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This Day Is This Scripture Fulfilled

In His hometown synagogue Jesus announced whom He came to heal; by the lake, a tired fisherman learned to trust His word

  • 📖 Adult Sunday School
  • Week 5
  • 📅 Sunday, January 31, 2027
🏆 Showdown
💡 The big idea

Jesus announced His mission in Isaiah’s words: He came to heal the brokenhearted, free the captive and give sight to the blind, and He still does. Familiarity or discouragement can keep us from letting Him, but we can answer as Peter did: “Nevertheless at thy word.”

I can let the Savior do for me what He came to do, and act on His word even when I’m tired and it doesn’t make sense yet.

Study it yourself firstRead Matthew 4; Luke 4–5 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOpen this week (Matthew 4; Luke 4–5)
Know the chapters

This week’s block moves from the wilderness to Galilee. After His baptism, Jesus spends forty days in the wilderness; the Joseph Smith Translation of Matthew 4:1 says He went there “to be with God.” Satan’s three temptations follow: turn stones to bread, leap from the pinnacle of the temple, and take the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worship. Twice the tempter opens with “If thou be the Son of God,” just after the Father has declared Him His beloved Son. Jesus answers every time from Deuteronomy (8:3; 6:16; 6:13). Luke adds that the devil left Him only “for a season” (Luke 4:13).

Luke 4:16–30 is this lesson’s scripture scene. Back in Nazareth, “as his custom was,” Jesus goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath, is handed the scroll of Isaiah, and reads what we know as Isaiah 61:1–2. Luke’s quotation stops at “the acceptable year of the Lord”; Isaiah’s verse goes on to “the day of vengeance of our God.” Jesus sits down, the customary posture for teaching, and says, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” The townspeople first wonder at His “gracious words,” then balk: “Is not this Joseph’s son?” When He reminds them that Elijah was sent to a widow in Sidon and Elisha healed Naaman the Syrian, both outsiders, they try to throw Him off the brow of the hill.

Luke 5:1–11 is the lesson’s second passage. By the lake of Gennesaret (another name for the Sea of Galilee), fishermen are washing their nets after a night of catching nothing. Jesus teaches the crowd from Simon’s boat, then tells him, “Launch out into the deep.” Simon, the professional, answers, “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.” The nets break, both boats begin to sink, and Peter falls at Jesus’s knees: “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” The Savior answers, “Fear not,” and calls him to catch men. The rest of Luke 5 includes a leper healed by touch, a paralyzed man let down through a roof, and Levi the publican leaving his tax table.

Twenty-five minutes goes fast. Center the class on Luke 4:16–30 and Luke 5:1–11; the temptations are ready as a bonus step. Isaiah’s list (the brokenhearted, the captives, the bruised) may describe people in your room right now: grief, addiction, depression, betrayal. Speak of the Savior’s power to heal with hope, and never press anyone to say which phrase fits them.

Only have 5 minutes?

Read Luke 4:14–30 and Luke 5:1–11. Open by asking what makes it hard to take advice from someone you’ve known for years. Read Luke 4:18–19 together and ask each person to find the phrase that describes what the Savior has done for them. Discuss why the people of Nazareth couldn’t see Him, then read Luke 5:4–5 and talk about letting down our nets again. Close with a testimony and an invitation to act on His word this week.

What to bring2 items

Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.

Before class

  1. Read Luke 4 and Luke 5 straight through, then Isaiah 61:1–3. Mark Luke 4:18–22 and Luke 5:4–11.
  2. Ask one person ahead of time to be the Reader in the scripture scene (Luke 4:20, 22 and 28–30). A quick message on Saturday is plenty.
  3. Read Luke 4:18–19 slowly and decide which phrase describes what the Savior has done for you. If the room is quiet, you’ll go first.
  4. Think of a time you let down your nets “at his word” after you’d given up. A short, honest example opens the second discussion.
  5. Pick the two or three discussion questions you most want to reach. You won’t have time for all of them.

Discussion tips

  • Quiet class? Give a full minute for pairs to choose a phrase from Luke 4:18–19. People who won’t speak to the room will talk to a neighbor, and then they’ll often share.
  • One voice filling every pause? Thank them warmly and say, “Let’s hear from someone who hasn’t had a chance yet,” or send the next question to pairs first.
  • “Brokenhearted,” “captives” and “bruised” can touch raw places: grief, addiction, abuse, depression, a marriage in trouble. Invite people to think privately before anyone shares, and let them keep their answer to themselves if they want to.
  • If someone says, “I let down my nets and came up empty again,” thank them for their honesty. Not every obedient night ends in a full boat; Peter had already toiled all night. Testify that the Lord sees the toil too, and let the question stand without rushing to fix it.
  • Visitors and new members: name the book and chapter clearly, show the references on the shared screen, and never ask anyone to read aloud without checking first.

