‘‘When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom.’’ (Luke 4:16)

The scene in the synagogue at Nazareth is electrifying. Jesus unrolls the scroll of Isaiah and proclaims, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.’ (Luke 4:18) In that moment, God is not speaking abstractly, but personally, revealing who he is and what his mission will be.

The people’s first response was to be amazed, but it quickly turned to disbelief, asking: ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’ (Luke 4:22) They cannot reconcile the ordinary young man they grew up with and the extraordinary claim that God’s Spirit rests upon him. Their inability to see beyond the familiar blinds them to the presence of God in their midst.

This passage pierces the heart because it holds a mirror to our own lives. Do I hear these words as mere history, words spoken long ago but irrelevant to my life today? Or do I believe that Jesus speaks to me personally, here and now? He tells me he has come for the poor, the blind, the captives, the oppressed, and that includes me in my poverty, my blindness, my need for freedom.

But his words also call me to faithfulness, and they call me outward. If I truly receive this message as love, not outrage, then it cannot leave me unchanged. To follow him is to share his mission, to become a bearer of good news in the small and ordinary circumstances of daily life.

What is my response? Indifference? Or a heart moved by love? Jesus speaks; the question is whether I will listen, believe, and be changed.