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"And He [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.' And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from His mouth. And they said, 'Is not this Joseph's son?"' (Luke 4:16-22 ESV)
I can't help wondering if this isn't the point where the whole visit went wrong. Everything starts so well. Jesus goes to worship, they ask Him to preach, He announces the good news of the Gospel using Isaiah for His text—and everyone is impressed. But then they start looking for reasons to take Him down a peg. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they ask. "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?" (Mark 6:3)
People are like that, so often. If they are familiar with someone, they automatically look for a reason to pull that person down. It's okay for a stranger to be great and do marvelous things, but not someone like them. Jesus is too close to them. How can He be any good?
Thank God that God doesn't think this way. Because that's exactly what He was doing in Jesus—God Himself was coming close to us, joining the human race as one of us. And He didn't come to put us to shame, or to make us look bad by comparison. He came to rescue us through His life, death, and resurrection. Jesus came close to us in order to break the power of evil over us and to bring us home to Himself. Why? Because He loves us.
Jesus didn't see much success that day in Nazareth among His former neighbors. But He didn't give up on them or on us. He still calls us to Himself, to trust in Him to save us. And through His Holy Spirit, He brings us close to Him and gives us everlasting life.
We Pray: Lord, thank You for coming close to me and saving me. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Originally published in The Lutheran Hour on January 23, 2025
Used by permission from International Lutheran Laymen’s League, all rights
Reflection Questions:
1. Have you ever been jealous of friends or relatives who seem successful?
2. What has God done to bring you closer to Him in your own life?
3. How do you know how much He values and cares about you?
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