4 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” - Lule 4:14-21
Jesus’ return to his hometown is a moment filled with hope and expectation. Fresh from his baptism and wilderness temptation, Jesus comes to Nazareth, empowered by the Spirit, and begins teaching in the synagogue. Initially, the response seems positive: “all spoke well of him”[i]—but as Jesus continues, the mood quickly shifts. What should have been a moment of celebration will ultimately turn into rejection and conflict. Why? Because the message Jesus brought wasn’t what they wanted to hear. We don’t always want to hear what God has to say to us (especially when God’s word confronts the ways we harm our neighbor).
Luke tells us that Jesus read from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he sat down and declared, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”[ii]
Jesus’ sermon to his hometown crowd contains what many call “the canon within the canon.”[iii]
Jesus, himself, is the sermon for the people present and for the world. He proclaims and embodies God’s deliverance to those who are captive. Jesus’ declaration, “The Word is fulfilled in your hearing,” is the revelation, the epiphany, that he truly is the anointed one, the Messiah. This moment isn’t just about words spoken; it’s about the living Word—Jesus himself, flesh and blood—standing before them as the fulfillment of God’s promises.
The word proclaimed to the congregation is the flesh and blood standing before them.
In front of them is the embodiment of God’s salvation. Before them is the epiphany that God’s promises are not abstract ideals but a flesh and blood reality fulfilled in Christ.
Sure, the congregation in Nazareth was probably prepared to hear the words from the prophet Isaiah, but they were not prepared to hear were Jesus’ closing words, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”[iv]
The gospel isn’t always what we want it to be. It doesn’t simply affirm our desires or meet our “felt needs”—it challenges us, reorients us, and calls us to a greater purpose. Jesus’ message in Nazareth wasn’t tailored to win approval or fill the synagogue pews. It was a proclamation of God’s radical grace and justice, even if that meant provoking controversy and rejection.
As someone who preaches regularly, I’ll admit there’s a strong temptation to avoid conflict and craft palatable, uplifting, and inoffensive sermons. There’s a formula: an attention-grabbing story, some Jesus, a whole lot of grace, back to the story, and some good news. But then I remember stories like this one. Jesus himself proclaimed the Word of God. It was the word the people needed, not necessarily what they wanted to hear.
It’s easy to think of church as a place where we come to get our needs met. After all, isn’t that what so much of modern church culture tells us? Churches are marketed as “user-friendly” spaces, offering programs (not ministries) designed to cater to every demographic and desire. Worship becomes a product to be consumed, with the primary goal being to attract and retain as many “customers” as possible.
But what if church isn’t about meeting our needs? What if the purpose of church is to transform us, to rearrange our priorities, and to align our lives with God’s kingdom? What if worship isn’t about what we get out of it, but about glorifying God? What if the church’s mission isn’t to give us what we want, but to form us into a people who embody God’s love and justice in the world?
What if we
proclaim God’s grace in the face of a world that seems to be at odds with the liberating Good News of God?
There are so many places where we can ensure our needs are met or hear what you want to hear, and we often secure those needs with a monthly recurring payment. The church, however, is different. In the church, our deepest needs are met through the Word and Sacrament, not through echo chambers or programs. But these means of grace don’t always make us comfortable. Instead, they challenge us, calling us into a new way of living. Through God’s Word, we are confronted with truth, and through the Sacraments, we are brought into God’s transformative grace. This is not about comfort or convenience—it’s about God lovingly reshaping us into the image of Christ.
When Jesus proclaimed “the year of the Lord’s favor,”[v] he wasn’t just offering comfort; he was announcing a revolution. The poor would hear good news. The captives would be set free. The blind would see. The oppressed would be liberated. And that’s not a message everyone wants to hear—because it calls us to confront our own complicity in systems of injustice, to open our hearts to people we’d rather exclude, and to trust that God’s vision is better than our own.
This is the epiphany at the heart of Jesus’ message: He is the embodiment of God’s promises—God’s grace, healing, and justice come to life.
Pastor to pastors, Brian Zahnd puts it like this:
God is like Jesus.
God has always been like Jesus.
There has never been a time when God was not like Jesus.
We have not always known what God is like—
But now we do.[vi]
Jesus doesn’t just tell us what God is like; he shows us. And in doing so, he reveals that God’s kingdom is not built on our desires or expectations but on God’s radical love. This is good news, even when it challenges us. It means that our worth isn’t determined by what we achieve, and our salvation isn’t earned through our efforts. It is God’s gift, freely given through Jesus Christ.
As followers of Jesus, the church has been called to proclaim this message. To unapologetically proclaim “good news to the poor… release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And like Jesus, we will face rejection. People will misunderstand us. They will resist the gospel’s demands. But our faithfulness isn’t measured by how well we meet people’s expectations or how popular we become. It’s measured by our commitment to God’s mission.
In the church, we’re not just here to confirm what we already believe or to make ourselves comfortable. We are here so that we might be conformed to God’s living Word, revealed to us in scripture, and fulfilled in Christ. We’re here to be shaped by the gospel, to be transformed into a community that reflects God’s mercy, love, and justice. That’s not always easy, and it’s certainly not always comfortable. But it is good. It is what we need, even if it’s not what we think we want.
We can rest in the assurance that God meets us where we are, offering grace and transformation. God calls us into growth and service, not out of obligation but as an invitation to participate in the unfolding of the gospel’s good news. Even in moments of rejection or discomfort, we can trust that God’s Spirit is powerfully at work, fulfilling the promises of liberation, healing, and renewal for all.
[i] Luke 4:15
[ii] Luke 4:18-19
[iii] See https://www.christianitytoday.com/1961/10/luthers-canon-within-canon/
[iv] Luke 4:18-19
[v] Luke 4:19
[vi] Zahnd, Brian. “God Is Like Jesus.” https://brianzahnd.com/2011/08/god-is-like-jesus-2/. Accessed January 24, 2025.
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