The 25-minute plan25 min + bonus

Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Each “On the screen” line is what the class sees on a shared screen in Teach Mode in the Gospel Sparks app; on paper, read it aloud or write it on the board. On the web you can play Scripture Showdown from this page.

1. Hook

The Hometown Problem

3 min

Opens with a familiar human experience before anyone opens Luke 4.

  1. Ask: “Why is it sometimes harder to take advice from a brother, a spouse or a longtime neighbor than from a stranger with credentials?”
  2. Give 20 seconds of quiet, then take two or three answers. Accept every honest one: we remember their mistakes, we think we already know what they’ll say, we’ve put them in a box.
  3. SAY“Jesus ran into exactly that problem the day He went home to Nazareth, and what He said there tells us what He came to do for every one of us.”

On the screen: 🏡 Why is it hard to hear from someone we’ve known forever?

2. Story

Read It in Context: In the Synagogue at Nazareth

6 min

Reads Luke 4:14–30 as a real Sabbath in a real town so the Savior’s announcement lands with weight.

  1. Open Teach Mode to the scripture scene. The shared screen shows one scene at a time.
  2. Read each scene’s context yourself, then let the Reader and the class read the verses. You read the Savior’s words; no one is assigned to speak as Him.
  3. Keep it moving: context, verses, next scene. Save comments for the discussion.
  4. After scene 6, let a few seconds of silence sit before moving on.

On the screen: 📜 Luke 4: a hometown synagogue, a scroll of Isaiah, and a sermon that nearly cost His life · Follow along in Luke 4:14–30

3. Scripture

What He Came to Do

4 min

Studies the Savior’s own mission statement so class members find themselves in it.

  1. Put Luke 4:18–19 on the shared screen and read it slowly.
  2. SAY“Count how many different kinds of people Jesus says He came for.” Take the list: the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, the bruised.
  3. SAY“Quietly, find the phrase that describes something the Savior has done for you or someone you love. With a neighbor, share it only if you want to.”
  4. Point out that Luke’s quotation stops at “the acceptable year of the Lord,” the season of His favor, before Isaiah 61:2 goes on to the day of vengeance.
  5. Ask: “What does it mean to you that He said ‘This day’ and not ‘someday’?”

On the screen: 🕊️ He came to heal the brokenhearted and set at liberty them that are bruised. · Luke 4:18–19 · Which phrase describes what He has done for you?

4. Talk it over

Is Not This Joseph’s Son?

6 min

Helps adults see how familiarity and assumptions can keep us from receiving what the Savior offers.

  1. Pick two or three questions; don’t try to cover all of them.
  2. Start the second question in pairs: one minute with a neighbor, then invite a few to share with the room.
  3. Let silence work. Count to seven in your head before rescuing a question.
  4. If the room is quiet, share your own honest answer first.
💬 Ask the class
  • The same people who “wondered at the gracious words” wanted to kill Him minutes later. What do you think changed in them?
  • How can familiarity with the scriptures, the sacrament, our ward or our own family keep us from seeing the Lord’s power in them? (Talk with a neighbor first.)
  • Jesus pointed to a foreign widow and a Syrian general. Why might that have offended His neighbors, and who might be the unexpected people in our own lives?
  • Which phrase in Luke 4:18 is hardest for us to believe could apply to ourselves, and why?

On the screen: 🤔 How can familiarity keep us from seeing what the Savior offers? · Luke 4:20–30

5. Talk it over

Nevertheless at Thy Word

4 min

Turns Peter’s response by the lake into an invitation to trust the Savior’s word when we’re tired or discouraged.

  1. Hold up the net or the picture of nets.
  2. Ask a volunteer to read Luke 5:1–7 while the class follows along. Then read verses 8–10 yourself.
  3. SAY“Peter had just finished washing these nets. Letting them down again meant more work, in the daytime, on the word of a carpenter.”
  4. Ask one or two questions, then move to the testimony on time.
💬 Ask the class
  • Peter was a professional, he was exhausted, and he had caught nothing. What does “nevertheless at thy word” cost someone in that position?
  • When has the Lord asked you to let down your nets again in a place you’d already given up on?
  • Peter said, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man.” Jesus answered, “Fear not,” and gave him work to do. What does that teach us about feeling unworthy?

