"DON'T TELL ANYONE"

The Question Series

 

Many of us have spoken these words, “Don’t tell anyone, but…” A secret is being shared and you are among the privileged to hear it. But what goes through your mind as you hear the warning “Don’t tell anyone”? If it’s juicy, you think, “Who can I tell?” You promise not to tell anyone, but there is the unspoken rule that I will tell my spouse, because you cannot keep a secret from your husband or wife. Or maybe you have this confidentiality agreement with your best friend. The point is, when someone tells you a secret prefaced with “Don’t tell anyone, but…” that secret is going to be shared. I am not sure there is such a thing as a secret. 

            Our question today is based on this premise. Someone asked: When Jesus heals, why does he tell them not to tell anyone? If you perform an online search, you will find several posts on this question. I will save you the time and share what I have gleaned from my studies. 

            It happens more than once. Jesus heals a person and then tells the person not to tell anyone. It seems counterintuitive to the ministry. Why would Jesus want to keep these miracles quiet? Years ago, I speculated that he was using reverse psychology. Jesus would tell the person not to share his healing with a wink, and then they would go and do the naturally opposite action – go tell. 

            Jesus also tells demons and disciples alike not to reveal his identity to the masses. This is what is called the “messianic secret” and it has been debated for 150 years. Why would Jesus not want people to know he is the Messiah? Why would he say “don’t tell” back then when we are expected to “tell” now? 

            I think the question boils down to a much more critical question for us today: What are we telling people about Jesus in our witness? 

 

1. What was Jesus trying to keep secret? 

 

The tail end of our text in Mark features a narrative of Jesus healing a leper (1:40-46). A leper boldly comes to Jesus and is confident that Jesus can heal him. The only question is, is Jesus willing? Two things stand out in the confrontation: Lepers are not supposed to approach people like this, and Jesus heals the leper by touching him (risks infection or being labeled “unclean”). The man is both healed and touched so that he is cleansed physically and in the heart. This is a dramatic moment for the former leper. Then Jesus sobers the moment by telling the man not to tell anyone. 

            Before we point out the obvious, consider the bigger picture. If we think that Jesus is hiding his identity from people by saying “Don’t tell,” we would be wrong. His command to silence is part of the broader pattern of revealing and concealing who he is. 

Jesus is not secretive as we may think. At his baptism, the Spirit descends on him like a dove and a voice is heard from heaven, “You are my beloved Son,” (1:9-11). Then Jesus preaches the kingdom in Galilee (1:14-15) and conducts several healings in public (1:34; 2:1-12). He calms a storm while several boats are caught up in the tempest (4:35ff) and feeds 5000 people (6:30ff). Jesus even encourages a man freed from a legion of demons to go and tell his village all the great things God has done for him (5:19-20). 

These instances make the command to silence harder to figure out. There are three different audiences Jesus commands not to speak of him: demons, the healed, and the disciples. Each of these audiences reveal a need for caution in who speaks, why we speak, and what we speak, as well as the results (potentially) of what was said. 

            What was Jesus trying to keep secret?

 

 2. Silencing the Demons

 

At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. While he was teaching with amazing ability, a man with an unclean spirit (demon) cries out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God,” (1:24). Jesus immediately responds, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 

            We read a little further on that Jesus was casting out many demons along with performing healings of various kinds. Mark adds the note, “And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him,” (1:34b). This curious emphasis is made again in Mark 3:12, that the demons knew him and wanted to reveal him.

            Of the three audiences we are looking at it seems that the demons were the only ones who really knew who Jesus was. They knew that he was the Holy One of God - more than a man, more than a teacher – Jesus was divine. The demons seem terrified, and they should be. But there is something unexplained in their actions; it seems like the demons were trying to “out” Jesus, to not just reveal him but to expose him. And by exposing him, perhaps they were trying to sabotage Jesus’ plan. 

