.

The archaeological excavations have proven Josephus correct when he reported that Antipas had rebuilt Sepphoris as a splendid Roman capital city. It included his luxurious royal palace, administrative offices, royal bank, archives, and a fortress.

The wealth of Sepphoris was largely based on the rich agricultural lands within the Bet Netofa Valley which stretched north of the city. Major trade routs linked Sepphoris with other important cities: on the coast (Caesarea Maritima, Ptolomais, Tyre, Sidon), and cities of the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Antioch, Damascus and Petra. The strategic position of Sepphoris guaranteed a continue flow of income from travelers.

Jesus drew images not only from "pastoral scenes with setfreeds and sowers but also urban images with kings, merchants, tax collectors, and dramatic actors." (209) Consequently, Jesus no doubt spoke Greek as well as Aramaic. Some of his parables may likely have been first spoken by Jesus in Greek; we have more of his actual words than some would admit to previously. This may help explain why the message of the Gospel was so readily received by the Roman world; the cultural gap was not significant. Jesus of Nazareth easily bridged whatever gap may have existed because He also experienced the non-Jewish culture of the Roman world through his very likely contact with that culture at Sepphoris.