The Messianic Secret

The Messianic Secret

MK 8: 27-30

Mk 1:21-28

○ These versus show that in Mark's Gospel, the disciples are more reluctant to accept the identity of Jesus similarly to Jesus' worry of revealing himself to many people. The fact that Mark's Gospel is written for the Gentile Christians that were facing persecution helps explain the reason for the lack of immediate acceptance. To those being persecuted it was more difficult to accept that some man that had randomly shown up in their life was the messiah that they were dying for even though he was performing amazing miracles. In Jesus' defense he was probably afraid of too many people finding out that he was the Messiah because it would have caused turmoil around the time of the Gentile Christian persecutions.

Side Note

only the demons recognized who Jesus truly was

On the Sabbath in Capernum, a possessed man cried out to Jesus saying he knew he was the “Holy One of God.” Jesus tells him to be quiet and to come out of the man, and the demon listens to him and comes out. The people who were amazed question him and news about Jesus spread.

Jesus told the demon to be quiet because he didn’t want people to know about his identity yet. He didn’t want people to think that he was this King sent by God who could banish demons and owned a glittering throne. He wanted to preserve his image as a Suffering Servant and who served his people.

Mark 1: 40-45

In summary, Jesus selflessly healed a man with leprosy (discoloration and lumps on the skin). The only thing Jesus asked in return for his good deed was that his healing powers were kept secret. However, this now cleansed man disobeyed Jesus by telling everybody. As a result, Jesus went into hiding to avoid the townspeople. Despite his efforts, people continued to go to him for his healing powers.

Why did he want his identity concealed?

-I believe that Jesus was a modest and humble person that did not want the attention of his people. It would have been considered very selfish if he had taken credit and praise for his healing powers.

• Philippians 2: 3-11

Chelsea, Nicole, Niyatha, Jasmine, Kendall

Mk 3: 7-12

This passage/evidence supports the portrayal since in this passage Jesus does not want the impure spirits to tell others about him and that he is the son of god because he doesn’t want people to exploit his identity. With great power comes great responsibility: therefore Jesus had a responsibility of preaching and preforming miracles in a peaceful way but the more people who knew about this the more people would try to harm his words and the last thing Jesus wanted was conflict and a spectacle. A modern day example is famous people who hardly get any privacy and are often criticized because of their wealth/success. Therefore Jesus wants to keep himself a secret to only those who truly need and believe in him.

Mk 9: 38-41

Jesus tells John that they shouldn’t stop people from trying to help others in his name even if they don’t believe that Jesus is the son of God. Jesus wants his identity to remain a secret so that people still do things in his name by helping others even if it is not Jesus who they are following but God. Jesus doesn’t want people to stop doing good deeds just because they don’t believe in who Jesus is, as long as they are doing good.