Jesus Is Rejected: An ESL Bible Study on Luke 4:14-30

This Bible study series is for people who are learning English. It is designed for advanced beginner and intermediate learners, but children or adults who prefer simple English may also enjoy it. I also have a Sunday School lesson on Luke 4:14-30 that may work better for native English speakers.

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Luke 4:14-30 Printable Discussion Questions

Luke 4:14-30 Printable ERV Passage

Lesson Icebreaker Question

Have you ever shared a good idea with someone, but they did not listen? What happened?

Lesson Highlight

In this lesson, we will learn how Jesus taught people in his hometown. We will see how people liked his words at first, but later became angry with him. This lesson will help us think about how people sometimes reject truth, even when it is good for them.

Vocabulary Lists for the ERV Bible Translation

Key Vocabulary Words (10 words)

amazed: (adjective) To be very surprised by something.
come true: (phrase) To happen exactly as was promised or written before.
good news: 1. (phrase) A message that tells about something nice or happy. 2. (noun) The message that Jesus came to save people from their sins.
heal: (verb) To make a sick or hurt person well again.
leprosy: (noun) A serious skin disease that was very scary in Bible times.
praise: (verb) To say very good things about God or a person.
prophet: (noun) A person who speaks messages from God.
reject: (verb) To say no to someone or refuse to accept them.
Sabbath day: (phrase) The seventh day of the week that is a special day of rest for Jewish people to worship God.
synagogue: (noun) A building where Jewish people meet to pray and study.

Important Words to Know (20 words)

amazed: (adjective) To be very surprised by something.
announce: (verb) To tell important news to many people.
blind: (adjective) Not able to see.
chosen: (adjective) Picked by God for a special reason.
come true: (phrase) To happen exactly as was promised or written before.
good news: 1. (phrase) A message that tells about something nice or happy. 2. (noun) The message that Jesus came to save people from their sins.
heal: (verb) To make a sick or hurt person well again.
hometown: (noun) The town where a person was born or grew up.
kindness: (noun) The quality of being nice and helpful.
leprosy: (noun) A serious skin disease that was very scary in Bible times.
middle: (noun) The center part of something.
praise: (verb) To say very good things about God or a person.
prisoner: (noun) A person who is kept in prison.
prophet: (noun) A person who speaks messages from God.
reject: (verb) To say no to someone or refuse to accept them.
Sabbath day: (phrase) The seventh day of the week that is a special day of rest for Jewish people to worship God.
synagogue: (noun) A building where Jewish people meet to pray and study.
treat: (verb) To behave toward someone in a certain way.
truth: (noun) The things that are real and true.
widow: (noun) A woman whose husband has died.