            At this stage of the mission, Jesus did not want people to know his identity as the Christ. Jesus wanted them to reconnect with God through his teachings and to see God in him without being told by him or these obnoxious spirits. Can you imagine Jesus being endorsed by evil spirits as the Christ? That is not good marketing. That would be like China endorsing a candidate for president of the United States. 

 

3. Commanding the Healed Not to Tell

 

We can understand why Jesus would silence the demons, but why did he silence the poor folks who had been released from pain, suffering, and crippling conditions? Would they not be a testimony of the power of Jesus? Would people not flock to Jesus all the more? 

            Jesus commands secrecy four times in Mark. He said to the Leper, “Don’t tell anyone about this,” (1:44). When he raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, Jesus “…strictly charged them that no one should know this…” (5:43). Later, Jesus heals a deaf man who could not speak, and we read, “And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it,” (7:36). Then he heals a blind man and tells him, “Do not even enter the village,” (8:26); in other words, avoid any witnesses.

            Two reasons become clear as we look closer at the first incident: one practical and one theological. First, when news begins to spread about Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons, everyone wants to either be healed or to see a miracle. This causes a congestion of people so thick that Jesus can barely move (see 1:32-33). After telling the leper not to tell anyone, the leper went out and talked to everyone about this miracle spreading the news everywhere “so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town but was out in desolate places…” (1:45b). And still people came to him. They came, not to hear him preach, but because he was a healer. 

            That leads to the second point – preaching. Notice that after Jesus heals several people, he goes to a desolate place to pray. Simon finds him and tells him that everyone is looking for him (read: looking for healing). Jesus’ response is telling: “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out,” (1:38). What was the primary mission of Jesus? To preach. And you may think me horrible for saying so, but he did not come primarily to heal. Jesus began his ministry by preaching the good news. Healing was a confirmation of what he said. It was not the main event. If healing were the primary feature of Jesus’ ministry, he would have healed everyone. Instead, he left the crowds behind and continued preaching. Healings made the preaching ministry difficult for Jesus because a) people were becoming focused on the healing and miracles and not on who Jesus was, and b) he could not preach in the towns because of the frenzy over healings. 

            Jesus wanted to heal people, but preaching was his priority. When he healed the leper, the deaf man, and the blind man, he did so willingly and with the hope that they would keep it quiet. In all honesty, how do you keep something like this quiet? If everyone knows you were born blind but now see, if everyone knows that you broke your back but now can walk…how do you hide this miracle?

 

4. Warning the Disciples

 

Jesus even commands the disciples to keep things quiet about himself. One instance involved Jesus asking the disciples who they think he is, and Peter proclaims, “You are the Christ,” (8:29). To which Jesus responds to keep it quiet. Mark wrote, “And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him,” (8:30). 

            A second instance was the Mount of Transfiguration when Peter, James and John witnessed Jesus glorified and heard a voice from heaven say, “This is my beloved Son,” (9:7). Afterwards Jesus charged them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead (9:9). 

            Both scenes spotlight Jesus’ identity as the Christ, as revealed by Peter, and as Son, as spoken by the Father. Why keep this quiet?

            Even though at this stage the disciples are beginning to understand that Jesus is the Christ, they still don’t get it. Three times, Jesus reveals to them his mission: to suffer and die and be raised to life. Each time, the disciples fail to grasp the suffering part of Jesus’ ministry and squabble over who the greatest disciple is among them. 

            The warning to silence about the identity of Jesus is not about keeping the gospel quiet, it’s about not spreading misinformation about who Jesus is. To the demons, Jesus is a threat; to the crowds, Jesus is a vending machine who can grant their deepest wishes; to the disciples, Jesus is the ticket to glory. If Jesus charges these groups to silence, it is because none of them really represent the message of the Christ. 

 

5. You and Me – What do we tell?

 

I have often wondered about how we present Jesus, whether we are accurately portraying what the Christian hope is, why we believe in Jesus. 

