In my opinion, if you ask any group of people to keep a secret, you’re looking for trouble. More than likely, somebody, at some time, will let it out. Especially if the secret is something extraordinary. In the Gospel reading, we discover that Peter is the first among the disciples to recognize that Jesus is the Messiah. He’s the first to understand that the man he knows so well is the one sent by God to deliver Israel from bondage. Peter reveals this when Jesus asks him, point blank, “Who do you say that I am?” This answer marks him as the star student and Jesus promises to build his church upon the foundation of Peter’s faith. He gives Peter executive authority over the fledgling church and promises to support him. In this case, Peter stands for the whole church and Jesus entrusts his mission to all who recognize him as the Messiah. What a glorious development! Now should be the time to call in the media, get out the word, let everybody know that the Messiah has come and is setting up his organization, but Jesus tells them that it’s not that time - far from it! Did you notice at the end of the gospel, Jesus “sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he is the Messiah”? nobody not a soul mum’s the word cancel the publicity keep it a secret. Why is Jesus intent on keeping his being the Messiah a secret? Why shouldn’t he let it out? Now that he’s admitted who he is, and the disciples all know it, does he really think that this secret can be kept? Won’t it travel from mouth to ear with the speed of its novelty? The voices will ask, “Have you heard about Jesus, the Nazarine?” and they’ll multiply rapidly across the land. Also, have you noticed that it’s not just this once that Jesus wants his identity to stay a secret. Repeatedly, throughout the gospels, he tries to keep from becoming the talk of whatever town he’s in. Yet, when he performs deeds such as healing the sick, raising the dead and feeding the hungry, when he fulfils the messianic job description, how are people expected to keep his identity to themselves? And why should they? What he does in one community after another is a publicist’s dream. This person has got the makings of a star and he’s going to be big, really big. There’s a name for everything Jesus does in an effort to pass unrecognized for who he is. Students of the Bible call this the “Messianic Secret”, so, what’s behind it? The most convincing explanation is that he doesn’t want to be acknowledged as the Messiah before the time of his death and resurrection, believing that only in the light of those events would people begin to recognize what his being the Messiah really means. If they hear he’s the Messiah before he even gets to the cross, they’re sure to misunderstand him and, rather than being a messiah of sacrifice and triumph, they’ll see him as someone who’s come to solve their problems. Rather than recognize him as the one who calls them to their own death and resurrection, the crowds are likely to view him as a messiah sent to save them from their problems and make their lives more comfortable. Jesus doesn’t want his ministry to be seen in the wrong light, so for this reason, he prefers that only his immediate circle know that he’s the one sent from God. The opportunity will come later for them to announce that he is the Messiah. That opportunity will come once the crucifixion has taken place and he returns from the dead. The Messianic Secret helps us to understand what goes on in the gospel story, why Jesus sometimes behaves in a way that seems incomprehensible. But the Messianic Secret is more than that, for it has a contemporary application. People in his own time were ready to misunderstand Jesus because they wanted, indeed expected, a messiah of a different kind to be sent to them from God. Even today, people are also ready to misunderstand Jesus. We want, we expect, a messiah different from the one sent to us. We expect someone who saves us easily and asks from us nothing much at all. We want a Jesus who doesn’t die, or at least doesn’t expect us to follow him in doing so. While we hope for something easy - what the gospel offers us, is quite different. So just what does this difference involve? Well, first of all, we can best know God through this one human being, a single life where the Word becomes flesh. But this particularity is only the start of the difference, as the gospel goes on to insist that we must know him most completely, not only by the notable events of his life, but by his dying and his incomprehensible resurrection. His cross and triumph don’t adequately reveal him until we become participants in them and accept them as our own. With Jesus, we must die and rise if he is to be our Messiah. So, in our time, the Messianic Secret has changed, for where it once it meant not announcing Jesus as the promised one until his death and resurrection revealed him completely, now it means not announcing Jesus without mentioning the cross and the empty tomb - not announcing him unless we’re ready to die and rise together with him. There are plenty of versions of Jesus abroad in the world today, but what makes a particular version authentic is not any denominational or cultural label, nor any other marking designed to set us at ease. What makes a version of Jesus the real thing and not human fantasy, is whether it invariably returns us to what is most important, what reveals divine love completely - we can’t welcome Jesus without the cross and resurrection. If we’re to call ourselves Christians, members of his church, then we’ll have to accept the Messiah crucified and risen - not only 2,000 years ago, but now, in our lives. Then, and only then, will we be dealing with the real Jesus. Moreover, we mustn’t keep the Messiah a secret. The world, the one where we spend our days, still waits for him and is desperate to meet him – through us. Paul tells us in his letter to the Christians in Rome, that to do so, we must keep ourselves pure and acceptable to God. Instead of big-noting ourselves and thinking that we’ve got it all together, we have to realise that we’re only one small part of the body of God in the world. He’s given each of us functions and we’re only effective if we work with other members of the body towards bringing glory in God’s Kingdom. There are many spiritual gifts – such as prophesy, preaching, teaching, exhortation, leading, compassion, etc. Do any of these gifts ring a bell with you? Maybe your gift is not as obvious as the ones I’ve mentioned, but everyone has been blessed by God with gifts of some sort, so it’s up to us to determine what our particular gifts are, and how to use them in in service for the Lord. The time for secrets is over. Now we need to be like John the Baptiser and “Prepare the way of the Lord”. That is, let people know about the risen Christ, who was prepared to die for them, to allow them the gift of eternal life. Time for no more secrets. Ok? Prayer: Gracious God, who hears the cries of all and knows the yearning of our hearts, we pray for people and places that we see struggling to get by, those who are ill, those burdened economically and those in strained relationships. May we find ways to help lighten their load. May we be peacemakers in our community and advocates for those who campaign for peace and justice. We pray for the earth, the land, the seas, the rivers and plains that provide sanctuary for animals and the wildlife that live within their bounds. May we understand that we are part of the whole, entwined with everything in our global habitat. Living God, in the silence we bring before you those for whom we are concerned. O Lord, hear our prayers. Amen. Blessings…………..Pastor Rick
1 Comment
DAVID PAULL
23/8/2020 12:16:16 pm
Thanks Rick.
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