On the screen: 🎣 “Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.” · Luke 5:1–11

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: A small net, a mesh produce bag, or a picture of fishing nets, to hold up in the Nevertheless at Thy Word discussion

  1. Ask a volunteer to read Luke 5:1–7 while the class follows along. Then read verses 8–10 yourself.
  2. SAY“Peter had just finished washing his nets. Letting them down again meant more work, in the daytime, on the word of a carpenter.”
  3. Ask one or two questions, then move to the testimony on time.
6. Testimony

Launch Out into the Deep

2 min

Ends with testimony of Jesus Christ as the Anointed One who heals, and a concrete invitation for the week.

  1. Read Luke 5:11: “they forsook all, and followed him.”
  2. Invite one or two people to share, in a sentence or two, a time they acted on the Lord’s word and saw Him work.
  3. Bear a short testimony that Jesus Christ is the One Isaiah foresaw, and that He still heals the brokenhearted.
  4. Invite: “This week, choose one thing you’ve quietly given up on (a prayer, a relationship, a calling, a habit) and let down your nets once more at His word.”

On the screen: 🌊 They forsook all, and followed him. · Luke 5:11 · This week: let down your nets once more at His word.

7. Talk it over

It Is Written

5 minBONUS

A bonus look at the temptations in the wilderness and how the Savior met them with scripture.

  1. Read Matthew 4:1–11 together, noting the Joseph Smith Translation footnote on verse 1: He went into the wilderness “to be with God.”
  2. Point out that twice Satan begins, “If thou be the Son of God,” right after the Father has declared Him His beloved Son.
  3. Share Elder Jorge F. Zeballos’s words about how the Savior answered Satan (in “From general conference” below).
  4. Ask one or two questions.
💬 Ask the class
  • Why do you think Satan’s first move was to question Jesus’s identity: “If thou be the Son of God”?
  • Each temptation offers something real: bread, safety, power. How do our own temptations often start with a good thing pursued the wrong way?
  • Jesus answered from Deuteronomy each time. What passages have you stored up that come to mind when you need them?

On the screen: 🏜️ Three temptations, three answers from scripture: “It is written.” · Matthew 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13

8. Game

Scripture Showdown

5 minBONUS

A light, friendly review if you finish early.

  1. Split the room down the middle into two teams.
  2. Launch Scripture Showdown on your phone or tablet and read each question aloud.
  3. After each reveal, read the reference so people can mark it.
▶ Play Scripture Showdown on the web

On the screen: 🏆 Scripture Showdown: how well do you know Matthew 4 and Luke 4–5?

Read it together

In the Synagogue at Nazareth

Luke 4:14–30 ↗

Reading parts

  • ReaderReads the narration in Luke 4:20, 4:22 and 4:28–30.
  • The ClassEveryone reads the townspeople’s question together: “Is not this Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22).

Scenes

  1. 🏡 Home to Nazareth

    Jesus returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and word about Him is spreading. He comes to the town where He grew up and goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath, as He always has.

    🎬 The teacher reads Luke 4:14–16.

  2. 📜 The book of the prophet Esaias

    Someone hands Him the scroll of Isaiah. He unrolls it to a passage about the Anointed One, the Messiah, and reads it aloud to the people who have known Him since childhood.

    🎬 The teacher reads Luke 4:17–19, the Savior reading Isaiah.

  3. 👀 Every eye fastened on Him

    He rolls up the scroll, hands it back, and sits down to teach. Then He says one sentence that changes everything.

    🎬 The Reader reads Luke 4:20. The teacher reads verse 21. Pause.

  4. 🤔 “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

    At first they marvel at His gracious words. Then the doubt creeps in. They know His family. They watched Him grow up. How could He be the one Isaiah meant?

    🎬 The Reader reads the first part of Luke 4:22, and the Class answers: “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

  5. 🧭 A widow in Sidon, a Syrian healed

    Jesus reminds them of two stories they know well. In a famine, Elijah was sent to a foreign widow; in Elisha’s day, the leper healed was a Syrian general. God’s blessings often reached the people no one expected.

    🎬 The teacher reads Luke 4:23–27.

  6. ⛰️ The brow of the hill

    The room turns. The same people who admired Him a moment ago drive Him out of town to throw Him off a cliff. He walks through the middle of them and goes on His way.

    🎬 The Reader reads Luke 4:28–30. Let a few seconds of quiet follow.

Key verse

Luke 4:18–19 ↗
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
In plain words: Jesus announced His own mission in Isaiah’s words: good news for the poor, healing for broken hearts, freedom for captives, sight for the blind. He came for people who are hurting, and that includes us.

More verses

Luke 5:5 ↗
“And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”
In plain words: Peter was tired, had caught nothing, and knew fishing better than anyone. He obeyed anyway, simply because Jesus asked.
Luke 5:10 ↗
“And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.”
In plain words: When Peter felt too sinful to stand near Jesus, the Lord told him not to be afraid and gave him a new calling.
Matthew 4:4 ↗
“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
In plain words: Hungry after forty days of fasting, Jesus answered temptation with scripture: God’s word sustains us more than bread.
Luke 4:21 ↗
“And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
In plain words: Jesus told His hometown that Isaiah’s promise of a Messiah was coming true right in front of them.

