Today, this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing. From the moment Jesus’ began his public ministry to the day he ascended back to the Father, there were those 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 because he challenged them), and partly due to the unique and non-traditional way of doing ministry that characterized Jesus’ three-year spell. But whereas others were confused about his identity and mission, Jesus knew who he was and what he was about. Jesus was aware from the very beginning that both himself and his ministry was the fulfillment of God’s promises to creation (cf. Mark 1:14-15). 
In the passage that constitutes today’s Gospel Reading, we hear about the beginning of Jesus’ preaching ministry. 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 and place to introduce himself. It was fitting that Jesus pegs the beginning of his ministry inside a place of worship and on a Sabbath. The Sabbath was instituted by the Lord God 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, Jesus took his place in the sanctuary and after reading from the Prophet Isaiah a passage that spoke about the Servant of Yahweh, he made an unusual move of declaring that the passage was speaking about him. It was a declaration that did not go unnoticed for the simple fact that Jesus was claiming that he was THE Servant of Yahweh (the Messiah). To those gathered in the synagogue that day, such a sweeping claim bordered blasphemy. To them, Jesus was definitely making a false claim. There was no way Jesus was the anointed one of God. They knew where he was coming from and they knew his parents. To imply that he was the anointed one of God was to say that he was the Messiah. He couldn’t be the Messiah. They knew him and he was one of them (the popular belief was that when the Messiah finally arrived, no one would know where he came from [cf. John 7:27]). 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 bold claim. 
But 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 who were making such claims? By implying that the quote from the Prophet Isaiah referenced him, Jesus had already given reasons for his claims. He was claiming the title of the anointed one of God because he had been anointed by the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord was upon him. Even if Jesus was not the Messiah, 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 the Spirit of God and as such is anointed by God. However, this is not he only anointing to which Jesus was referring. He had been anointed by God and sent forth as a bringer of the good news of God’s impending salvation.
Jesus’ anointing inducted him into the ministry of the prophets of old: interceding on behalf of the people to God. But as the Messiah, Jesus’ anointing inaugurated the fulfilment of the hopes and expectations of the prophecies of old. There was not section of the society that needed to hear the good news of God’s salvific visit more than the downtrodden, the oppressed and afflicted, the forgotten and the neglected. God’s salvation cannot be said to have been fully realized until the poor have been fed, the captives and oppressed set free, and wholeness restored to those who are sick. When, therefore, Jesus declared that he was inaugurating the time of fulfillment, in simple terms, he was saying that he was going to be the incarnation of the Good News of the Lord’s visitation.