Jesus in Context: A New Series

One of the great legacies left by Pope John Paul II is his great effort to bridge the historical and theological gap between the Catholic Church and Judaism. On March 12, 1979, John Paul exclaimed that “Christians must…strive to learn by what essential traits the Jews define themselves in the light of their own religious experience.” Likewise, in an address to the Delegates of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations on June 9, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI announced his intention to “continue on this path” set forth by John Paul, and this in light of the “spiritual patrimony” shared by Christians and Jews.Read More...

Jesus In Context: Controlling Familiarity and God’s Holy Man

The gospel readings for the 13th, 14th, and 15th Sundays in ordinary time (Mk 5:21-43; 6:1-6, 7-13) offer us a reasonably sustained narrative portion of Mark’s gospel important for developing the identity of the text’s main character Jesus. Recalling Jesus’ extraordinary experience of his own baptism by John and temptation in the wilderness by Satan (1:9-13), two scenes that establish Jesus as God’s Holy Man, Read More...

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