Scripture Showdown7 questions

  1. How did Jesus answer each of Satan’s temptations?
    • A. With a miracle
    • B. By quoting scripture
    • C. By staying silent
    Show answer

    ✅ B. By quoting scripture Matthew 4:4, 7, 10: each answer begins, “It is written.”

  2. Which prophet’s book did Jesus read in the synagogue at Nazareth?
    • A. Isaiah
    • B. Jeremiah
    • C. Malachi
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Isaiah Luke 4:17: “there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias.”

  3. What did the people of Nazareth question about Jesus after He spoke?
    • A. Whether He was Elijah returned
    • B. Where He had studied the law
    • C. Whether He was only Joseph’s son
    Show answer

    ✅ C. Whether He was only Joseph’s son Luke 4:22. They couldn’t see past the boy they had watched grow up.

  4. Which foreigner did Jesus mention Elisha healing?
    • A. Naaman the Syrian
    • B. The widow of Sarepta
    • C. The queen of Sheba
    Show answer

    ✅ A. Naaman the Syrian Luke 4:27: none of Israel’s lepers was cleansed, “saving Naaman the Syrian.”

  5. How long had Peter fished before Jesus told him to launch out?
    • A. An hour
    • B. All day
    • C. All the night
    Show answer

    ✅ C. All the night Luke 5:5: “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing.”

  6. What happened when Peter let down the net at Jesus’s word?
    • A. He caught one large fish
    • B. The net broke and both boats began to sink
    • C. A storm arose
    Show answer

    ✅ B. The net broke and both boats began to sink Luke 5:6–7: “their net brake” and the boats “began to sink.”

  7. What did Jesus tell Peter after Peter said, “I am a sinful man”?
    • A. “Go and sin no more”
    • B. “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men”
    • C. “Thy faith hath made thee whole”
    Show answer

    ✅ B. “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men” Luke 5:10. The Lord answered Peter’s fear with a calling.

▶ Play Scripture ShowdownTeams take turns on one screen.

From general conference

“He always answered Satan having scriptures in His mind, quoting them, and applying them at the right moment.”

— Elder Jorge F. Zeballos, “Building a Life Resistant to the Adversary,” October 2022

Share in the bonus step It Is Written, after reading Matthew 4:1–11.

Read the talk ↗

Songs

  • Come, Follow Me Hymns, no. 116

    Fishermen left their nets to follow Him. A fitting opening hymn. Find it ↗

  • Called to Serve Hymns, no. 249

    For a lesson that ends with “thou shalt catch men.” A strong closing hymn. Find it ↗

This week’s invitation

Let Down Your Nets Once More

Choose one thing you’ve quietly given up on (a prayer that hasn’t been answered, a strained relationship, a calling, a habit) and try again this week simply because the Lord asked. Each morning, read Luke 4:18 and notice where He is already healing, freeing or giving sight.

Take it home

In Sunday School we read Luke 4 and 5: in Nazareth, Jesus read from Isaiah that He came “to heal the brokenhearted” (Luke 4:18), and by the lake Peter said, “nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net” (Luke 5:5). Take it home: read Luke 5:1–11 together and ask, “When is it hard to obey when we’re tired?”

📝 After class

What worked? Who needs a check-in this week? Jot it here on a printed copy, or in the app’s private class notes.

Got extra time?

🏠 Through the Roof · 4 min

  1. Read Luke 5:17–26, where friends let a paralyzed man down through the roof tiles.
  2. Point out verse 20: “when he saw their faith,” meaning the friends’ faith as well as the man’s.
  3. Ask: “Whom are we carrying to the Savior right now, and what roof might we need to open?”

🍽️ Levi’s Feast · 4 min

  1. Read Luke 5:27–32, where Levi the publican leaves his tax table and throws a feast for Jesus and his friends.
  2. Read verses 31–32: “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.”
  3. Ask: “Who might feel more welcome at our table, or in our class, if we took this verse seriously?”

💡 A Great Light in Galilee · 3 min

  1. Read Matthew 4:12–17 and then Isaiah 9:1–2, the prophecy Matthew quotes.
  2. Point out that Galilee was a mixed, often looked-down-on region, and that the light rose there first.
  3. Ask: “Where have you seen the Savior’s light rise in an unlikely place?”

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tap or click a reference to open it in Gospel Library. Start with the official Come, Follow Me manual; these ideas are here to help it come alive.

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