Bible Study – Third Sunday After Epiphany – The Spirit of the Lord in 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: Shimmering glimpses of the abundance of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps we, 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?
If you have access to a map of the Holy Land in the time of Jesus, please have it available. (Most Bibles have maps in the back and there are many you can find online.)
Jesus had no motorcade, no car, no bike, and he went most places on foot. Notice the distance between Galilee and Nazareth, for example. Think of the disadvantages of traveling on foot and how long it takes to get places. The advantages could be 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.”
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.”
Questions: (Answers to questions below)
- What town is Jesus in when he reads from the scroll?
- Was Jesus reading from a Bible like ours, and if not, what?
- Find in their Bibles the passage Jesus was reading (Isaiah 61: 1-2).
- What do you think Isaiah was saying?
- What do you think Jesus understood as he read this passage?
- What do you think Jesus meant by "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing"?
Click here for the young learner’s lesson
Videos (Click on url)
Epiphany 3C Luke 4:14-21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfm3I-y3tJ8
Gospel of Luke Summary: A Complete Animated Overview (Part 1) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIb_dCIxzr0
Song: Open My Eyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAh0avXdgJ0
Activities:
Read Isaiah 61: 1-2 passage that Jesus was reading, think about a world in which all the things listed are happening. Write your thoughts on the questions below on a piece of paper.
- What would it be like for the poor?
- What would it be like for those who are "captives"? (in prisons, in addictions, stuck in miserable lives, etc.)
- What kinds of "blindness" would be healed?
- Who are the "oppressed" and what would freedom look like to them?
- How can you 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.)
How can you do the work you have discovered, perhaps as simple a plan as choosing to befriend a child at school who seems to be left out?
God’s Promises Bible: you will need supplies to make a Bible shaped paper and cut it out and glue onto a piece of construction paper. Write as many of God’s promises as you can think of and promises you would like to make to God. Fold the “Bible” in half and write “GOD”S PROMISES BIBLE” on the front cover. Add promises in the Bible when you see, think or have fulfilled your promise to God.
God’s Promises Fulfilled - Crossword: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/promises-fulfilled
Jesus in the Synagogue – Fill in the Blank: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/jesus-in-the-synagogue-1
Promises, Promises – Decoder: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/promises-promises-2
Jesus in the Synagogue – Spiral: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/jesus-in-the-synagogue-3
Promises, Promises - Word Search: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/promises-promises-4
God’s Promises Fulfilled – Word Shape: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/promises-fulfilled-2
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.
Answers to the questions above:
- 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 in their Bibles the passage Jesus was reading (Isaiah 61: 1-2).
- What do you think Isaiah was saying? (the Messiah would come, there would be new hope.)
- What do you think Jesus understood as he read this passage? (This passage referred to him.)
- What do you 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.")
