THINK TOGETHER.
Who is your favorite superhero?
READ TOGETHER.
Luke 4:16-21. 16And he 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. 17And 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 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, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20And 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. 21And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but he grew up in Nazareth. He went to school in Nazareth. Played games with his brothers and sisters in Nazareth. Built things with his dad, Joseph, in Nazareth. And he went to the synagogue in Nazareth. The synagogue was like church. It was where everyone gathered to worship God and hear the Bible read out loud on the Sabbath day (Saturday).
After being baptized by John, Jesus left his home town of Nazareth, and a lot has happened since then. Jesus has become kind of famous. He has been preaching, healing, casting out demons, and turning water into wine. So when he comes back to Nazareth, they let him read the Bible and give the sermon that day.
Now remember, everyone there has known Jesus since he was a little boy. They know him as a construction worker like his dad. Not a holy man or preacher. So it was really shocking when Jesus took the Isaiah scroll, unrolled it, read it, and then said the very shocking thing that he said – Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Jesus is saying that he is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. What prophecy? A prophecy about the hero that God would send to save the world. The Jews called this hero the Messiah. Isaiah’s prophecy is about the Messiah who will proclaim good news, set captives free, heal the blind, and help the oppressed (the ones being hurt by others).
Let’s just say Jesus’ first sermon doesn’t go over very well. This is what happened next:
Luke 4:29-30. 29And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30But passing through their midst, he went away.
The people who knew Jesus since he was little boy tried to kill him that day. They wanted to throw him off a cliff. Yikes! They couldn’t accept who Jesus claimed he was – God’s hero, God’s messiah, God’s Son.
We all need to decide if we will accept Jesus or not. Will we receive his good news? His freedom from sin? His sight for our blind eyes? His help against the devil’s attacks? Or will we reject him and try to get rid of him? I hope and pray that you are ready to accept that Jesus is the one God sent to save us.
Because of Jesus we can be saved from sin and the devil’s oppression.
With Jesus we can always trust the God who wants to rescue us.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Talk about your favorite superheroes. How do they save people? How did Jesus save people?
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, you are my hero. I don’t want to ever reject you; I want to accept you. Amen.
TLICfamily 