The authors of two letters in the New Testament are considered by many to be the actual half-brothers of Jesus Christ. However, we are told in the gospels that the family of Jesus approached Him at one point during His ministry asking Him to come home, thinking He was out of His mind (Mark 3:21). But how did Jesus’s brothers go from being concerned about His sanity to being important contributors to the early Church?
The Netzereth Trial by Rick Drost suggests a possible series of events that happen around Jesus’s brothers in Nazareth during Passion Week. While Jesus experiences a trial, death, and surprising triumph, His family in Nazareth experiences similar events that completely change the way they view their brother. In this work of historical fiction, Drost explores the idea that the families of Nazareth were primarily Essene—not Pharisaical, Sadducee, or Hellenistic—believing they were of the line of David and thus, the promised people of the “Branch” predicted in Scripture. Therefore, they named their town “Netzereth” from the Hebrew word for “branch,” which is netzer.
During a trip to Israel in 1993, Drost was introduced to the history of the Essenes and their role in the Dead Sea scrolls. After discovering the possibility that Capernaum was a seat of Pharisee influence, and since Jesus spent so much time of His ministry around Capernaum, Drost was led to consider that Jesus may have aligned Himself with the Pharisees in order to speak truth into their theology. And thus, this may be the reason a family of Essenes would think Jesus was out of His mind. However, what remains a fact is that the Passover Lamb lives.
Rick Drost grew up in Phoenix AZ and currently lives in Tucson. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and has dedicated his life to working with youth in the church. His creative abilities have been used to write numerous skits, dramas, and stories for use in churches and youth groups. The Netzereth Trial is his first novel.
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