Jesus Taught in the Synagogue

Intro:

Has someone ever made a promise to you before? Maybe it was a promise from your sibling that they’d play with you later that day, or maybe a promise from your friend that they’d be your best friend forever, or a promise from your parents that if you do good on your test that you’d get ice cream.

Did any of those promises ever get broken? I’m sure we can all think of times when the promises made to us never actually happened. It’s sad, disappointing, and leaves you discouraged. You hoped that someone would do something because they told you they would, and then… they don’t. It’s a big let down.

Well, I want to remind us this morning of God who always keeps His promises. All the way back in Genesis, after Adam and Eve sinned against God, God made a promise: He told Satan that He was going to send someone who would bruise Satan’s head, or crush it. Meaning, Satan would lose in the end.

In our lesson today, we look at how the Old Testament Prophets, which we talked about weeks ago, told about Jesus coming and the things about Him and His life, and how they came true later on as Jesus read those very same prophecies!

Lesson:

We gather each and every week to learn from what? God’s Word, that’s right! Well, as you probably already know, we aren’t the first ones to do this.

The Jewish people, also known as the Israelites, God’s Chosen people, would gather near or in the tent of meetings, also known as the Tabernacle, and the temple, to hear leaders, prophets, judges, and priests read God’s messages to them.

In this story, Jesus was in His hometown called Nazareth. Like He always did, He went to the synagogue (a special place where people gathered to worship, similar to how we gather to worship here) on the Sabbath day (the day where God commanded His people to rest, a day where they also gathered together to worship Him).

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Luke 4:17–22 (CSB)

17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written:

18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me

to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to set free the oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him.

21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”

22 They were all speaking well of him and were amazed by the gracious words that came from his mouth; yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

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This was an INCREDIBLE moment! Imagine that you were promised something for a very long time, and that promise had finally come true! You were waiting and waiting and waiting… and finally! It’s here!

That’s what this moment would’ve been like. Jesus read the Old Testament prophecy given to God’s people about a Savior that would one day come, and He was the very one it was talking about!

Our bottom line for today’s lesson is: Jesus came to fulfill Old Testament prophecies.

Why this was Good News:

You may be wondering: why was this such good news?

Well, you and me, we’re sinners. And sinners are separated from God. In fact, sinners that aren’t forgiven by God will spend eternity away from Him in a place called Hell. That isn’t what God wants, but it’s what happens to those who don’t trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.

That’s why this was such good news! This Savior that God had promised to His people for a long time had finally arrived! There was reason to rejoice, to be happy, and to be thankful for God keeping His promise, like He always does!

What should we do about this?

Jesus came to save sinners like you and me. He wants us to place our faith and trust in Him. That good news we just talked about? That’s for you and me too!

(Gospel Presentation)

If we already follow Jesus...

He wants us to tell others about this great news! He is the promised Savior that can save anyone from their sins! Just like His Word tells us in Romans 10:9: because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

That’s the message that God wants us to tell other people about.

That’s the Gospel, the good news that He wants us to share with those that don’t know Him.