Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news of him spread throughout the whole region. 
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day. 
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. 
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” 
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. (Luke 4:14-24)

Our readings this week, taken from all four gospels, are summaries of the mission of Jesus pointed out to us in the responsorial psalm.

Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Our reading today from Luke’s gospel is one of the strongest accounts of the rejection of Jesus by his own people at Nazareth, but instead of ending with them attempting to throw him to his death from the hill today’s reading ends:

And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. (Luke 4:14-24)

Even his own people will recapture their amazement at the words that come from the mouth of Jesus! He will enter Nazareth again and people will welcome him.

The mystery of the Epiphany and Baptism are not limited to past history, they predict God’s plan yet to come.