SETUP
Mosiah 27:31
Video
Sound
Pictures
INTRODUCTION
Read Mosiah 27:31 (read first part through “confess that he is God”).
At Jesus Christ’s Second Coming, everyone will recognize him as the Savior.
This was not true at his first coming. The Jews had studied prophecies about the Savior’s coming for centuries, but many of those who heard Jesus failed to recognize him as the Savior. Because Jesus did not free the Jews from Roman control, as they expected the Messiah to do, many of them rejected him and his message.
Luke Chapter 4
Background
Jesus was invited to read a passage of scripture and comment on it during the service in the synagogue in Nazareth
Setting
Quote 1 - Elder James E. Talmage described the setting. On this occasion, The minister in charge handed the Savior the book of Isaiah. The Savior turned to the part known to us as the beginning of the sixty-first chapter, and read: [Luke 4:18–19]. … The scripture He had quoted was one recognized by all classes as specifically referring to the Messiah, for whose coming the nation waited”
Note
In Jesus' era, it was customary to stand while reading but to sit while teaching.
Read Isaiah 61:1–2 These verses provide a summary of Jesus' earthly mission and atoning sacrifice. The verses referred to a person who was “anointed”—a term the Jews recognized as meaning “the Messiah.”
Video - Jesus declares he is the Messiah (covers Luke 4:15-30)
The people of Nazareth “wondered” at Jesus Christ’s declaration of Himself as the Messiah and questioned, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”
Quote 2 - Elder James E. Talmage explained that the Savior anticipated the people’s response to His message and rebuked their unspoken wish to see proof of His Messiahship: “In their hearts the people were eager for a sign, a wonder, a miracle. They knew that Jesus had wrought such in Cana, and a boy in Capernaum had been healed by His word; at Jerusalem too He had astonished the people with mighty works. Were they, His townsmen, to be slighted? Why would He not treat them to some entertaining exhibition of His powers? He continued His address, reminding them that in the days of Elijah, when for three years and a half no rain had fallen, and famine had reigned, the prophet had been sent to but one of the many widows, and she a woman of Sarepta in Sidon, a Gentile, not a daughter of Israel. And again, though there had been many lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha, [only] one leper, and he a Syrian, not an Israelite, had been cleansed through the prophet’s ministration, for Naaman alone had manifested the requisite faith. Then great was their wrath. Did He dare to class them with Gentiles and lepers? Were they to be likened unto despised unbelievers, and that too by the son of the village carpenter, who had grown from childhood in their community? Victims of diabolical rage, they seized the Lord and took Him to the brow of the hill on the slopes of which the town was built, determined to avenge their wounded feelings by hurling Him from the rocky cliffs”
Read John 1:11 - Jesus Christ “came unto his own, and his own received him not”
This ties back to the introduction when talking about how the first coming was different than what the second coming will be
*** Why do you think some people today have difficulty accepting Jesus Christ?
Luke Chapter 5
Luke 5: 1–9. - Launch Out into the Deep
At the time of his call to be a disciple, Simon Peter was working as a successful fisherman who, with his partners, owned at least two ships. Yet Peter was willing to forsake everything to follow Jesus Christ. The account of Simon Peter forsaking a spectacular catch of fish to follow the Savior is found only in Luke, though a similar event that occurred after the Resurrection is recorded in John 21:2–6.
Quote 3 - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland explained the significance of this event in Peter’s life: “Peter was, in President [Spencer W.] Kimball’s words, ‘a diamond in the rough—a diamond that would need to be cut, trimmed, and polished by correction, chastisement, and trials—but nevertheless a diamond of real quality. The Savior knew this apostle could be trusted to receive the keys of the kingdom’. Time was short. Much had to be done in a matter of months. Jesus prepared Peter as quickly as possible for the call that was to come. ‘Launch out into the deep,’ he counseled this fisherman one morning in Galilee, ‘and let down your nets for a draught.’ After an unsuccessful night of effort, Peter’s expert judgment told him a final effort was useless. But this was a man of genuinely childlike faith, and he lowered the net. The number of fish taken in that single attempt strained the strings until they began to break and filled two boats until they began to sink. In that small ship Peter kneeled, stunned, at the feet of the Master. Jesus said lovingly, ‘Henceforth thou shalt catch men.’ “Launch out into the deep! Peter could not have known the ever-widening circles that single command would make in the stream of his plain and simple life. He was launching out into the expanse of godliness, into the eternal possibilities of redeemed and celestial life. He would be learning the mysteries of the kingdom. He would be hearing unspeakable things. To launch out into that limitless sea of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Peter brought his craft to shore, turned his back on the most spectacular single catch ever taken from Galilee, ‘forsook all, and followed him.’
