The passage
      v14-15. Jesus had stood the test in the wilderness and followed this up with a time of ministry in Galilee. He made a powerful impact and received wide support. Luke's comment, "in the power of the Spirit", may refer to the impact of the gospel in signs (miracles) and word, although "under the guiding hand of the Spirit" is probably what Luke intends.
      v16. From a very small child Jesus was "brought up" (raised) in Nazareth, and as was typical of devout Jews, regularly attended the local synagogue. On visiting his home town, Jesus maintains "his custom", and attends the Sabbath service. Following the resurrection, Christian Jews continued to visit their local synagogue when able to do so, Ac.17:1f. Note that a rabbi would stand to read the scriptures and sit to expound them.
      v17. The intention of this verse is to show that Jesus probably read the passage assigned to him, most likely using the Lectionary of the time. None-the-less, some commentators argue that "he found", means he found what he wanted to read, although it could just mean "he found the place on the page." Note, he is reading from a scroll rather than a book.
      v18-19. The passage is from Isaiah and is made up of a number of different texts, probably the texts Jesus preached on rather than read. The speaker in Isaiah is the Servant of the Lord, and Jesus ends up identifying himself with the Servant. Jesus, as the Servant, was set apart by God to both proclaim the coming day of redemption and achieve that redemption for the oppressed remnant (the "lost" - "poor", "captive", "blind"). "The year of the Lord's favour", or the acceptable year, is the year of Jubilee, the fiftieth year when all debts are forgiven, Lev.15. The Jubilee images the coming kingdom of God when forgiveness is offered even to Gentiles, and it is to this end the Servant serves.
      v20-22. As far as Luke is concerned, the response of the congregation bears testimony to the fulfilment of Isaiah's words in Jesus. The congregation is "amazed" at the divine presence ("the grace") evident in Jesus' words, although their amazement does not move to faith. Jesus' audience is faced with a dilemma, they can remember him as a child and so find it difficult to accept him as anything more than a Rabbi (teacher), and even this is difficult.

The Servant of the Lord
      The verses quoted by Jesus from Isaiah concern a mysterious figure in the Old Testament known as the Servant of the Lord. Jesus identifies himself with this person. He is the one whom the Spirit of the Lord has anointed to preach good news.
      In Isaiah we find the Servant witnessing, blessing and suffering. In particular, it is his suffering role that is his most mysterious characteristic. For this reason, he is usually called "the suffering Servant." Isaiah speaks of the coming Servant as someone called and elected by God to suffer in the service of a great cause.
      It should be noted that some commentators identify Isaiah himself with this person. Note the way the Servant's character is handled in chapter 61.

Who then is this mysterious figure?
      i] The Nation of Israel is at times called the Servant of the Lord, in particular her kings (eg. David) and sometimes even her prophets. Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles and so channel God's blessing to the whole world. Yet, Israel failed in this task and so the prophets pointed to the coming of a new Servant who would faithfully serve. In the end, the Servant is both an individual as well as a corporate body.
      ii] Jesus is clearly the Suffering Servant of Isaiah's prophecy. He was called and empowered for service by God, Lk.4:18. His prior role was to witness to the incoming of the kingdom, and in the end, to suffer for it, Lk.22:37, cf. Isa.53.
      iii] Today, the messianic people (the body of Christ, the church) is the Suffering Servant. We are the ones called to witness and administer the blessings of God to a broken world, and to suffer in that role.

A servant's role
      The point made by Jesus is that Isaiah's words are fulfilled in his own day. Jesus is the Servant of the Lord. The Spirit of God is upon him, not only to enable him to announce the good news, but to achieve the content of the message itself. God has "anointed" him, set him apart, to achieve the realization of the kingdom of God.
      The primary role of the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah's prophecy is that of proclamation. He is to "preach", "proclaim". His service to God is to carry a message to mankind, rather than implement a social or political reform agenda. He is to work through words, not through war. He is to "preach good news", ie. to evangelize, to communicate God's important message concerning the gift of eternal life for a dying world. (Note the phrase "good news" is not in the original Greek text).
      The message of the Servant of the Lord concerns the dawning of "the year of the Lord's favour", the dawning of the new age, the long-awaited Jubilee. He announces the end of trials and sufferings for the faithful remnant. The "poor", "captives", "blind", "oppressed" are about to be liberated. This message is both ours to receive and to proclaim.

