Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing. From the moment Jesus embarked upon his public ministry to the day he ascended back to the Father, there were individuals and groups who had questions and doubts concerning his identity and mission. These questions and doubts were engendered partly due to sheer biasness (some did not want to accept Jesus and his mission because he challenged them), and partly due to the unique and non-traditional way of doing ministry that characterized Jesus’ life. But whereas there were people who were confused about his identity and mission, Jesus did not have an iota of doubt as to who he was as well as what he was about. Jesus was aware from the very beginning that both himself and his ministry were the fulfillment of God’s promises to creation (cf. Mark 1:14-15). 
In the passage that constitutes today’s Gospel reading, we are presented with the account of the beginning of Jesus’ preaching ministry as recounted by the evangelist St. Luke. After overcoming his period of temptation in the desert, it was time for Jesus to embark on his mission. Jesus couldn’t have chosen a better day or place to introduce himself. It was fitting that the beginning of Jesus’ ministry take place on the Sabbath and within a place of worship. The Sabbath was instituted by the Lord as a day of celebrating the creative act of God, a process which came to attain its culmination in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. On this particular Sabbath, as Jesus took his place in the sanctuary, he read from the Prophet Isaiah a passage that spoke about the Servant of Yahweh after which he proceeded to make an unusual move of declaring that the passage was referencing him. It was a declaration that did not go unnoticed by those who were listening to him for the simple reason that Jesus was claiming that he was indeed THE Servant of Yahweh (the Messiah). To those gathered in the synagogue on that day, it was a rather bold claim that Jesus was making. To them, what Jesus was saying bordered blasphemy since there was no way he could be the anointed one of God. From the much they had gathered from the Scriptures concerning the Messiah, Jesus was definitely not a candidate for a Messiah. In addition to the other “deficiencies” which they would later observe as Jesus went about ministering to the people, Jesus failed to make the cut because they knew him. They knew his home and his parents. He was one of them! They expected the Messiah to be an enigmatic figure (cf. John 7:27) and not someone known to them.  Moreover, the Spirit of God couldn't possibly be upon Jesus: he was such an ordinary individual. There was nothing special or unique about him for him to place such a wild claim. According to their estimation, Jesus was simply not the one about whom the Scriptures had spoken.
Why would Jesus place such contentious claims? Why would he risk being at the receiving end of the wrath of the religious leaders who were already suspect of individuals such as him? Why would Jesus make a claim which he knew would agitate the people and possibly put the authorities on edge? By implying that the quote from the Prophet Isaiah referenced him, Jesus had already given reasons for his claims. He was rightly claiming the title of the anointed one of God because he had indeed been anointed by the Father, and the Spirit of the Lord God was upon him. Even if Jesus was not the Messiah as his doubters believed, the claim that the Spirit of God was upon him should not have sounded so surprising to the those who were in the synagogue. Created in the image and likeness of God, each and every human person has been gifted with the Spirit of God and as such is anointed by God. However, this is not he only anointing to which Jesus was referring. As the Messiah, he had been anointed by God and sent forth as a bringer of the good news of God’s impending salvation.
The section of the society that had awaited to hear the good news of God’s salvific visit was made up of the downtrodden, the oppressed and afflicted, the poor and hungry, the forgotten and the neglected. It was not a mere coincidence, therefore, that this the group became the major recipient and beneficiary of Jesus’ proclamation of the Good News. Jesus rightly understood that God’s salvation cannot be said to have been fully realized until the hungry have been fed, the poor taken care of, the captives and oppressed set free, and wholeness restored to those who are sick and suffering. By declaring that he was inaugurating the time of fulfillment, he was simply saying that he was going to be the incarnation of the Good News of the Lord’s visitation.