00:27Brothers, welcome.
00:29We've reached the halfway point of Marcos's story, and I think you already know him very well because of his
00:37horizontal and vertical reading, and his experiences in homilies and talks.
00:43But in these classes we have done it in a very different way, studying passages that Marcos presents to us very...
00:52his style.
00:53Remembering that a pericope is a story that has a beginning and an end.
00:59And we begin with a very interesting passage.
01:03The question Jesus asks his disciples about who He is.
01:09It is the question that every Christian asks themselves, and it is the one that each one tries to answer in their own way.
01:16the gospels, including that of Saint John.
01:19In other words, the fundamental concern of the Christian, and the one to which each evangelist seeks to respond, is to guide the faithful follower.
01:30from Jesus to defining who Jesus is for him, what place Jesus plays in his life.
01:37Similarly, although with some variations, all the evangelists agree that it is Simon Peter who takes the initiative and
01:48He makes the main confession of faith about Jesus.
01:51In the case of the Synoptic Gospels, Peter's confession is situated in the Caesarea of Philippi, and both Luke and
02:01Mark declares that Jesus is the Christ, while Matthew adds the expression the Son of the living God.
02:09For his part, the author of the fourth gospel places this profession of faith in the discourse on the bread of life
02:18in the synagogue of Capernaum, and on that occasion, Peter declares that only Jesus has words of life, and that
02:26They, his disciples, are convinced that Jesus is the Holy One of God.
02:331. First announcement of the passion and resurrection
02:37The expression the evangelist uses, "he began to teach them," marks the beginning of a new stage. It is a crucial moment.
02:48and decisive in the life and mission of Jesus.
02:51He will continue to be the teacher who communicates his instructions through actions and words.
02:58But now, the main theme of his new teaching will be the announcement of his future, yet imminent,
03:08passion and resurrection.
03:11Jesus not only announces, but formally teaches both about his passion and about his resurrection.
03:22Marco emphasizes that Jesus spoke openly about these things, while when discussing his status as Messiah, he was very reserved.
03:33frugal and prudent.
03:34Now, when speaking of his passion and resurrection, he does so with complete clarity and without resorting to parabolic discourse.
03:45as if he does so when he announces the kingdom of which he is the forerunner and center, even though he never says so openly.
03:53Pedro has become trapped in suffering and death alone and has ignored the fact of the
04:02Resurrection.
04:03That is why he opposes Jesus accepting a plan under these conditions.
04:09But Jesus makes him see that his way of seeing things coincides with the criteria of men, but not with
04:16God's criteria.
04:17Peter and the disciples may have been thinking about the glorious and triumphant messianism that the men of their people expected.
04:28That is why they find unacceptable a Messiah who, instead of fighting for his title in battle, obtains it by
04:37death on a cross.
05:05The true disciple who follows Jesus.
05:09At the heart of Mark's Gospel, in the middle of his writing, lies the great word of Jesus
05:17about the follow-up.
05:19In the context of announcing his passion, Jesus finds no better moment to invite people to renounce their faith.
05:28to deny oneself and take up the cross in order to follow him.
05:33In a veiled way, Mark shows that being a disciple of Jesus involves having an experience of the kingdom that Jesus proclaims for
05:44to be able to proclaim it later.
05:46The initial appeal had already outlined the first costs of following Jesus: leaving one's job and family.
05:56and abandoning one's own home, which was already quite something.
06:01However, Jesus now declares that there is an even greater price to pay if one wants to follow faithfully.
06:10Just as he was to suffer the passion, his followers might face dangers and hostilities.
06:19Jesus was known for using scandalous symbols that made it easier for his disciples to remember his teachings.
06:30What better symbol of total and absolute renunciation than to ask the disciples to be willing to allow that
06:40They would tie the horizontal beam on which they would be executed to their backs
06:46and carry said beam to the place where the upright beam was already ready for the crucifixion?
06:56The person condemned to death, to crucifixion, was completely stripped naked.
07:03He would lie down on the horizontal beam that was tied to his arms and back.
07:08I walked with him and arrived at the place where he would be executed, through a slow and painful death.
07:17What other means can one give up on one's own personal history?
07:22To the present and the future with its plans and projects?
07:28What other way could Jesus use to ask his disciples to deny themselves?
07:36There are no plans anymore, no decision centers, no way to organize one's own life.
07:44She dedicates herself entirely to following Jesus.
07:48Because?
07:49Because what comes next, only Jesus can offer.
07:54No matter how much we lose, give, and surrender, what comes next is greater than the price we pay.
08:03We can give our lives and suffer for it, but the reward it promises more than compensates for the demands.
08:12Let's get started.
08:15The Transfiguration
08:16Jesus calls Peter, James, and John as companions for his ascent to a high mountain.
08:25That detail is reminiscent of Moses, who was accompanied by Aaron, Nebat, and Abihu, when they went up Mount Sinai and saw
08:35bye bye.
08:35The high mountain of the transfiguration is another Sinai, and tradition identifies this mountain with Mount Tabor.
08:46The inner mystery of Jesus' person is revealed in the whiteness and splendor of his garments.
08:57Whiteness, light, and radiance are signs of God's presence.
09:05The divine glory, reflected in the faces of Moses, is far surpassed in the transfiguration of the face and of
09:15Jesus' garment.
09:16The scene represents a powerful experience of Jesus in his human nature.
09:22It is a particularly Christological scene.
09:27We find Moses and Elijah conversing with Jesus, representatives of the law and the prophets.
09:36This vividly proclaims the unity and continuity of revelation in the Old and New Testaments.
09:45Peter, bewildered and overcome with a reverential fear in the presence of the divine,
09:54He speaks up and tells Jesus that he wants to build huts to stay there.
10:00This intervention by Pedro is yet another reminder of the times of exile.
10:07and possibly also an allusion to the Jewish festivals of tabernacles.
10:13Peter's words suggest that he prefers a life of glory and happiness for Jesus.
10:22than a path of pain, of the cross and of death.
10:27The cloud that covered them with its shadow also evokes the cloud that accompanied the Israelites during their march
10:37through the desert.
10:38The cloud speaks of God's nearness and his voice of his intervention in the story of Jesus.
10:46The voice declares to those present what it declared to Jesus at his baptism.
10:53Jesus is the Son of God and the best attitude for his disciples is to listen to him.
11:09Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of God and the Son of God.
11:15CC by Antarctica Films Argentina
