Jesus in Solidarity with His People: a Theologian Looks at Mark

Many men and women have already made the prayerful discovery that the experience of solidarity with one another and the search for God are mysteriously linked. Reiser states that the word solidarity" provides a contemporary key to understanding Mark's message about Jesus' life and mission.

The Bible repeatedly demonstrates that the story of God entails the story of God's people, especially the poor and defenseless ones among them; and the history of God's people becomes the story of Israel's God. One cannot adequately understand the interior life of Jesus without taking into account the life of the people of God in its social, cultural, political, and religious dimensions. Jesus lived and died in solidarity with his people: He died for them because he had lived for them.

In Jesus in Solidarity with His People Reiser examines important questions that Mark raises, questions that bear heavily on adult Christian spirituality. He demonstrates that what is of importance in reading and understanding Mark's Gospel is not our mindfulness of how much God loves the people but our knowledge of how deeply we love the people of God. It is our love for the world that is required to bring this gospel, this good news of Christ risen, this Easter story, to life.

Chapters are "The Theological Matters," "A Believer from the Beginning," "Of Calling and Following," "The Authority to Forgive," "What God Ordains," "A Kingdom of Throwaways," "Paying the Emperor's Tax," "A World of Parables," "Does Mark Encourage a Cult of Suffering?" "In the Company of Prophets," "Can God Be Trusted?" "What Sort of God Would Raise the Dead?" and "The Futility of Secrets."

William Reiser, SJ, PhD, is professor of theology at Holy Cross College.

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