            On a bridge was spray-painted the familiar phrase, “Jesus is the answer.” After a time, someone came along and painted, “What’s the question?” In our post-modern times, people are trying to figure out the question. Consequently, we are not sure what question Jesus answers. 

            The questions we used to ask were: How can I please God? How can I be forgiven? How do I get to heaven? People today are not asking those questions. Forgiveness is not an issue unless sin is acknowledged, and sin has become a word of judgment to society. Going to “heaven” only counts if you believe in an afterlife – many do not. So what question are people asking?

            Why me? It is a universal cry. Why me? People are suffering and can’t figure out why they, good people, are the victims of life’s unfairness. The Bible offers stories of suffering, but no one answer seems to explain the ups and downs of life. When Job suffered, his friends gave an answer – a wrong answer. At the end of the dialogue that is the book of Job, God never gave Job an answer for his suffering. 

            So, what do we tell people about Jesus? If we say he is the healer, people will expect real physical healing. If we say he is a wonderworker, people will expect answers to every problem. But if we say he is Lord, then all the preconceived ideas about Jesus melt away before our allegiance to Jesus as Lord. 

            Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Truth doesn’t seem to satisfy those who are looking for answers. What if we lift up the other two words: “way” and “life”? Now we see that Jesus doesn’t just give answers to existential questions, a way of understanding the world, but a way of living in the world. Following Jesus means coping, acting, obeying (even when it makes no sense), and prioritizing everything under his Lordship. 

            Perhaps Jesus silenced the healed so that instead of running off to show off new skins, new eyes, or new ears, they would stop to consider the One who healed them. Perhaps their testimony would be more like the man born blind who wanted to follow the One who healed him (John 9). 

            Jesus is the answer! He is Lord! Follow him!

 

                                                AMEN

            

            

            

Where Did Jesus Go?

The Question Series

 

This next question in our series, “Questions you have always wanted to ask,” is really challenging to answer. Scholars all seem to agree that the text this question is based on is the most difficult passage in the NT, and possibly the Bible. 

            The question is this: Where was Jesus on the Saturday between Good Friday (the crucifixion) and Easter Sunday (the resurrection)? 

            The primary text from which we get this question is 1 Peter 3:18-22 where it talks about Jesus supposedly going to hell to preach. The difficulty with understanding this text arises from the distance of time and culture. Peter wrote this piece as an illustration but assumed that his readers would immediately understand what he was saying, which they did. But we do not. Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther commented on this text and said (in today’s language), “I haven’t got a hot clue what Peter meant.” 

            The church has wrestled with this question for centuries. Already in the 4^th century one famous creed (a summary of the gospel truths), stated it like this: “He (Jesus) suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, he descended to hell. The third day he rose again…” But another famous creed leaves the visit to hell out altogether. 

            Does it matter where Jesus was between his death and resurrection? Scripture talks about it briefly, and if scripture mentions it, it is worth considering. Scripture is written for our encouragement, and after attempting to explain this difficult text, I hope you will hang on for the punchline. 

            There are two texts that suggest what happened to Jesus on Holy Saturday, Ephesians 4:7-10 and 1 Peter 3:18-22. We will look at the first one briefly and the second one more in-depth to form a reasonable answer to this intriguing question. 

Ephesians 4:7-10 What does it mean that Jesus “descended”?

 

In the past, some teachers have used this text to propose that Jesus went to hell or Hades to release prisoners there and take them to heaven. Verse 9 forms the basis of this assumption, “In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions of the earth?”

            We know the saying, “What goes up must come down.” Paul implies that since Jesus ascended, he must have descended. He bases this on verse 8, a quote from Psalm 68, which says that “When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives…” What could this mean?

            There are three common interpretations of this verse as it applies to Jesus. 1) Jesus went to hell and released the saints who had been in prison from the OT till Christ came. 2) It could refer to the coming of Christ in the flesh as a baby and thus a man into our world. 3) It could refer to the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the church after the resurrection of Christ (since it talks about giving gifts to men; see vv. 11-13). Which one is the correct interpretation? 

