The Messianic Secret - Jewish vs Gentile Territories

Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus performing various signs to indicate His divine origin and mission.  Yet, confusingly, Jesus often instructed the recipients of these signs to keep their mouths shut about it.

This is called "The Messianic Secret" and it's one of the odder features of Jesus' preaching.  That's what we'll be exploring today.

SHHHHhhhhhh....

Let's start with some examples of the Secret so you can see what I mean.

Here's two times Jesus told people to keep quiet about miraculous healings:

"When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him;  and behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.'  And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, 'I will; be clean.' And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, 'See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.'” - Matthew 8:1-4

and...

"And when he came to the house, he permitted no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. And all were weeping and bewailing her; but he said, “Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.” They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.

But taking her by the hand he called, saying, 'Child, arise.' And her spirit returned, and she got up at once; and he directed that something should be given her to eat. And her parents were amazed; but he charged them to tell no one what had happened."  - Luke 8:51-56

You can find another example right after Peter correctly identified Jesus as the divine Messiah:

"And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ."  - Matthew 16:13-20 

Why the Secrecy?

So... why is Jesus doing this?

Two reasons. 

Quality of Life:

First, we read in the Gospels that Jesus' fame quickly got in the way of ordinary human existence.  For instance: 

"As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere." - Mark 1:45

"Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat." - Mark 3:20

Remember, while Jesus was fully divine... He was fully human.  He got tired and hungry like anyone else.  So maintaining a lower profile could be viewed as an attempt to maintain some quality of life.


Wrong Kind of King:

The other reason has to do with the mistaken impressions among the Jews about what the Messiah was going to do.  They thought the Messiah was going to restore the earthly throne of David, conquer Israel's geopolitical enemies, and start an age of prosperity. 

It honestly isn't difficult to see why.  What would you conclude if you were given this prophecy?

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior's sword. 

Then the Lord will appear over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning; the Lord God will sound the trumpet and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south. The Lord of hosts will protect them, and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones, and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine, and be full like a bowl, drenched like the corners of the altar. On that day the Lord their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women." - Zechariah 9:9-17

But Jesus had no intention of being that sort of Messiah.  We actually read about Jesus having to run away from folks attempting to crown Him king:

"Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself." - John 6:15

So a second reason for the secrecy is so Jesus could accomplish His mission on His own terms.  The task set before Him wouldn't be accomplished if His people were able to put a crown on His head.

You know... before the Romans could give Him this one...

Why the... Not Secrecy?

With all that said, you may notice the exact opposite thing happening when Jesus did miracles in Gentile (non-Jewish) territories. 

Consider the exorcism of the Gadarene demoniac:

"As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And He did not permit him but said to him, 'Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.' And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled." - Mark 5:18-20

And this episode from Samaria: 

"So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 'Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?' They went out of the town and were coming to him. [] 

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, 'He told me all that I ever did.' So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 

And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, 'It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.'” - John 4:28-42

Whereas widespread belief in Jesus among the Jews would have actually disrupted His saving mission, knowledge among the Gentile did the opposite.  Jesus knew that eventually the Gospel was going to be preached among the nations.  So when He traveled in those areas, He planted seeds of belief which would one day germinate when the Apostles were driven out from Jerusalem.