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.
 

Along the way to Caesarea Philippi, Jesus quizzes the disciples with two questions: Who do people say I am; the second one is more challenging: Who do you say I am? 
 
After reporting what people are saying, Peter shows to have understood everything and, on behalf of the others, proclaims: “You are the Messiah,” the Christ, the saviour spoken of by the prophets, and that all the people are waiting. It is hard to find a more appropriate response.
 

Today’s gospel story is set in a pagan land and this geographic location, placed deliberately by the Evangelist is to show that it has a definite theological significance.
 

The first part of the gospel today, refers to a heated dispute between Jesus and, some Pharisees and scribes who came from Jerusalem. They reproach him for the fault of his followers who do not respect the distinction between the sacred and the profane: “They were eating their meal with unclean hands” (v.2) and this casual and provocative behaviour they can only have learned from their teacher.
 

Ang tinapay ng buhay
 
Patuloy ang pag usbong ng mga lugar kainan.  Nauuso ngayon ay mga food-park na kung saan ay matatagpuan ang ibat-bang uri ng pagkain lokal at international. Kahit pa nga sabihin na patuloy na tumataas ang mga bilihin, ang pagkain ang huling titipirin ng isang tao.   
 
Para sa atin ang pagkain ay buhay.  Subalit ano nga bang pagkain ang tunay na mahalaga sa atin. Tingnan natin ang sinasabi ng Panginoong Hesus sa  ebanghelyo ngayong Linggo. 
 

The passage proposes two miracles: one, the healing of a sick woman and the other, raising the daughter of Jairus. These miracle stories carry hidden signs. 
 
The evangelist highlight the number twelve. The unnamed woman is impure for twelve years, while the age of Jairus’ daughter is also twelve. Twelve is the symbol of the people of “Israel”, which is a feminine name.