The first part of the gospel today is about the investigation of Luke in order to compile the gospel, verifying the truth of the stories that people talked about Jesus. The second part is the beginning of Jesus’ public life in his township Galilee, and the narrated episode is the programme of all the activities of Jesus. 
 
It was a Saturday. Like every pious Jew, Jesus goes to the synagogue. 
 

At first glance, this passage seems a simple story of a miracle. In a village in Galilee, a wedding feast is celebrated. There are the guests who gathered to spend a few happy days, but here’s a disappointment: there is no wine and there is not even water because—according to the story—the jars are empty (they will be filled only by order of Jesus). 
 

The gospel narrative of the magi is grown into a lot of pleasant and touching stories, but must be kept accurately distinct from the Gospel story as not to compromise the message that the sacred text wants to communicate. For example, it was not said that there were three, and that they were magi, not kings. They must have belonged to the category of diviners, astrologers, well known and appreciated people in antiquity for their wisdom, ability to interpret dreams, predict the future and read the will of 

In today’s Gospel there are three groups — the people, the tax collectors, the soldiers — who go to the Baptist to have concrete directions. They ask, “What should we do?” 
 
Let’s imagine that one of us, eager to prepare well for Christmas, asks this same question to those we consider “experts” in the field of religion (catechists, pastoral worker, the nun, the priest). What would they tell us? 
 

Many interpret the dramatic expressions described in today’s gospel as information on what will happen at the end of the world. The thought of the end of the world scares many. Jesus does not intend to provoke fear, but to get just the opposite. He wants to free us from fear, inspire joy and infuse hope.  
 

At the dawn of the eve of the Passover, the Jews took Jesus and accused him of being a criminal. The question formulated for the very first interrogation was, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
 
The Jews had a gut-hatred towards the foreign rule of the Romans who had been ruling over Israel for years. There were unsuccessful attempts to overthrow them. 
 

At the beginning of chapter 13, Mark the evangelist recalls the words of the Lord not to be deceived by the foolish discourses of those who preach the imminent end of the world: “Don’t let anyone mislead you. When you hear of wars and threats of war, don’t be troubled: this must occur, but the end is not yet” (Mark 13:5-8). 
 

Today’s Gospel is set in a controversial context. After Jesus drove out the merchants from the holy place (Mark 11:15-18), the angered religious authorities come with tricky questions, to weigh his every word in order to find some pretext to accuse him and to take him out of the way. 
 

Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem. He has warned the disciples of the torture and death that awaits him in Jerusalem. We would expect, from the disciples, an attempt to dissuade him from traveling or a suggestion to stop for a moment.
 

Mark narrates, deliberately and provocatively, two episodes in the same chapter. In the first scene a man comes to Jesus and says that his son has a deaf and mute spirit which his disciples could not cast out. In the second, what is proposed to us in today’s Gospel, Mark introduces an anonymous exorcist, using the name of Jesus, gets, instead, optimum result against the forces of evil.