Keeping Mark’s Messianic Secret
Keeping Mark’s Messianic Secret
One of the things that seems strange about the way Jesus does ministry in the Gospel of Mark is the fact that he never draws attention to his work. Just after healing someone and giving the blind man the best day of his life, (Mark 8:22-26) Jesus sends the man home and tells him not to say anything to anyone. This is seemingly quite contrary to the call in Matthew to go and make disciples of all nations and to let other people know about the coming of the kingdom of God.
It seems like the best thing for anyone who experiences God’s love to do, would be to immediately shout it from the housetops. Scholars think that Mark’s Jesus had his reason for keeping things a secret for a while. The timing was not yet right for his Messiah status to be revealed. He still had more work to do.
On my best days, I would like to think that I am the kind of person who would always broadcast Jesus’ forgiveness and healing. When I am honest with myself, however, I must admit that I would be happy to have Jesus tell me to keep my mouth shut. It is much easier to be quiet about my faith than it is to risk the repercussions of living a life of public discipleship.
Dear God, please give me the guidance to be able to do the work of your kingdom, whether anyone is paying attention or not, or whether anyone will hear what I have done. Amen.