            These are very brief summaries, and much could be explained about each one. Personally, Psalm 68 sheds light on the meaning of ascending and descending the most for me. In the psalm, the psalmist talks about Yahweh coming down to save his people from some disaster or trouble. When Yahweh achieves the victory, he ascends to his throne in Zion and receives the worship of his people. Applied to Jesus, Paul sees Jesus descending to earth as a man to die on the cross to save us from our sins. Then he ascends to the right hand of God to rule as Lord giving gifts to humankind through the Holy Spirit. 

            I don’t see anything about hell in this text. If we compare scripture with scripture, Romans 10:6-7 speaks of Christ’s ascent to heaven being contrasted with his descent into the abyss. The abyss is not hell, but the place of the dead (the grave). So, the ascent of Jesus refers to his rising from the dead, and not to emerging from hell. 

1 Peter 3:18-22 Did Jesus go to hell on Saturday?

 

There are three questions that we will ask of this text. But first we need to deal with the “hell” problem.

            Two early theologians, Clement and Origen, proposed what is called “the harrowing of hell” view. They were the ones who first taught that Christ descended into hell between the crucifixion and resurrection. However, they did not base their theory on a proper study of 1 Peter 3:18-22 but on two questions: 1) How could the saints in the OT be redeemed by Christ since they lived before his time? 2) Where and what was Jesus doing between his death and resurrection? 

            Based on a loose interpretation of 1 Peter, they decided that Jesus went to hell to preach to the prisoners. But the Bible does not support this idea. In Acts 2:27, Peter quotes a psalm of David that promises, “For you will not abandon my soul to Hades…” In other words, Christ did not go to hell but to Hades. Hell is the place of punishment of the wicked; Hades is the place where all the dead went. This psalm prophesied that Jesus would not be left for dead by God. This is very important for understanding 1 Peter.

            Another problem is what Peter meant by “being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (18b). He writes that Christ suffered once for sins to bring us to God. But some have understood that Jesus died physically and that his spirit went to hell to preach to someone. The problem created by this thought is that it makes a division between body and soul. It suggests that when someone dies, their body (which is mortal) separates from their spirit/soul (which is eternal). This is what is called Greek dualism and it is not Christian thinking, it is pagan. 

            The word for “soul” in Greek is what we call “psyche.” It refers not to your “ghost” but to your whole person. Peter uses this word “psyche” five times in his letter (1:9, 22; 2:25; 3:20; 4:19). The ESV oddly translates this word as “soul” every time except in 3:20 where it uses “persons.” Think about it this way: When the Titanic sent out an SOS (Save Our Souls), did they mean for their rescuers to save only their spirits? No, they wanted their whole person rescued. Your soul refers to your whole person. 

            When Jesus died, he died. “Christ in his entirety was put to death at the crucifixion and in his entirety was made alive at the resurrection,” (Karen Jobes, 1 Peter). I am showing you my cards early with this statement: Jesus didn’t go anywhere, because he was dead. For Jesus’ death to be effective to remove sin, he had to actually die. In what sense could Christ’s soul be said to have been made alive when his body was dead? 

            Now we can look at the three questions:

1) To whom did Christ bear witness in prison? Peter mysteriously wrote, “…in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience awaited in the days of Noah…” (19-20).

            There are several ways to unpack this verse. One suggests that Christ preached “in spirit” through Noah to unbelievers who were alive then but are now spirits in prison (hell). Another suggests that Christ preached to people in hell to give them a second chance at redemption. But why would Jesus preach only to the Noah generation and not all the OT generations? And where does the Bible ever speak of a second after-death opportunity to believe in Christ?

            Two things need clarification: In the NT “spirits” always refers to non-humans (demons); and the dead are never said to be in prison. 

