Jesus gathers with his apostles to teach them. With his imminent death, the preparation of his disciples became a matter of urgency,

 

Jesus gathers with his apostles to teach them. With his imminent death, the preparation of his disciples became a matter of urgency, since they still continued to think of a messiah according to the world's mentality. The mentality of Israel and of the self-interested, individualistic and, in a certain way, inhuman world was still strong in them. On the other hand, Jesus also wanted to root the New and Eternal Covenant in them.

2. According to the text above, the Master's first teaching is precisely about HIS situation as God's Messiah. First of all, with the second announcement of the Passion, He makes a point of highlighting that He will suffer death, but that He will be resurrected on the third day. He is aware that He is going to die, that His life must be given as a ransom, as salvation, as a response to God's eternal love. The disciples need to understand the lesson of love as self-giving. The Messiah will not be one of political power, glorious for his victories against his enemies in endless battles, humans eliminating humans, brothers fighting against brothers, in order to profit or even with good intentions to maintain peace. This messianic type maintains the inhuman logic of power. 3. The second teaching of the text is about how each disciple should be. None of them understood why Jesus said he would die and three days later be resurrected. The text itself seeks to answer this question: "...on the way they argued about who was the greatest." It is clear that they saw in Jesus a real possibility of destroying Rome's action in Israel and that he would assume power; they really thought of a messiah who, even though he came from God, would act with the same logic as the world, which was also their way of thinking. Jesus absolutely wants to destroy this mentality, throwing it to the ground, because it is totally inhuman. This is not the kind of messiah that God wants, this is not how God prepared his people. The true Messiah is the one who allows man to reach his highest degree of humanity, becoming a son of God, participating in HIS divinity. The Messiah of power animalizes man; the true Messiah leads him to his deepest humanity. The Messiah does not want the power of domination, but the power to make his life a gift of liberation for others, serving them with total love. 4. The disciples are given the example of a child, a sign of someone who has no rights or prestige whatsoever. This is how the Messiah lived: he was rejected by society, religion and family; no one gave him prestige, no rights were imposed on him, only persecution, slander and defamation. He wanted only good, but the world imputed to him the figure of a social evil. His example, symbolized by a child, should serve as a guide for those who truly want to become his disciple. Disciples should not dream the dream of the world, which despises them, but exclusively the dream of God, serving even their enemies in their needs, making themselves a true place of encounter between God and those who seek Him, since each one is a sanctuary of the Most High. A strong and affectionate hug.