Keep the Secret: Why did Jesus want no one to say he was the Son of God: Spend 5 with Jesus: January 19, 2023
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Keep the Secret: Why did Jesus want no one to say he was the Son of God
He warned them sternly not to make him known.
One of the more interesting things in the gospel is the fact that Jesus often does not want people to tell anyone he is the Messiah or the Son of God. Jesus wants to keep the secret about his being the Messiah, so that he might invite people into a deeper relationship. At first glance, this can seem a little odd, since so much of the New Testament after the gospels is about how it was that people shared Jesus was the Son of God.
And yet, upon further inspection, there are reasons that can be gleaned from what we know. First, and probably most important, is that when reading through the gospels the importance of the experience and relationship with Jesus is emphasized. Over and over again Jesus tells the recipients of miracles that their faith saved them.
Second, if Jesus identified himself as the Messiah, it might have made it harder for people to develop faith in Him. This is because the expectation was that the Messiah was to be a military ruler.
Should people think that Jesus was the military Messiah, they might be short-changed in being able to grow in faith. Rather than having open hearts to grow in faith, it may be the case they were disappointed in Jesus. They may not have been ready to view his spiritual authority, because they were blinded by their own expectations.
These two areas together have big implications for our faith. Are we open to and ready for an encounter with Jesus? Do we allow our pre-conceived notions of Jesus stand in the way of encountering fully the real presence of Jesus in our lives? It is quite important to appropriately balance our knowledge of the faith, knowledge about Jesus, with the important knowledge of Jesus Himself.
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