Why did Jesus say, "Go and tell no one" ?

~Anastasia~ · Jul 29, 2014

Mark 7:36

And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. (After opening the ears of a deaf man)

Matt 8:4

And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (After healing a leper)

Luke 8:56

Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened. (After raising a little girl from the dead)

Why did Jesus often tell people after He performed a miracle not to tell anyone about it?

Are there implications for the Church today?

ChristsSoldier115 · Jul 29, 2014

Think any modern day preachers or pastors of today would keep quiet if they could raise the dead or heal the sick? hmmm. It is a true testament of His humility for me.

OneAccordRM · Jul 29, 2014

Kylissa said:
Mark 7:36

And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. (After opening the ears of a deaf man)

Matt 8:4

And Jesus *said to him, See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. (After healing a leper)

Luke 8:56

Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened. (After raising a little girl from the dead)

Why did Jesus often tell people after He performed a miracle not to tell anyone about it?

Are there implications for the Church today?

Jesus was just practicing what he preached.

Mat 6:3 "But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

Mat 6:4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Its not like he didnt know they were going to tell however, I mean, Jesus is God, so he pretty much knew it wouldnt be kept secret.

Steeno7 · Jul 29, 2014

Kylissa said:
Mark 7:36

And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. (After opening the ears of a deaf man)

Matt 8:4

And Jesus *said to him, See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. (After healing a leper)

Luke 8:56

Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened. (After raising a little girl from the dead)

Why did Jesus often tell people after He performed a miracle not to tell anyone about it?

Are there implications for the Church today?

My first thought was because it was not His time. Not yet time for Him to be fully revealed.

The Reformation Study Bible concludes basically the same thing.....That beginning with Mark 1:34 is what has been called the messianic secret (v. 43; 3:12; 4:10, 11; 5:19; 8:30; 9:9). The revelation of Jesus as the Messiah had to begin discreetly and proceed by stages so that the plan of God for the death of His Servant would not be jeopardized by any excesses of popular enthusiasm.

~Anastasia~ · Jul 29, 2014

Steeno7 said:
My first thought was because it was not His time. Not yet time for Him to be fully revealed.

The Reformation Study Bible concludes basically the same thing.....That beginning with Mark 1:34 is what has been called the messianic secret (v. 43; 3:12; 4:10, 11; 5:19; 8:30; 9:9). The revelation of Jesus as the Messiah had to begin discreetly and proceed by stages so that the plan of God for the death of His Servant would not be jeopardized by any excesses of popular enthusiasm.

That thought had crossed my mind too. I have not studied it out. I'm not sure if we can know the chronology in the Gospels perfectly - I am also not sure if my source was accurate, but I was told long ago that Jewish thinking and literature of the day would present things sometimes in order of importance rather than chronological order, and that we can misunderstand if we make the assumption it is a flowing narrative.

If it is possible to find out the order, that would be testable. There are other instances where he said that they should tell others.

I'm not positive about this, but it's an interesting thought.

~Anastasia~ · Jul 29, 2014

OneAccordRM said:
Jesus was just practicing what he preached.

Mat 6:3 "But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

Mat 6:4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Its not like he didnt know they were going to tell however, I mean, Jesus is God, so he pretty much knew it wouldnt be kept secret.

My other thought was - how hard must it be to keep something like that silent? If you were healed, or your child brought back from the dead, could you keep it a secret?

I'm not too sure I could.

~Anastasia~ · Jul 29, 2014

ChristsSoldier115 said:
Think any modern day preachers or pastors of today would keep quiet if they could raise the dead or heal the sick? hmmm. It is a true testament of His humility for me.

Humility being a good point.

It's true that we can see a very opposite attitude connected with claims of healing.

I sometimes wonder if those we might not hear about might be more in line with Christ's own work.

Not wishing to step on any toes, sorry everyone. I can see these comments can affect different sets of beliefs in bothersome ways.

My apologies.

graceandpeace · Jul 29, 2014

I don't know.

I know that in Matthew's (& I think Mark's) Gospels Jesus instructs the healed to go to the temple priest & make an offering. I also know in other verses there is a narrative point of it "not being time" for Jesus to fulfill or do certain things.

Perhaps the Gospel authors were trying to distinguish Jesus from other "messiahs" of the time period or pagan "gods" & their deeds?

Standing Up · Jul 29, 2014

Kylissa said:
Mark 7:36

And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. (After opening the ears of a deaf man)

Matt 8:4

And Jesus *said to him, See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. (After healing a leper)

Luke 8:56

Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened. (After raising a little girl from the dead)

Why did Jesus often tell people after He performed a miracle not to tell anyone about it?

Are there implications for the Church today?

Who are the people of your example? Jew, Gentile, Samaritan, or a mixture of us all?

~Anastasia~ · Jul 29, 2014

graceandpeace said:
I don't know.

