1. Matthew 4:13 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why did Jesus leave his hometown of Nazareth?

Matthew 4:13 (ESV)

13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,

Jesus left Nazareth when the people of his hometown rejected him (Luke 4:14–31). His move also had the purpose of fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah with regard to the land of Zebulun and Naphtali (see Matthew 4:14–15).1

Jesus left Nazareth when his own people rejected his spiritual light (Luke 4:14–31; John 1:11), which also fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy about the land of Zebulun and Naphtali (see Matthew 4:14–15)