v15
      edidasken (didaskw) imperf. "he taught" - he was teaching. Imperfect expressing ongoing action, probably iterative, repeated action; "he went on teaching", Barclay.
      doxazomenoV (doxazw) perf. pas. part. "everyone praised [him]" - being praised [by all]. The participle probably expresses result; "[and as a result] everyone sang his praises", REB. A strong word, usually reserved for God. The cause of the praise is usually attributed to Jesus' miracles, although Luke links it to his teaching.

v16
      kai "-" - and. Continuative, "then he went to Nazareth."
      teqrammenoV (trefw) perf. pas. part. "he had been brought up" - he had been fed, nourished, reared. In the sense of "raised"; "where he had grown up", NAB.
      to eiwqoV (eiwqa) perf. part. "custom" - [according to] the thing that was customary [of him]. "As was his habit", Bock. Displaying Jesus as a pious Jew.
      anagnwnai (anaginwskw) aor. inf. "to read" - The infinitive probably expressing purpose, "he stood up [in order] to read." An essential element in the synagogue service was the reading of scripture. The teacher stands to read and sits to teach. There was probably a cycle of readings, with the Torah was read first, and then a reading from the Prophets followed. The reading was in Hebrew with a translation in Aramaic, the local language of Palestine at the time.

v17
      anaptuxaV (anaptussw) aor. part. "unrolling" - having unrolled. Possibly a temporal participle, "and when he unrolled the scroll."
      euJren (euJriskw) aor. "found" - he found. The fact that Jesus found the reading in the scroll possibly indicates that it wasn't a set reading, since if set, the scroll would have already been open ready for the reader. Of course, it could just mean that Jesus "found", as in "found on the page."
      hn gegrammenon "it is written" - it had been written. The imperfect of the verb to-be with the perfect participle forming a periphrastic pluperfect. Establishing a tense separation between the reading Jesus found, aorist, and what was written.

v18
      The quote seems to be a composite extract from Isaiah: 61:1, 58:6, 61:2, probably because they are the texts Jesus used in his address, rather than the actual passage he read. Jesus may simply be implying that he is an Elijah/Elisha type prophet announcing the coming of the kingdom, but the wider context implies that not only does he proclaim the coming kingdom, in terms of the long-awaited Jubilee year (freedom, release of slaves, wiping of debts ...), but as the messiah, he actually institutes the Jubilee himself - he is "anointed ... to release the oppressed". It is even possible, although probably a bit of an exegetical stretch, to read in these texts the methodology that Jesus employs. Given the context of Isaiah 58, setting at liberty those who are oppressed is possibly realized by Jesus, as faithful Israel, breaking the bonds of wickedness in his own life on behalf of a faithless Israel that relies on fasting rather than justice. So, we are set free in the righteousness of Christ. True, but a bit of a stretch from these verses.
      epi "[the Spirit of the Lord is] on [me]" - over, upon. Expressing the fact that the Spirit has come upon Jesus to enable his ministry, which ministry he is "consecrated", set apart, to perform. This ministry is defined in the four following infinitival phrases: "to communicate ..", "to proclaim ..", "to release .." and "to proclaim .. (v19)."
      euaggelisasqai (euaggelizw) aor. inf. "to preach good news" - to communicate. The infinitive expresses purpose. In the NT. the word usually includes the content of the communication, namely the announcement of the coming kingdom of God and the invitation to enter ("repent and believe"). The word by itself simply means "important communication."
      ptwcoiV dat. adj. "the poor" - poor. Dative of indirect object, identifying for whom the preaching is performed. The adjective is used here as a substantive. Who are the poor? This debate is never ending. Surely the reference is to those in the covenant community who are without abundant wealth because they have not extorted their fellow Israelites, and/or those who have become materially poor because of their loyalty to the covenant community (the persecuted), and/or the poor in spirit, those broken before God and who desire the restoration of their relationship with him. So, the poor are those who yearn for the dawning of the kingdom of God and it is they for whom the message is proclaimed. Identifying the poor today is no easy matter. It is very unlikely that the reference is to those who are just materially poor. What is likely is that the message is for "seekers", "the lost", those who are seeking to find their way out of bondage, seeking for that better place. Of course, in its original context, the lost are the lost/poor of Israel, but the descriptor also probably applies to Gentiles. The invitation to those who seek that better place is no longer just for "the poor" of Israel.
      apestalken (apostellw) perf. "he has sent [me]" - The perfect tense indicating a past commissioning with ongoing application. "He has commissioned me."
      khruxai (khrussw) aor. inf. "to proclaim" - to preach. The infinitive again expressing purpose.
      afesin (iV ewV) "freedom" - forgiveness, remission, pardon, freedom from captivity. Clearly taping into slavery imagery, the exodus and the exile, but obviously now rightly in the sense of "freedom from the slavery/oppression of sin", so "forgiveness."
      aicmalwtoiV (oV) dat. "the prisoners" - captives, prisoners. Dative of indirect object identifying for whom the announcement of freedom is performed.
      anableyin (iV ewV) "recovery of sight" - restoration of sight. Obviously a spiritual sense is intended. The people are blind to the Word of God in that divine revelation is now withheld and spiritual sensitivity dulled - due to rebellion. In Christ, the day has dawned when lost humanity will know the living God.
      aposteilai (apostellw) aor. inf. "to release" - to send forth / let go. Here the weaker sense "let go" is intended. Infinitive again expressing purpose. Here, not just proclaiming, but actually doing. The release of the captives is very much a messianic function, rather than prophetic, and this function Jesus takes to himself. This Exodus/exile image finds some literal application in that under the jurisdiction of Rome Israel was still in bondage, although as far as the post exilic prophets are concerned, the failure of the restoration of Israel pushed fulfilment into the spiritual realm. Israel's problem is that she remains in the bondage of sin, held by the powers of darkness. It is this enemy that Christ will defeat and whose captives he will free.
      teqrausmenouV en afesei "the oppressed" - ones having been oppressed, downtrodden in freedom, liberty. "To send away in freedom those who have been broken by life", Barclay.

