Bible Study “The Spirit of the Lord is Upon Me”
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
Epiphany is shimmering glimpses of the abundance of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps you, too, noticed a star and followed it. Or maybe someone led us to the gift of faith. Now we take the Light – the Good News – out into the world. Will others see the light shimmering in us? Will they risk taking a journey into faith with us?
Click on map to see where Jesus traveled. He had no motorcade, no car, no bike, and he went most places on foot. Notice the distance between Galilee and Nazareth, for example. Consider the disadvantages of traveling on foot and how long it takes to get places. Consider the advantages that people could walk along with Jesus and people along his path would have a chance to see him and hear him. The passage we have today finds Jesus refreshed from a time away in the desert where he overcame temptation and he is ready to go to work telling people what God wants them to hear.
Opening Prayer: Dear God, help us to hear what the Spirit is saying to us today and every day. Amen.
Please open your Bibles to Luke 4:14-21 and read or read the scriptures below.
Luke 4:14-21
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
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.”[a]
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.”
Jesus, energized by the retreat he has just completed and filled with the Holy Spirit, comes to the synagogue in his own hometown on the Sabbath. Taking the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah, he reads: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me." When he finishes reading the passage, he rolls up the scroll and sits down. What did those in attendance hear? What do we hear?
- What do you think the person that wrote this would say to us today?
- What word or phrase stands out to you when you read this?
Reflection Questions:
- Where had Jesus been just before this? (In Galilee, beside the Sea of Galilee.)
- What town is Jesus in when he reads from the scroll? (Nazareth, the town he grew up in.)
- Was Jesus reading from a Bible like ours, and if not, what? (A scroll, rolled up, with the words read from right to left.)
- Find the passage in the Bible that Jesus was reading (Isaiah 61: 1-2).
- What do we think Isaiah was saying? (the Messiah would come, there would be new hope.)
- What do we think Jesus understood as he read this passage? (This passage referred to him.)
- What do we think Jesus meant by "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing"? (Jesus is the one sent by God to help us "get it.")
Activity: Using the Isaiah passage Jesus was reading, think about a world in which all the things listed are happening.
I wonder what it would be like for the poor?
I wonder what it would be like for those who are "captives"? (in prisons, in addictions, stuck in miserable lives, etc.)
I wonder what kinds of "blindness" would be healed?
Who are the "oppressed" and what would freedom look like to them?
I wonder how we can be a part of the solution, instead of part of the problem? (Who do you think is poor, captive, oppressed, in our community and what we could do.)
Click here for the young learner’s lesson
Videos (Click on the words or url)
Lumo-Gospel of Luke Chapter Luke 4:14-30 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2ojxNR8ECU
Lectionary Study On Luke 4:14-21 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWiJdzscZnc
Overview: Luke 1-9 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIb_dCIxzr0&t=268s
Activities
Scroll Craft
BIBLE CRAFT: SCROLL
11/16/2011 by Heidi
Directions:
Cut a brown paper bag into a long rectangle. Scrunch the paper up. Smooth it out (using a rolling pin is fun). Continue to scrunch and smooth the paper several times until wrinkles cover much of the paper.
For the final time, smooth the paper out and paint with brown watercolor. Let dry.
Curl the ends of the paper around a pencil and tightly roll to create the scroll effect. If the rectangle is cut extremely long, you may also wrap and glue the paper around paper towel rolls.
Write a verses Luke 4:18-19 on the scroll.
Decoder: Jesus in the Synagogue - https://sermons4kids.com/jesus_teaching_in_the_synagogue_decoder.htm?fromSermonId=187
Word Search: https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/3221368/the-spirit-of-the-lord-is-upon-me/
Prayer: Thank you God for loving all of us: rich and poor, captive and free. Help us to share your love as we meet people each day. Amen.
