On the way to Caesarea Philippi, Mark relates, Jesus asks one of those characteristic questions of his, to facilitate the dialogue: "Who do people say I am?". He is interested in public opinion, and that his own know it. But he is more interested in his true thought: and you, who have been with me from the beginning, who have heard what I say and seen what I do, who have left everything to follow me: who do you say that I am?
We are in the middle of Mark's Gospel and at the heart of its development. The purpose of the Gospel, to say that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, is expressed in his first words (Mk 1:1). But up to now only the unclean spirits had cried out "you are the son of God"Jesus had commanded them to tell no one. The culmination of the revelation of Jesus as the Son of God will be expressed by the Roman centurion under the cross: "Truly this man was the Son of God.". An important detail for the Romans, the first recipients of Mark's Gospel.
In his account, considered the oldest of the four Gospels and a reflection of Peter's preaching in Rome, in the phrase with which Peter responds to Jesus "you are the Christ"There is not the addition that we read in the parallel passage in Matthew: "The Son of the living God.". Peter here only declares that Jesus is the Messiah awaited by Israel, the Christ, the anointed one. It goes beyond the popular views that see Jesus as an impetuous prophet like Elijah, or think of him as the Baptist risen from the dead. But it is still not a statement of faith in Jesus' divine nature. In any case, Jesus tells them not to reveal that conviction to anyone, because their idea of the Messiah is still incomplete, like that of all the people, who would try to make him king. They do not associate it with the prophecies of the suffering servant of Yahweh. Even less do they know how to link it to his being the Son of God. According to them, the Messiah will have a path of glory and earthly power; on the other hand, Jesus reveals to them that he will have great suffering, will be rejected by the religious leaders of his country, will die and, after three days, will be resurrected.
Peter does not hear the word "resurrection", and rejects Jesus' prophecy. Thus it is confirmed that he was right when he told them: do not tell anyone. Peter, follow me! Everyone who follows me will have to take up his cross. It is precisely thanks to that cross, revealed here for the first time by Jesus and rejected by Peter, that the centurion will recognize the Son of God. Every disciple of Christ, not only Peter, has the same path as the master, personalized: to take up his cross and follow him. No cross is the same as the other, but they all resemble the Master's and all "attract" to Him.
The homily on the readings of Sunday 24th Sunday
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa small one-minute reflection for these readings.
