In "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," how does Marquez utilize symbolism and magical realism to challenge religious beliefs?

In Gabriel
Garcia Marquez' "," the story seems to be a parallel to the story of Christ.
Symbolically, Father Gonzaga represents the high priests that do not believe that Jesus is the
Messiah. They tested Jesus often to prove that he was anything but the
promised deliverer for which the Jews had waited so long. We see Gonzaga's suspicions when the
priest tries to speak to the old man with the wingsdeciding eventually that because the old man
didn't look like an angel, he could certainly not be
one.

Alien to the impertinences of the world, he only
lifted his antiquarian eyes and murmured something in hiswhen Father Gonzaga went into the
chicken coop and said good morning to him in Latin. The parish priest had his first suspicion of
an impostor when he saw that he did not understand the language of God or know how to greet His
ministers. Then he noticed that seen up close he was much too human...

This is very similar to the story of Christ.
He did not act the way the Pharisees and priests of the Sanhedrin expected
of him; when they asked questions, he answered with questions of his own. He did not condone the
actions of the wealthy priests, and he consorted with tax collectors and harlots. Because he did
not act as they expected he should, the religious leaders of the time
rejected Jesus.

This kind of rejection is also seen in the old woman who
comes to see the old man. She believes he is an angel, but shows him no
deference or respect. The townspeople do the same

...when
they went out into the courtyard with the first light of dawn, they found the whole neighborhood
in front of the chicken coop having fun with the angel, without the slightest reverence, tossing
him things to eat through the openings in the wire as if he weren't a supernatural creature but
a circus animal.

The people symbolize those who rejected
Christ and demanded that he be put to death.

Magic ...

...incorporates magical or supernatural events into realistic
narrative without questioning the improbability of these events...

It seems that the townspeople already believe that a woman in the circus was
changed into a tarantula for failing to obey her parents. The priest warns the people
that...

...the devil had the bad habit of making use of
carnival tricks in order to confuse the unwary.

The
people want to believe in the supernatural and the magical; sick people come to see the
"angel-man," with hopes of healing. Even so, the old man does nothing to validate
their beliefs in him.

His only supernatural virtue seemed
to be patience.

The people torture him, like Christ was
tortured with the crown of thorns and the whipping. They burn his side thinking that he is dead.
He is rousedwith tears in his eyesand he flaps his wings. If he is indeed an angel, no one
treats him as such.

Perhaps the challenge of religion here is the same
challenge Christ faced with the people of his time. This story may not be so much
about a challenge to religion, but may reflect
the challenge of the world against things related to religion: people find it easier
to believe in the magical rather than the divine. Things supernatural and/or magical (like the
"spider woman") are taken more seriously than the angel. And as a piece of magical
realism, the supernatural presence of the "spider" woman is accepted, without real
concerns with regard to how she can even exist.

The problem is
not religion, but the people's lack of faith.