You are the Son of God

THURDAY 23 JANUARY (Mk 3,7-12)

Out of hatred, the unclean spirits reveal that Jesus is the Son of God, his Messiah. They want his ruin. The children of Israel are not waiting for a Crucified Messiah. For them the Christ of God is a new David that breaks down all the Goliaths in the world and frees their land from every foreign invasion. Not only is this Messiah according to the truth of God, but neither would he have had long life on earth. For Rome there was only one king and one emperor. All the others had to be eliminated or reduced to subjection. The Messiah of prophecy has a very special universal mission: “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, Until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching. Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spreads out the earth with its crops, Who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness” (Is 42,1-7). The true Messiah is the bearer of light, true hope and authentic liberation.

But the Messiah of prophecies is surrounded by an unspeakable suffering: “The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue, That I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; And I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. He is near who upholds my right; if anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together. Who disputes my right? Let him confront me. See, the Lord God is my help; who will prove me wrong?” (Is 50,4-9). As St. Paull reveals it to the Corinthians we know that a crucifies Messiah is scandal and foolishness. “For since in the wisdom of God the world did not come to know God through wisdom, it was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith. For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1Cor 1,21-25). These are but two of the very many prophecies about the Messiah that we find in the Law, in the Prophets and in the Psalms. Great suffering is the essence of the mission of the Christ of God. It is all described and prophesied in the smallest details.

Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people (followed) from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighbourhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.

Jesus does not want his identity to be revealed and imposes severely impure spirits not to reveal it. Today, the path of faith does not pass through revelation, but through history. Everything written for him in the Word of God must be fulfilled first and then his truth and identity can be preached without any reservation. Jesus is in the Holy Spirit and knows that today there is no other way than that of history. Whoever is in the Spirit of God will always know through what way the truth must be reached. Whoever is not in the Holy Spirit will always walk according to wrong ways and cause serious damage.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints ensure that we never go through ways of error and lies.