Friday, February 21, 20146th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Jas 2:14-24,26
Gospel: Mk 8:34—9:1
Jesus called the people and his disciples and said, “If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel, you will save it.“What good is it to gain the whole world but destroy yourself? There is nothing you can give to recover your life. I tell you: If anyone is ashamed of me and of my words among this adulterous and sinful people, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the Glory of his Father with the holy angels.” And he went on to say, “Truly I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life Experience)
The last verse of today’s Gospel is often skipped by preachers not only because the preceding verses on self denial and carrying one’s cross are favorite discipleship topics but also because of the troublesome nature of this verse. Jesus said, “…there are some here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power.” We find this absurd since the disciples have all died and up to now we are still awaiting the coming of the kingdom. What did Jesus really mean?
To understand this troublesome verse we must read it together with the succeeding verses which we will read another day. Mark 9:2-13is about Jesus’ Transfiguration at Mt. Tabor. On that mountain Jesus’ appearance was changed and two great prophets, Moses and Elijah appeared and conversed with him. To the Jews, the coming of the kingdom was to be characterized by the reappearance of Moses and Elijah. When they did Peter thought that it was already the real thing. He even volunteered to construct three tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.
According to the Jerome Biblical Commentary the Transfiguration event at Mt. Tabor was a preview to the coming of God’s kingdom in glory and the three disciples, Peter, James and John, lived to see this event. Jesus must have this scenario in his mind when he said “Truly I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power.” Here he was referring to the disciples who lived to see at Mt. Tabor the preview of the coming of that kingdom.
We too can have a preview of the coming of the kingdom of God in glory, not at a high mountain like Mt. Tabor but down here as we stand firmly on the ground living in faith, hope and charity. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.
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