January 29, 2025 

Today's Reading: Luke 4:16-30

Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 8:1-23; 2 Timothy 1:1-18

“And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.” (Luke 4:24)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Jesus wouldn’t do miracles in His hometown. It gave everyone big feelings, so they tried to throw him off a cliff. It’s maybe a little easier to stomach Jesus saying no to the people who throw tantrums and try to throw Him off a cliff than when He does it to us. That might be a thing to wrestle with. But instead everyone takes the hometown verse as the thing that matters.  

No prophet is acceptable in his hometown. I get why I can’t go back to my hometown. I did stupid stuff in high school. People remember. But sinless Jesus wasn’t known for stealing road cones from construction sites and closing down public streets for fun. So it’s not about reputation. It’s not even about the town, either. Elisha didn’t go on a healing tour but saw only Naaman, who visited him at home, like, three chapters after he had shebears kill young men for calling him bald. His reputation was probably… at least something to take note of.  

This isn’t actually about the prophet. It isn’t about the town. It’s about the expectation. The thing we didn’t want to talk about in the first place when all the bad people who Jesus said “no” to tried to de-cliff Him. The reason we’re really not okay when He says “no” to us. The expectation is, “Hey, you work for us.”  That’s a problem. God is for you. But not under you. It’s bigger than just who’s in charge. God is merciful and good. The great danger in assuming you need to be in charge and not Him is really that you think you need to be. If you need to be in charge and not God, there’s an assumption that God isn’t merciful and good, so you need to be in charge. 

The kind of Christianity where you need to be in charge is the greatest burden and the least hope. It is a false doctrine, a lie of the devil Christ will not allow to stand because that is a Christianity where you get to receive nothing and are forced to take everything. You don’t get to trust God; only figure out how to make Him dance. Crosses aren’t involved in that kind of Christianity. But Jesus died for you. It’s not only the proof that He is merciful and good that we need when our desperate prayers seem to be met with “no.” It’s the place He gives the answers we really need. Your sins are forgiven. You are already delivered from death and the devil. Rejoice.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Hail, Thou once despisèd Jesus! Hail, Thou Galilean King! Thou didst suffer to release us; Thou didst free salvation bring. Hail, Thou universal Savior, Bearer of our sin and shame! By Thy merit we find favor: Life is given through Thy name. (LSB 531:1)

-Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

What makes a church "good?" Come join the fictional family as they test out eight different churches in their brand-new town and answer this question along the way. Will the Real Church Please Stand Up? by Matthew Richard, now available from Concordia Publishing House.