Misericordia dalle periferie e giubileo dal centro. La fecondità reciproca tra Vision e strutture in alcuni testi del Nuovo Testamento

In any complex society, there is a mutual interrelationship between the periphery and the center. This interrelationship can be applied also to the relationship between the biblical concepts of “mercy” and “jubilee.” In the New Testament, the interaction between the peripheries and the center is constituted as an exchange between vision and structure, respectively. Vision is the perspective on how existence might be otherwise; it is the opening of new existential possibilities. Structure is the organization of procedures by the center in order to avoid instability and permeability, and to make the vision accessible, experienceable and repeatable. The relationship between mercy and jubilee in the New Testament, can fall into the relationship between vision and structure, periphery and center. Mercy corresponds to vision, and the jubilee to the structure. In order to explain this point, I have chosen two couple of texts: the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30) and the second multiplication of the loaves (Mark 8:1-10); and the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) and the interpretation of the law given by Jesus (Matthew 5:17-20). Keywords: periphery, center, vision, structure, mercy, jubilee.