[Sunday Sermon] Jesus in Nazareth
“16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”
24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”
We are the Church of the Nazarene—not simply named after a place, but after the very person of Jesus, who was mocked and rejected as a Nazarene. Our founders chose this name to align with the poor, the weary, and the forgotten—the very ones Jesus came to serve and save. The early Church of the Nazarene stood with those on the margins, not just ministering to them, but ministering with them. We are called to that same mission today: to be a church not just with a mission, but a church of the people, for the people, especially those overlooked by the world.
In Luke 4, we find Jesus standing in His hometown synagogue, reading from Isaiah. His first public words in Luke declare His mission: to bring good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoner, healing for the sick, and liberation for the oppressed. This was not just spiritual talk—Jesus meant it literally. These were real conditions—real people in need. And when He reminded the congregation that God's blessings had extended to Gentiles, to outsiders like the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian, the mood turned. The people’s vision of God was too small, and they rejected the idea that God’s mercy reached beyond their comfort zone.
So let us not repeat that mistake. The gospel is for all people: your neighbors, immigrants, refugees, the poor, the imprisoned, the indebted. It is for you, and it is for the one across the street. Let this church live into the power of its name—as the body of Christ, alive with compassion and courage. May the Spirit of the Lord be upon you, Reading Church of the Nazarene, to proclaim this good news. Amen.
(Note: This summary was created based on an AI draft.)