“Faith Journeys with God in the Land” Part 66 - Sepphoris (1)

In Jesus’ day, Sepphoris was the center of the Lower Galilee. It was a Jewish, although Hellenized city in the 1st century. In 6 AD the city revolted against the Romans. Jesus would have been very familiar with this city since Nazareth was only 4-5 miles away. Additionally, there is no doubt that Jesus visited this city from time to time (even though Sepphoris is not mentioned in the Gospels), especially with His father Joseph while Jesus grew up simply one ridge away in Nazareth.
We walk through the ruins from the Roman period in this episode. Our final destination is the Roman villa to see the famous “Mona Lisa” mosaic. It is called this because the mosaic floor of this villa depicts the image of a beautiful woman. The details of her are so precise. It is truly a masterpiece!
In our faith walk with God, we are to strive to be a masterpiece in the kingdom. His church is made up of a mosaic of people who are invited to reflect the grace and goodness of Christ. When people see you, can they see Christ in you? In and of ourselves, we fall short of being a beautiful piece of art made and molded in Christ’s image. Personally, I know I fall short of this too often. Yet we find encouragement in knowing that God is still not finished in creating us to be a beautiful image of Christ.