16 February 2023 – Mark 8:27-33
We now come to a climax in the Gospel of Mark that is reached through the readings of the previous days. From the beginning of this Gospel the question is continually asked: “Who is Jesus?” Today we have the answer from the disciples who, though still blind and deaf, begin to understand who Jesus really is.
It is important to remember the remote and global context that leads to this answer, namely the two years of very intense mission, from the baptism in the Jordan, to the preaching in Galilee with the miracles, the parables, the disputes with the leaders of the people, a prelude to more and more serious conflicts. Jesus never backed down: he announced the Kingdom of God and gave powerful and concrete signs of it with healings and other wonders… It must also be said that people ran after him, not just a few people, but entire crowds from all parts of Palestine (Mk
3:7-12), with an admittedly rather ambiguous consensus: do they want the miracles of Jesus or the Jesus of miracles?
Who do you say that I am?
Jesus wants to verify what his disciples, above all, understood about him, because many follow him for the miracles, for his healing power, for the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, for the religiosity, the magic, the search for the extraordinary, which even then were more alive than ever. Jesus did not want us to follow him motivated by all this he wanted us to understand his identity and his mission.
It is significant that Peter in his impetuousness and frankness, as we see in so many other parts of the Gospel, replies: ‘You are the Messiah’, that is, you are the Christ. It is an affirmation in which Jesus is no longer simply the preacher, the prophet, the healer, but is actually the Messiah awaited by all, the man sent by God, descendant of David, who would bring salvation to Israel. And Peter, who like all Jews lived in this expectation, dares to say: “You are the Messiah!”.
At this point we would expect Jesus to somehow rejoice, to be pleased, to congratulate Peter. Instead Jesus accepts Peter’s answer, we should say with reservation: Peter speaks the truth, but there are risks in that statement, that is, in thinking of a political Messiah, of a Messiah who gives political deliverance, of a Messiah according to the powers of this world, of a Messiah king. This is why Jesus strictly orders the disciples not to say anything to anyone about this identity of his. This messianic identity must still remain hidden, it must not attract men, it must not seduce them, it must not enchant them, it would indeed be a betrayal of God’s plan.
For Good Workers…
This is what the gradual opening of the blind man’s eyes in yesterday’s Gospel indicated. The disciples were still waiting for the Messiah as the victorious king triumphant over all the enemies of Israel, even though they had made the exciting discovery that their Master was none other than the long-awaited Messiah.
P JOBY KAVUNGAL RCJ

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)