            To whom did Christ preach to then? Christ did not preach to the people of Noah’s generation, but to the demonic spirits who influenced people to sin just as they do now. God judged the people with the flood and imprisoned the demonic forces. It was to these confined demons that Jesus bore witness. 

2) What did Christ preach? Nothing! He didn’t preach. The Greek word for gospel preaching isn’t used here. The word is “proclaim.” Christ did not preach to the “souls” who had already died or to fallen angels. Hebrews 9:27 tells us very plainly “…it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes the judgment.” There is no second chance after death, only judgment. 

            And what did Jesus proclaim to the spirits in prison? Christ proclaimed his victory over sin, death, and Satan. As Paul also made clear in Colossians 2:15, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” God through Christ’s death on the cross defeated the powers of evil. The cross was Christ’s proclamation to the spirits in prison. 

3) When did Christ bear this witness? Along with this question I would add, “How did Christ proclaim this message? Go back to verse 18 where it says, “being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” This is a fine distinction, but I will make it anyways: The word “but” in Greek can also be translated “and.” So, you could read it as “being put to death in the flesh and made alive in the spirit.” This puts the crucifixion and resurrection together as one event, an event that proclaims the victory of God in Christ. 

            Some scholars suggested that Christ preached through Noah to the sinful generation of his time. I counter that Noah proclaimed his faith in God by building the ark. For 120 years in the sight of people who disobeyed God, Noah “preached” by continuing to build a boat for a flood no one had ever heard of or seen before. In the same way, Christ “preached” his victory over sin and death and Satan by dying and rising again. He never used words; his actions on the cross were his message; his victory over death spelled the doom of the spirits.

 

What is Peter really trying to say? 

 

Some years ago, I had the privilege of visiting the Art Institute of Chicago. They have an amazing collection of pieces from around the globe and the past centuries. We saw Picasso, Gaugin, the American Gothic, and Monet. 

            I stood for a time staring at a painting by Monet of London Bridge wondering why impressionist painting was so popular. I could not figure it out; all I saw was a foggy, almost pixelated, unappealing image of London Bridge. Leaving the large exhibition room and heading to another, I turned to look one more time at Monet’s bridge. And then I saw it – it was a revelation. I was standing too close to see it from 7 feet away; I had to be 70 feet away to grasp the genius of the painting. 

            When we look at the fine details like our feature question and try to find precise answers from the biblical text, we may miss the main message. What was Peter trying to say? 

            Peter was writing to Christians who were suffering for their faith. They had been baptized in the name of Jesus and paid the price for that confession. These first-generation believers were beginning to wonder if their faith was worth the suffering they endured. If a Christian was a contractor, his bid was ignored. If a feast was held in the community, the Christians were not invited. They were being socially ostracized. Physical suffering was sure to follow. 

            The encouragement Peter gave them focused on the suffering of Christ. Look at Jesus, Peter wrote, who suffered for the sins of the world even though he didn’t deserve it. Jesus was put to the death, but even in his death, God vindicated him. The Christians’ suffering was not at the point of death, but God will vindicate them in time. Look at Noah, Peter wrote in v. 20-21; his voyage in the ark was like baptism. The water that deluged the world in judgment is the same water that saved Noah and his family. Your baptism, Peter intones, saves you, “…not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…” (21). 

            Finally, just as Christ’s sufferings spoke to the powers and authorities of his ultimate victory, your suffering “preaches” to a watching world. Our willingness to suffer unjustly for Christ’s sake may just provide us with an opportunity to share our faith. Paul affirmed this truth when in 2 Corinthians 5:20 he says that when we share our faith with our unbelieving friends, God makes his appeal through us. 

 

Where did Jesus go between Good Friday and Easter Sunday? I have given my answer according to my understanding of scripture. You may prefer a different interpretation. But let’s agree that the death and resurrection of Christ are a promise to us that no matter how much we suffer for our faith in this life, God will vindicate us through Jesus.

 

 

                                                AMEN