Complete Lesson Word Bank

accept: (verb) To believe that something is true.
again: (adverb) One more time.
always: (adverb) Every time or at all times.
amazed: (adjective) To be very surprised by something.
angry: (adjective) Feeling very mad about something.
announce: (verb) To tell important news to many people.
area: (noun) A part of a place or a country.
around: (preposition) In a circle or on all sides of something.
away: (adverb) At a distance from a place.
back: (adverb) In the place where someone was before.
badly: (adverb) In a way that is not good.
began: (verb) To have started something.
begin: (verb) To start something.
blind: (adjective) Not able to see.
built: (verb) To have made something like a house.
Capernaum: (noun) A town by the sea where Jesus lived and taught.
chosen: (adjective) Picked by God for a special reason.
close: (verb) To shut something like a door or a book.
closely: (adverb) In a way that is very near or careful.
come true: (phrase) To happen exactly as was promised or written before.
country: (noun) An area of land that has its own king or leaders.
crowd: (noun) A very large group of people.
doctor: (noun) A person whose job is to heal sick people.
down: (adverb) Toward a lower place.
during: (preposition) While something is happening.
edge: (noun) The part where something ends.
Elijah: (noun) A famous prophet who served God a long time ago.
Elisha: (noun) A prophet who served God after Elijah.
everyone: (pronoun) Every person in a group.
fact: (noun) Something that is true.
force: (verb) To make someone do something they do not want to do.
found: (verb) To have seen something you were looking for.
free: (adjective) Not under the control of another person.
Galilee: (noun) A region in the north part of Israel where Jesus lived.
given: (verb) To have handed something over to another person.
good news: 1. (phrase) A message that tells about something nice or happy. 2. (noun) The message that Jesus came to save people from their sins.
good things: (phrase) Kind or pleasant words and actions that people do or say.
grew: (verb) To have become larger or older.
half: (noun) One of two equal parts of something.
heal: (verb) To make a sick or hurt person well again.
heard: (verb) To have received sound with your ears.
helper: (noun) A person who helps someone else.
hill: (noun) A high area of land that is smaller than a mountain.
hometown: (noun) The town where a person was born or grew up.
Isaiah: (noun) A famous prophet who wrote about Jesus long before he was born.
Israel: (noun) The land and the people that God chose for himself.
Jesus: (noun) The Son of God and the Savior of the world!
Joseph: (noun) The man who raised Jesus on earth.
just: (adverb) Only or simply.
kindness: (noun) The quality of being nice and helpful.
know: (verb) To have information about something in your mind.
leprosy: (noun) A serious skin disease that was very scary in Bible times.
live: (verb) To be alive.
Lord: (noun) A name that shows someone has power or authority.
many: (adjective) A large number of people or things.
middle: (noun) The center part of something.
Naaman: (noun) A man from Syria who was healed of leprosy.
Nazareth: (noun) The town where Jesus grew up.
open: (verb) To move something so that people can go through.
over: (preposition) Above or on top of something.
own: (adjective) Belonging to a specific person.
place: (noun) A specific area, room, or location.
poor: (adjective) Having very little money or things.
possible: (adjective) Something that can happen.
power: (noun) Strength or the ability to do something.
praise: (verb) To say very good things about God or a person.
prisoner: (noun) A person who is kept in prison.
prophet: (noun) A person who speaks messages from God.
rain: (noun) Water that falls from the clouds.
read: (verb) To look at words and understand them.
reject: (verb) To say no to someone or refuse to accept them.
Sabbath day: (phrase) The seventh day of the week that is a special day of rest for Jewish people to worship God.
sat: (verb) To have rested on a seat.
sent: (verb) To have caused someone to go to a place.
show: (verb) To let someone see something.
Sidon: (noun) A city on the seacoast near Tyre.
speak: (verb) To say words.
Spirit: (noun) A name for the Holy Spirit who is part of God.
spread: (verb) To cover a larger area.
stood: (verb) To have been on your feet.
such: (adjective) Like the one that was just mentioned.
synagogue: (noun) A building where Jewish people meet to pray and study.
Syria: (noun) A country to the north of Israel.
through: (preposition) Moving from one side to the other.
throw: (verb) To use your arm to send something through the air.
took: (verb) To have carried or moved something from one place to another.
town: (noun) A place where many people live that is smaller than a city.
travel: (verb) To go from one place to another.
treat: (verb) To behave toward someone in a certain way.
truth: (noun) The things that are real and true.
walk: (verb) To move by putting one foot in front of the other.
watch: (verb) To look at something carefully for a time.
while: (conjunction) During the time that something is happening.
whole: (adjective) All of something.
widow: (noun) A woman whose husband has died.
wonderful: (adjective) Very good or amazing.

Summary of the Passage

This passage begins after Jesus started his work of teaching and healing people. He traveled all around the area of Galilee to visit different towns. He taught in the synagogues, which were the buildings where Jewish people met to pray and study. Everyone praised him because they were happy to hear his wonderful words.

Later, Jesus went back to visit Nazareth, which was the hometown where he grew up as a boy. On the Sabbath day, which is the special day of rest, he went to the synagogue and stood up to read. He was given the book of the prophet Isaiah, which was written a long time ago.

Jesus read a part that said God had chosen a special messenger to tell good news to the poor and to heal the blind. This messenger would also set prisoners free and announce that the time had come for the Lord to show his kindness. After Jesus finished reading, he told the crowd that these words were coming true while they were listening. He wanted them to know that he was the special person God had sent.

The people were amazed at his wonderful words at first, but they found it hard to believe him. They knew him as a regular person from their town, so they asked, “Isn’t he Joseph’s son?” They did not think a local man could be the special messenger from God.

Jesus told them that a prophet is usually not accepted in his own hometown. He reminded them that during the time of the prophet Elijah, there was no rain in Israel for three and a half years. There was no food in the country, but God did not send Elijah to help the many widows in Israel. Instead, God sent him to help a widow in another country.