v19
      khruxai (khrussw) aor. inf. "to proclaim" - Introducing the fourth and final infinitival phrase.
      dekton adj. "[the year of the Lord's] favor" - acceptable, welcome, agreeable / favorable. Either "acceptable", to proclaim "this is the year the Lord has chosen", CEV, ie. acceptable in the sense of the divine will and purpose now operative in Christ for salvation, or "favorable", "to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour", REB, ie. the year in which the Lord bestows his favour. The second sense assumes that the reference is to the fulfilment of the Jubilee, Leviticus 25, the fiftieth year when slaves are released, debts cancelled, etc. Thus, in Christ, the Jubilee is spiritually realized.

v20
      ptuxaV (ptussw) aor. part. "he rolled up [the scroll]" - [and] having rolled up [the book]. Participle probably forming a temporal clause, as NIV.
      apodouV (apodidwmi) aor. part. "gave it back" - having given back [to the attendant]. Temporal sense continues.
      ekaqisen (kaqizw) aor. "sat down" - he sat down. A teacher would normally sit down to teach; "he took the preacher's seat", Barclay.
      hsan atenizonteV "were fastened [on him]" - were focused. With the dative = focused "on/at". The imperfect of the verb to-be with the present participle forming the periphrastic imperfect. The word expresses an intense focused gaze and is used by Luke at important moments when people's attention is concentrated, eg. the ascension; "everyone in the meeting place looked straight at Jesus", CEV.

v21
      hrxato (arcw) aor. "he began" - [and] he began [to say to them]. The use of this word differs depending on the context. Often it simply serves to emphasize the importance of what is said. "Then he proceeded to say to them", Weymouth; "then he started in", Peterson.
      oJti "-" - Here introducing a quote, what Jesus said.
      shmeron adv. "today" - The position is emphatic serving to underline the fact that the fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy is "now", salvation is "now".
      peplhrwtai (plhrow) perf. pas. "is fulfilled" - has been fulfilled, completed. The perfect tense expressing a past act with ongoing consequences - "has come true and is happening now", TH. "This passage of scripture (from Isaiah) has come true", Barclay.
      en toiV wsin uJmwn "in your hearing" - in the ears of you. It is unclear what is "in the ears." Is it the scripture, or that which is fulfilled. Probably the latter - the promise is being realized at the moment of their hearing. The sense of the words "in the ears" may imply significance, namely that the one to whom the words refer is speaking to them and/or, the inward hearing requires a response. On the other hand, the words may just express the act of hearing. "The text is being fulfilled today even while you are listening", NJB.