The Deaf Devo from The Deaf Missions in Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States "Jesus' Life (5)" Bible Reading: Luke 4:14-29 for Monday, 17 October 2016

The Deaf Devo from The Deaf Missions in Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States "Jesus' Life (5)" Bible Reading: Luke 4:14-29 for Monday, 17 October 2016
Luke 4:14 Yeshua returned to the Galil in the power of the Spirit, and reports about him spread throughout the countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone respected him.
16 Now when he went to Natzeret, where he had been brought up, on Shabbat he went to the synagogue as usual. He stood up to read, 17 and he was given the scroll of the prophet Yesha‘yahu. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of Adonai is upon me;

therefore he has anointed me

to announce Good News to the poor;

he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the imprisoned

and renewed sight for the blind,

to release those who have been crushed,

19 to proclaim a year of the favor of Adonai.”[Luke 4:19 Isaiah 61:1–2; 58:6]

20 After closing the scroll and returning it to the shammash, he sat down; and the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 He started to speak to them: “Today, as you heard it read, this passage of the Tanakh was fulfilled!” 22 Everyone was speaking well of him and marvelling that such appealing words were coming from his mouth. They were even asking, “Can this be Yosef’s son?”
23 Then Yeshua said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me this proverb — ‘“Doctor, cure yourself!” We’ve heard about all the things that have been going on over in K’far-Nachum; now do them here in your home town!’ 24 Yes!” he said, “I tell you that no prophet is accepted in his home town. 25 It’s true, I’m telling you — when Eliyahu was in Isra’el, and the sky was sealed off for three-and-a-half years, so that all the Land suffered a severe famine, there were many widows; 26 but Eliyahu was sent to none of them, only to a widow in Tzarfat in the land of Tzidon. 27 Also there were many people with tzara‘at in Isra’el during the time of the prophet Elisha; but not one of them was healed, only Na‘aman the Syrian.”
28 On hearing this, everyone in the synagogue was filled with fury. 29 They rose up, drove him out of town and dragged him to the edge of the cliff on which their town was built, intending to throw him off.
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Our Bible verses today tell us that Jesus went to his hometown of Nazareth. He went to the synagogue and read from the book of Isaiah. Jesus read verses of prophecy about the Messiah.
When Jesus was finished reading, He said, "While you heard me reading these words just now, they are coming true" (verse 21b). Then Jesus talked about how the Jewish prophets had helped people who were non-Jews. This made the people in the synagogue angry. These people "forced Jesus to go out of town...They took Jesus to the edge of a hill to throw him off. But he walked through the middle of the crowd and went away" (verses 29-30). Jesus was rejected by His friends and family. That must have hurt Him!
Sometimes our friends and family reject us when we speak the truth from God's Word. It is sad when people reject God, but it is very important that we always speak the truth. Remember that God will be with you as you speak His truth.[PD*]

"Then he said, 'The truth is, a prophet

is not accepted in his own hometown.'"

[Luke 4:24]

PRAYER: Dear Father, help us to be bold as we share the truth from Your Word. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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Deaf Missions
21199 Greenview Road
Council Bluffs, Iowa 51503, United States
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