Jesus also said that many people had leprosy during the time of the prophet Elisha, but none of those people in Israel were healed. Only a man named Naaman from the country of Syria was made well. These stories made the people in Nazareth very angry because they did not want God to help people from other places. They forced Jesus to the edge of a hill to throw him off, but Jesus walked right through the middle of the crowd and went away safely.

This passage shows that people often struggle to see God working through someone they think is “ordinary.” The people of Nazareth let their pride stop them from receiving a blessing because they wanted God’s kindness to be only for them. It shows us that God’s plan is much bigger than one town or one group of people, and he will continue his work even when people try to stop him.

Read The Passage

Most English learners should use the Easy-to-Read Version (ERV), the New International Reader’s Version (NIRV), or the Good News Translation (GNT). If you want to try something harder, you can read one of the other Bible versions.

Jesus Begins His Work in Galilee
14 Jesus went back to Galilee with the power of the Spirit.
Stories about him spread all over the area around Galilee.
15 He began to teach in the synagogues, and everyone praised him.
Jesus Goes to His Hometown
16 Jesus traveled to Nazareth, the town where he grew up.
On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue as he always did.
He stood up to read.
17 The book of Isaiah the prophet was given to him.
He opened the book and found the place where this is written:
18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me.
He has chosen me to tell good news to the poor.
He sent me to tell prisoners that they are free and to tell the blind that they can see again.
He sent me to free those who have been treated badly and to announce that the time has come for the Lord to show his kindness.”
20-21 Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the helper, and sat down.
As everyone in the synagogue watched him closely, he began to speak to them.
He said, “While you heard me reading these words just now, they were coming true!”
22 Everyone there said good things about Jesus.
They were amazed to hear him speak such wonderful words.
They said, “How is this possible? Isn’t he Joseph’s son?”
23 Jesus said to them,
“I know you will tell me the old saying: ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’
You want to say, ‘We heard about the things you did in Capernaum.
Do those same things here in your own hometown!’”
24 Then he said, “The truth is, a prophet is not accepted in his own hometown.
25-26 “During the time of Elijah it did not rain in Israel for three and a half years.
There was no food anywhere in the whole country.
There were many widows in Israel during that time.
But the fact is, Elijah was sent to none of those widows in Israel.
He was sent only to a widow in Zarephath, a town in Sidon.
27 “And there were many people with leprosy living in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha.
But none of them were healed; the only one was Naaman.
And he was from the country of Syria, not Israel.”
28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were very angry.
29 They got up and forced Jesus to go out of town.
Their town was built on a hill.
They took Jesus to the edge of the hill to throw him off.
30 But he walked through the middle of the crowd and went away.
Luke 4:14-30 (ERV)

Very Easy: Easy-To-Read Version: Luke 4:14-30 (ERV)
Very Easy: New International Reader’s Version: Luke 4:14-30 (NIRV)
Easy: Good News Translation: Luke 4:14-30 (GNT)
Medium: New Living Translation: Luke 4:14-30 (NLT)
Hard: New International Version: Luke 4:14-30 (NIV)
Very Hard: English Standard Version: Luke 4:14-30 (ESV)

Luke 4:14-30 Printable ERV Passage

Comprehension Questions

Where did Jesus go to teach in Galilee?
What did people say about Jesus at first?
What town did Jesus grow up in?
What did Jesus do in the synagogue on the Sabbath day?
What did the book of Isaiah say the messenger would do for the poor?
Who did Jesus say the holy words were about?
Why did the people ask if Jesus was the son of Joseph?
Which two prophets from the past did Jesus talk about?
Why did the people in the town get angry?
How did Jesus get away when the people tried to hurt him?

Application Questions

Have you ever felt left out or not accepted by people you know?
Why is it sometimes hard for people to hear the truth?
What can you do when people do not listen to you?
How can we stay kind and brave like Jesus when people are unkind to us?
Who can help you when you feel rejected or alone?

Theological Insights

God chose Jesus to bring hope to people who are suffering.
God loves and helps people in every country.
Jesus is the person God promised to send in the Bible.
Some people turn away from God’s message because of pride.
God protects his people so they can finish his work.

Closing Prayer

Dear Father,
We praise you because you sent Jesus to bring us good news.
We confess that we do not always listen to your words.
Thank you for showing your kindness to all people in the world.
Please help us to follow Jesus even when it is hard or scary.
Amen.