Week 5 of Ordinary Time, Monday – 10th February — Gospel: Mark 6,53-56
Jesus’ Kingdom economy
The healings that Jesus performs after the second sea crossing in today’s gospel points to how the Kingdom of God turns over the economy of this world. As soon as Jesus and his disciples land on the shore of Gennesaret, the people recognized him and rushed about that whole region bringing the sick to wherever Jesus was. It is narrated that they laid them in the market places and all who touched the fringe of Jesus’ cloak were healed. The market place refers to a public space in which legal hearings, elections, and debates took place, in addition to the buying and selling of goods. Thus the market place was the political and commercial center of a city or town. By healing the sick, the weakest and most vulnerable members of the community, in this space, Jesus is subverting the economy of this world through the very inauguration of God’s kingdom economy. While the market places of the world belong to the rich and powerful, in the kingdom of God this most political and commercial of spaces is occupied by those with the least. Indeed, Jesus subverts the world power and wealth for God’s kingdom here and now.
