First Reading I Samuel 18:6-9; 19:1-7 Gospel Mark 3:7-12

Two of the characteristics of Mark’s gospel are found in today’s selection. First, crowds are constantly pressing in on Jesus. Second, he tries to keep it quiet when people (or unclean spirits) proclaim him as Messiah. Today, Mark identifies the crowds. They are not only people from Galilee and Judea (Jewish country.) They also come from far to the north of the Holy Land: Tyre and Sidon. They come from far to the south of the Holy Land: Idumea. And they come from the land to the west of the Holy Land: Transjordan. These are all Gentiles or pagan peoples. Mark is telling us that the mission of Jesus was universal. It was for Gentile as well as Jew. It was for all peoples. The “messianic secret” is anther characteristic of Mark. Why did Jesus not want to be proclaimed as Messiah? There are various theories. But perhaps the most obvious is that people had such a wrong idea of Messiah. They thought of Messiah in quasi-political terms: He would destroy the Lord’s enemies (i.e. the Romans) and would set up a theocracy in Jerusalem with himself as king. He would bring about instant perfection, an end to injustice, to suffering, to death. Jesus was not that kind of Messiah, so he refused to let the demons speak.