Who is Jesus? In the 21st century, this question continues to trouble many souls. The same question was asked by the Jews 2,000 years ago ...

No one in antiquity has been biographed as much as Jesus Christ. Nobody like Him! Moreover, we don’t know of anyone else whose arrival in the world has been prophesied, announced and prepared many centuries before. This "unique man", in whom the Old Testament ends, is none other than Jesus of Nazareth.

Christians, enlightened by the unity of the Old and New Testaments, enjoy an immense and complete vision of Jesus: that’s a privilege!

“Today’s Gospel for the family” is explaining it to you in detail, calmly, with brief explanations and clear scenes...

• Who is Jesus? [Controversy in Jerusalem shortly before the Passion].

Jesus incarnated various titles / figures announced from the Old Testament:

• The "Son of man": this is an "enigmatic" figure that appears in the prophecy of Daniel, referring to someone who - in the form of a man - descends from heaven to bring peace to the earth ... Nobody knew who would embody this figure; nobody had applied this title ... [From the beginning of his preaching, Christ spontaneously assumed this title].

• The "bronze serpent lifted up" by Moses in the desert: those who looked at it were cured of poisonous stings [Looking at "Jesus on high" on the Cross we have salvation].

• The "new Jonah" ["Jesus buried" fully embodied the prophet Jonah who disappeared from the surface for three days].

• The "Suffering Servant" of Yahweh: Isaiah (especially in chapter 53) (600 BC) describes in detail the pains that the Messiah would suffer: historically, all these sufferings have fallen only in Jesus Christ [Jesus clearly announced his Passion, Death and Resurrection several times].

• "Son of David"; "King": this is one of the most popular messianic titles. God announced to King David that the Anointed One would raise up from his offspring and would reign forever [Entering Jerusalem, Jesus is acclaimed King recognizing him as Son of David].

• The "new Moses" (a "Prophet like Me"): Moses was the greatest of the prophets, for he had seen God (although only his "backs") and spoke with him as a "friend". Jesus, the "new Moses" is the one who stands before the face of God like a Son before his Father [The Transfiguration: Christ is at the center of the image; Moses and Elijah appear at His side]; [Christ-Prophet-Teacher teaches with an authority never heard before].

• God’s Vinyeard: the vineyard (Israel) mistreated (by the farmers) was a recurrent theme in the Old Testament, especially in Is 5. [Jesus is the son of the vineyard's owner: the tenants will throw him out and kill him]

• "The living Bread descended from heaven": during the years in the desert, God fed the chosen People with the "manna". That miraculous food is now surpassed by Jesus-Eucharist (the "new manna"). [The Son of God has descended from heaven becoming "living Bread" fragile to be divided and distributed as food for the new People of God].

Towards the end of his ministry, after a patient pedagogical work, Jesus Christ revealed his deepest identity: "I Am"; "Son of the Father"...

• "I Am": this is the proper name of God, revealed to Moses in the desert (Ex 3,14) [Jesus is "I Am" because he is eternal, before Abraham]; [On the Cross Jesus will reveal himself as the "I Am"].

• "The son of God"; "Son of the Father", that is, God himself: [Jesus declares: "I have come in my Father's name"]; [Jesus applies to himself the proper name of God. Nobody had done it before]; [On the Cross, the Son tells the Father that "Everything is fulfilled"].

Antoni Carol i Hostench, pbro.

(Coordinador General de evangeli.net)