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The pbadage from this Sunday 14th of Ordinary Time (Mk 6: 1-6) is placed towards the conclusion of the activity of Jesus, from which springs the question of who Jesus is, in order to Explore the identity of the Master of Nazareth. From Nazareth? In our text, the evangelist Marc shows that this qualification is a problem. Already at the beginning of his gospel, Mark had introduced Jesus who called the first disciples, and who taught in the Capernaum synagogue, chasing demons and performing miraculous healings. Now Jesus enters the synagogue of Nazareth, his homeland, and teaches. One would expect a triumphal entry, a procession that crowns him, applauds him, praises him and honors him.
None of this. Many, as harsh judges, are surprised to discover the unsuspected qualities of their fellow citizens. As in a preliminary survey, they gathered the available data. They compare the surprising present experience with what they know about it: a knowledge that they consider to be complete. " Where do these things come from? And what wisdom is what has been given to him? And the wonders like those made by his hands? Is not it the carpenter, the son of Mary. ..? "(verses 2-3). And here's the question: where does all this come from? Who gave him such wisdom, such power to work miracles?
From surprise to scandal
" And it was for them a cause of scandal" (v.). Precisely because they believe they know everything about their origins, they can not imagine another source of what Jesus shows as a teacher and be able to work miracles. They go from surprise to scandal: a reaction that is somehow open to closure, negative judgment, rejection. They believe that there can be no God behind what Jesus does with himself. The evangelist Marc does not go into details and does not say how this rejection attitude has materialized. Leave things in an indeterminate state that, however, after the other rejectionist attitudes by the Pharisees, is already very significant.
"A prophet is not despised except in his homeland, among his parents and at his home" (v.4). The commentary of Jesus further qualifies the reaction of the people: he says he is "despised" (disgraced). Inserted in this context, the term presents the rejection that Jesus will suffer from all Israel. In Nazareth, there is simply ostracism; in Jerusalem, after the triumphal entry, there will be a death sentence, a total rejection without appeal. With his affirmation, Jesus defines himself as a "prophet", thus placing clearly in God the origin of his mission. Not only that, but emphasizes the illogical Nazareth scandal: he says that he is despised, devalued and derided with derision throughout his project, just from what is most intimate: his homeland, his parents, his house
We note the subtle play on the meaning of the possessive adjective "his": it does not simply mean that it belongs to these realities, but also insinuates that his homeland, his parents and his house belong to him, like "the lineage of David", those of Nazareth should be the first to know. It is perhaps why they forgot to mention Joseph as his father, against the use of identifying children through paternal descent.
Jesus Stumbling Stone
"And He Was Amazed With Their Disbelief" (v. 6) Almost Spectacularly Compared With Wonder of the Nazareths, Jesus is astonished at the unbelief of some.This was a sign that we were expecting a positive welcome, corresponding to the signs that she has made in any The negative reaction of the villagers is a losing choice, because Jesus presents himself accompanied by the disciples as a recognized rabbi, then he teaches and works the healings in Nazareth, and this fact serves as proof of the divine origin of his Finally, as there are not only the scandalized, as Nazareth, and by extension Jerusalem and Israel, I am not the whole world.There are also the neighboring villages, there There is Galilee, there is the whole world.
The welcome that Jesus gets in a lot in places and among many people, even if they are not places and people where it would be more logical that he finds a consensus, shows his favor and refutes those who are scandalized by him. These positive conclusions negate the alleged absolute and then the truth of rejection, scandal. Paradoxically, precisely because it is a stone of contradiction, Christ imposes it. We can no longer notice it, as if the cornerstone of Zion had not been placed. It is possible to stumble over and be scandalized and build, or rather, be built believing. And the more the building develops, the more the stumbles become ruinous: " They will know that a prophet is in their midst" (the first reading). And he continues to transmit God.
The mystery of evil, of opposition and misunderstanding must not hinder the "prophet's" commitment: in the project of God, the disciple badumes the role of "sign" of continuous love, of a cure that does not let itself be imprisoned by consent, which is not measured by the answer. God does not want to force man into what makes him unique and irreplaceable: his freedom. God wants to be loved freely. He stops waiting for a "yes": to this freedom, I sacrifice everything, says God, to the taste that I have to be freely loved by free men (Peguy). Jesus does not force our freedom, but continues to cross the paths of men so that our refusal becomes "freely" a "yes".
Bibliography consulted: Tosolini, 2018; Prato. 2018.
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