When Herod ordered all young boys in Bethlehem to be killed, Joseph took Mary and Jesus and fled into Egypt. After Herod’s death, they returned to their own country, settling in Galilee, as we read in Matthew 2:22-23: “But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.”

They would all travel to Jerusalem for the Passover each year. After one such occasion, Jesus, at the age of twelve, stayed behind and sat in the temple, listening to the teachers and asking them questions. He later “…went down with them [His family], and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them” (Luke 2:51). All evidence indicates that Jesus lived in Nazareth for most of those years. He would not otherwise have been known as a Nazarene.

After reaching age thirty, Christ preached in the synagogue in Nazareth. Notice Luke 4:16: “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.” The local residents’ reaction is found in verse 22: “And all…wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?” The people knew Him! This is confirmed by a similar occasion, when they asked in amazement, “Whence has this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers, James and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?” (Matt. 13:54-56). This was Christ’s own country (vs. 54; Luke 4:24). The people knew Him and His entire family.

Christ obviously lived in Nazareth (where He had studied and been trained) for most of those years between the ages of twelve and thirty. The Bible does not indicate whether or not He traveled abroad.