I know that in Matthew's (& I think Mark's) Gospels Jesus instructs the healed to go to the temple priest & make an offering. I also know in other verses there is a narrative point of it "not being time" for Jesus to fulfill or do certain things.

Perhaps the Gospel authors were trying to distinguish Jesus from other "messiahs" of the time period or pagan "gods" & their deeds?

Not sure ...

Do you think having people not tell about what Jesus had done would distinguish him from pagan gods? I'm not very conversant of pagan deities of that time.

~Anastasia~ · Jul 29, 2014

Standing Up said:
Who are the people of your example? Jew, Gentile, Samaritan, or a mixture of us all?

Hmmm ....

Well I just chose the first three examples I found that were distinct (so as not to be pulling a synoptic account). I'm not sure how encompassing they are.

And in many cases, I can't answer your question.

The deaf man in Mark 7 was "a man" brought to him in a crowd near Decapolis. We can guess it was a gentile? But I'd only be guessing.

The leper in Matt 8 was simply "a leper" who approached Jesus after he preached The Beatitudes. Since Jesus told him to show himself to the priest and make the offering according to Moses, I think surely he must have been a Jew.

The child in Luke 8 was the daughter of a synagogue official, so I'm thinking they must have been Jewish.

But before I gave you a definitive answer, I'd have to look at all of the instances Jesus said this. And I'm not sure we can know which were Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans. It does appear that it might have been some mixture?

prodromos · Jul 29, 2014

I suspect that it was more to allow Him more time to preach the coming of the kingdom. As more and more people brought their sick to be healed, the less time Jesus had to preach, and as His time was limited (basically 3 years), His priority was to address their spiritual health rather than their physical.

OneAccordRM · Jul 29, 2014

Jesus Christ is God.

The question is why did he tell him not to say anything when he knew he was going to anyways.

Strong in Him · Jul 29, 2014

Kylissa said:
Mark 7:36

And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. (After opening the ears of a deaf man)

Matt 8:4

And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (After healing a leper)

Luke 8:56

Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened. (After raising a little girl from the dead)

Why did Jesus often tell people after He performed a miracle not to tell anyone about it?

Probably because people, at that time were awaiting their Messiah - but they had definite ideas what the Messiah would do, say and be like. They were expecting, it seems, a military figure a warrior/king who would lead them into battle against the Romans, defeat them and bring in God's kingdom.

If certain people had gone around saying, "the Messiah is here, the Messiah is Jesus", then the leaders may have tried to form an army, rally troops, crown him king and force him to declare war on the Romans. Jesus wasn't going to be that kind of Messiah - that's what the temptation in the wilderness was about. He would win freedom for his people, and the world, but freedom from sin, hell and eternal death. Jesus would achieve this through suffering and death, not military glory, but had lots of people to teach and heal first. The Jews didn't believe their Messiah would die.

JennaBerthoud · Nov 27, 2018

ChristsSoldier115 said:
Think any modern day preachers or pastors of today would keep quiet if they could raise the dead or heal the sick? hmmm. It is a true testament of His humility for me.

How hard it would be for me to not tell if he raised my daughter from the dead....

Matthew 12:17 answers why.
To fulfill prophecy of Isaiah

JennaBerthoud · Nov 27, 2018

~Anastasia~ said:
Mark 7:36

And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. (After opening the ears of a deaf man)

Matt 8:4

And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (After healing a leper)

Luke 8:56

Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened. (After raising a little girl from the dead)

Why did Jesus often tell people after He performed a miracle not to tell anyone about it?

Are there implications for the Church today?

I’m so intrigued by this as well. I worked through a study book that was enjoyable on the topic. Go, & tell no one by Kristin Hill.

But today in my reading of Matthew 12
He says
Vs. 15-21
Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. In many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. And then quote Isaiah vs. 18-21

Ancient of Days · Nov 27, 2018

~Anastasia~ said:
Mark 7:36

And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. (After opening the ears of a deaf man)

Matt 8:4

And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (After healing a leper)

Luke 8:56

Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened. (After raising a little girl from the dead)

Why did Jesus often tell people after He performed a miracle not to tell anyone about it?

Are there implications for the Church today?

Because he wants people to believe in him for who he is.
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

~Anastasia~ · Nov 27, 2018

JennaBerthoud said:
I’m so intrigued by this as well. I worked through a study book that was enjoyable on the topic. Go, & tell no one by Kristin Hill.

But today in my reading of Matthew 12
He says
Vs. 15-21
Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. In many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. And then quote Isaiah vs. 18-21

Ancient of Days said:
Because he wants people to believe in him for who he is.
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Boy this is an old thread lol.

Without going back over all that was said I'd agree that there was more than one reason. I still think Jesus tended to admonish "don't tell" early on in order to keep the timing of things as they should be, in order to accomplish His ministry. But certainly many things were done as they were in fulfillment of prophecy. And it's funny - I've been reflecting especially over the past couple of days about the blessedness of believing without needing miracles, or "to see".

Why did Jesus say, "Go and tell no one" ?

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