JESUS AT NAZARETH – Interactive Bible Story

 

Luke 4:14-30

Instructions:  Assign reading parts to children who can read well.

Story:  Jesus walked faster and faster as He came closer and closer to the synagogue. It was the Sabbath day, and Jesus was going to the synagogue in His hometown of Nazarene.

He had been to that synagogue often. His mother, Mary, had taken Him when He was a baby. When he was a boy, He had attended school there. Now He was coming to worship.

After Jesus was inside the synagogue, one of the leaders said to Him:

Reader # 1:  “Would you read the scriptures for us today from the scroll?”

Everyone watched as a scroll was handed to Jesus. It was the book of Isaiah, the prophet. Jesus opened the scroll and began to read:

Reader # 2:   “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.”

After Jesus had finished reading the Bible scroll, He sat down. Everyone looked at Him. Their eyes were big!  They wondered what He would say about the scripture He had just read.  “These scriptures came true today,” Jesus said. “I have been sent from God to do these things.” Someone asked:

Reader # 3:  “How can this be?”

Another person responded:

Reader # 4:  “Yeah! Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

Jesus continued, “I know you are wondering about Me. You would like for Me to perform a great miracle. But most of you do not believe in Me. It is always hard for a prophet to be accepted in His own hometown.” When the people heard this, they became angry. Someone said:

Reader # 5:  “Jesus has no right to say He is a prophet!”

Someone else responded:

Reader # 6:  “We’re older than Jesus is. He shouldn’t tell us that we don’t have enough faith.”

The people were so angry with Jesus that they jumped up, grabbed Him and took Him to the edge of the hill on which the city was built. They were going to push Him off the cliff, but Jesus escaped from the crowd. He left the village and went to other towns to help the people and tell them about God’s love.