00:00The avenue
00:29The avenue
01:00Wasn't Elijah supposed to come before the Messiah? Well, Jesus says, Elijah was to come and set things right, but the Messiah had to suffer and be despised; that's why Mark presents Elijah and the Son of Man in the same way.
01:19They did as they pleased with Elijah, referring to John the Baptist, and they will do the same with the Son of Man. In this way, Jesus makes the glorious Son of Man, who was to come in the clouds, also the suffering servant who gives his life and suffers death.
01:41The epileptic demon
01:44Without any indication of a change of scenery, Marcos presents us with a text rich in detail.
01:52Some helpless disciples, a desperate father, a suffering child, and a crowd surprised by the presence of Jesus.
02:04Mark had already made it clear that the disciples had the power to proclaim the kingdom, heal the sick, and cast out demons, but now there is a case in which he does not have the ability to perform an exorcism.
02:22The context is one of absence of faith, both in the disciples and in the father of the child, and in the people surrounding Jesus.
02:33The brief but intense dialogue between Jesus and the child's father is the doctrinal high point of the passage because in his despair he does not know how to act.
02:46He has faith, but perhaps not enough. That's why he asks Jesus to use his miracle to strengthen his faith in God.
02:57Second announcement of the passion and teaching about the greatest
03:02Jesus takes time to talk to his disciples again about his passion and death.
03:10Now the disciples are afraid, but their fear does not prevent them from having temporary concerns.
03:18Jesus speaks of death as they walk towards Capernaum.
03:23They argue about who among them is the most important.
03:28Jesus doesn't give a sermon, he just sits down.
03:32He tells them that the first is the one who takes the last place, and whoever is the greatest must show up in service, and to make the idea clearer, he takes a child.
03:46He places him in the middle of the twelve and tells them that they must receive a child in order to receive him.
03:54And in receiving him, who will receive?
03:56He has sent Jesus.
03:58In ancient Jewish society, children were what the elderly are in our cultures today.
04:08People who contribute nothing, who consume everything, who demand a lot, from whom little can be obtained.
04:17and that consume our time and effort, and that the benefits they provide are nothing compared to what is invested in them.
04:27John remains concerned about his situation as a follower of Jesus,
04:56John does not speak of being a follower of Jesus, which would be the proper thing to do, but of being a follower of the group, as if the group of disciples were the point of reference.
05:16That is why Jesus reminds them that accepting their teacher is also a way of accepting his followers.
05:26The disciples are so great as followers of Jesus that any gesture shown to them, simply because they are followers of Jesus, will be rewarded.
05:39And the dignity of Jesus is so great that the Christian must take care not to scandalize any simple brother.
05:51We cannot hide behind our wisdom to act as if we were the center of Christian life.
06:00Now a group of Pharisees asks Jesus about divorce.
06:16They had probably already heard that Jesus opposed this venerable Jewish institution because of its sexist and one-sided nature.
06:28One of the concerns of the Pharisees, as we have already seen, was related to divorce, its legality, the conditions and the delivery of the divorce certificate to the repudiated wife.
06:43But brothers, what was Jesus' basis for rejecting divorce?
06:49The Pharisees wanted to find out his position and asked him about it.
06:55Jesus does not answer directly, but asks them about the prescriptions of Moses.
07:04Of course, Moses had made it clear that it was possible and legitimate for the husband, never the wife, to repudiate his wife and grant her the freedom to remarry through the act of divorce.
07:22Jesus declares that if Moses allowed this action it is because of the hardness of the people's hearts.
07:30Because originally, when God created the first couple, at the moment of cohabiting, they became one flesh, in such a way that they can no longer be separated.
07:44The union of flesh in marriage is a union that no man can break.
07:52And he concludes by saying that whoever uses the privilege of separating from his wife commits a sin that goes against the very law they cherish so much: committing adultery.
08:06Jesus and the children
08:09In a section that enriches Jesus' vision of children, he tells his disciples that only those who are like children have the capacity to enter into the dynamic of the kingdom of God.
08:26If God is a father, the Christian must be a permanent child, not in naiveté or immaturity, but in unlimited trust in his father.
08:40The rich man
08:41Jesus had been successful in calling his first followers, and they had not been afraid to abandon everything to follow Jesus.
08:54Now a man approaches them who wants much more than he has gotten from his father's inheritance.
09:02He wants to know how he can inherit the life of heaven.
09:05Jesus refers the man to the commandments that God gave to Israel at Sinai, and the man affirms that he has faithfully fulfilled all those commandments since he was young.
09:20But brothers, how can you not love someone like that?
09:24Jesus himself is impressed by the integrity of that man, someone valuable.
09:31But brothers, to follow Jesus, you don't need to have any ties.
09:39Jesus asks him to leave behind whatever might prevent him from giving everything, his riches.
09:47But if a man gives up his riches, he will have treasure in heaven, a change well worth making.
09:56But apparently, for this man, the security of his possessions was better than the promise of better possessions.
10:06A problem affecting all human beings.
10:09We prefer to enjoy the present rather than deserve a better and more promising future.
10:17Dangers of riches
10:19For the Jews, wealth was always a sign of God's favor, for it was the way God showed men that a person was good and faithful.
10:35Wealth was a blessing from God, nothing more and nothing less.
10:40But now, Jesus affirms that those who trust in or have riches cannot enter into the dynamic of the kingdom of God.
10:51Because?
10:52Thank you for being with me!
11:05Thank you!
