Alexander Misace
_-_TIMEA.jpg)
This old and riche merchant from beyond the Euphrates, is a descendant of Jews exiled to Babylon. He is the father of twelve children, some with Persian-sounding names: Baldassar, Nabor, Félix and Sidmia ... His faith has gradually become less important, but has not been extinguished.
He hears of the Messiah from a carpet-maker in Ascalon, visited by Jesus.[1] He seeks him out, listens to him preach furtively at the Temple, then finally meets him on a journey undertaken, with his apostles and the women disciples, to Gilead.[2] He trades the protection of his caravan for that of God: "I will protect you and You will protect me. I have a load of great value".
The dialogues with Jesus, the teachings he hears, the miracles he sees, open his heart. At the start of the journey, Jesus had told him of his hope to give him a gift at the end of the journey: this is the don of faith.
"My soul is old. But I shall strive to make it new. Lord, I am an old sinner. But You absolve me and bless me so that from now on I begin a new life. I will carry with me your blessing as the best escort on my way to your Kingdom..."[3]
As Alexander leaves him, he gives him a substantial gift.[4] This will providentially be used, in addition to subsidies for the needy, to send two persecuted people to Antioch: Sintica, slave on the run, and John of Endor, an escaped galley slave.
Following his journey Alexander evangelizes the man from Petra, a merchant like himself, whose children are blind: "Only Jesus of Nazareth could heal them. Look for him."[5]
His name
Alexander, from Greek "defender of men" - History: Reference to Alexander the Great.
The origin of Misace remains unknown at present.
Where is he mentioned in the work?
EMV 218
Historical concordances
Under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC), the religious elite, which included the most prominent religious figures in the world, were forced into exile.C) the religious, political and economic elite of Israel were deported to Babylon, capital of a vast empire.
A few decades later, Emperor Cyrus II, king of the Persians and conqueror of the Babylonians, freed the deported Jews. They were to return to their homeland, now the Persian province of Judea, and rebuild the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem (538 BC).
More than 40,000 deportees took advantage of this offer, but many also remained in Babylon where they had prospered. They formed the first center of the Diaspora. Perfectly integrated, they remained no less attached to their origins. [Hillel, the great rabbi of Israel who met the young Jesus[6], came from this intellectual center.