Jesus called Peter, James, and John to be his disciples. Later he would call them to be Apostles.
What is the difference between a disciple and an Apostle?
Explain that a disciple is any follower of Jesus Christ. An Apostle is a disciple who has been called to be a special witness of Christ (D&C 107:23). The word Apostle means “one [who is] sent forth.” The members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are sent forth to testify to the world that Jesus is the Savior and Redeemer of mankind.
Quote 4 - President James E. Faust said “What is discipleship? It is primarily obedience to the Savior. Discipleship includes many things. It is chastity. It is tithing. It is family home evening. It is keeping all the commandments. It is forsaking anything that is not good for us. …
“… Discipleship [requires] us to forsake evil transgression and enjoy what President Spencer W. Kimball has called ‘the miracle of forgiveness’, This can come only through repentance, which means that we forsake sin and resolve each day to be followers of truth and righteousness. As Jesus taught, ‘What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am’
*** How has your life been affected because of your decision to follow Jesus Christ?
Read Mark 1:17
How did the miracle with the fishing nets foreshadow the experiences that Peter, James, and John would have as “fishers of men”?
Luke 5:5: “At thy word I will let down the net.” (They would work where Jesus directed them.)
Luke 5:6: “They inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.” (They would find many people who would accept the gospel.)
Luke 5:7: “They beckoned unto their partners … that they should come and help them.” (They would call others to assist in the work.)
Luke Chapter 6 - Jesus calls his 12 apostles
Matthew Chapter 10
Matthew 10 records the calling of the Twelve Apostles and the Lord’s instructions to them.
Quote 5 - After declaring that latter-day Apostles are “men who have a witness of [the Lord’s] divinity, and whose voices have been and will be raised in testimony of his reality,” President Gordon B. Hinckley further described the work of the Apostles: “Their one chief concern must be the advancement of the work of God on the earth. They must be concerned with the welfare of our Father’s children, both those within the Church and those out of the Church. They must do all that they can to give comfort to those who mourn, to give strength to those who are weak, to give encouragement to those who falter, to befriend the friendless, to nurture the destitute, to bless the sick, to bear witness, not out of belief but out of a certain knowledge of the Son of God, their Friend and Master, whose servants they are”
Read v.9–10 - Without Purse or Scrip
In the Savior’s time, a purse carried money, while a scrip was a larger bag used to carry food and other supplies. The Savior instructed His Apostles that they were not to worry about food, clothing, lodging, or other temporal needs; they were to rely on the Lord and the mercies of others for their sustenance. This was in harmony with the hospitality and social customs of the day. Later, in Luke 22:35–36, Jesus revoked this command to rely on the hospitality of the people, perhaps because the Apostles would soon carry the gospel to Gentile nations that did not have the same standards of hospitality and because they would face opposition from the Jews as they went out into the world .
What blessings are promised to those who follow the Apostles?
Read Matthew 10:40-42
To receive a prophet “in the name of a prophet” means to accept him as a prophet and to recognize his words as coming from the Lord (see D&C 1:38).
Quote 6 - Elder M. Russell Ballard shared an example of a young woman who showed by her actions that she received President Gordon B. Hinckley as a prophet. Elder Ballard referred to counsel that President Hinckley had given to youth of the Church concerning their physical appearance, including admonishing young women to wear only one pair of earrings. “I know a 17-year-old who, just prior to the prophet’s talk, had pierced her ears a second time. She came home from the fireside, took off the second set of earrings, and simply said to her parents, ‘If President Hinckley says we should only wear one set of earrings, that’s good enough for me.’ “Wearing two pair of earrings may or may not have eternal consequences for this young woman, but her willingness to obey the prophet will. And if she will obey him now, on something relatively simple, how much easier it will be to follow him when greater issues are at stake”
Read Matthew 10:39
President
James E. Faust taught that losing
our lives means overcoming selfishness and committing ourselves to the
service of others: “For each of us unselfishness can mean being the
right person at the right time in the right place to render service.
Almost every day brings opportunities to perform unselfish acts for
others. Such acts are unlimited and can be as simple as a kind word, a
helping hand, or a gracious smile. The Savior reminds us, ‘He that
findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake
shall find it’ [Matthew 10:39]. One of life’s paradoxes is that a person
who approaches everything with a what’s-in-it-for-me attitude may
acquire money, property, and land, but in the end will lose the
fulfillment and the happiness that a person enjoys who shares his
talents and gifts generously with others. The greatest fulfillment in
life comes by rendering service to others, and not being obsessed with
‘what’s in it for me’"
May we become disciples of Christ by following him and losing our life in his work and in sustaining the apostles and committing ourselves to the direction in which they give.
