Question
Gramps,
I was reading Matthew chapter 16 today and came to the part where Christ asks His disciples who they believe Him to be. Peter responds that Christ is “the Son of the living God” (verse 16 KJV). In verse 20, Matthew records: “Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ”. Why did Christ want that information to be kept quiet?
Jared
Answer
Dear Jared,
One of the more interesting things we find in the New Testament is that Jesus sometimes told His disciples not to tell other people that He was the Christ. At first, this can seem a little confusing. After all, Jesus was the promised Messiah and the Son of God. He came into the world to save mankind, so why would He ever want His identity kept quiet?
One example is found in Matthew 16. Jesus asked His disciples who people thought He was. After hearing their answers, He asked them directly, “But whom say ye that I am?” Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then told His disciples that this truth had been revealed to Peter by Heavenly Father. But immediately afterward, Jesus “charged his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ” (Matthew 16:15–20).
Why would Jesus say that?
From an LDS perspective, one of the most important things to understand is that Jesus’ mortal ministry had a specific purpose and a specific timetable. He knew that He had come to accomplish the Atonement, but that the time for His suffering, death, and Resurrection had not yet arrived. He wasn’t trying to hide His identity forever. Rather, He understood that there was a proper time for certain things to be revealed.
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus occasionally referred to His “hour” or His “time.” In John 7, for example, His brothers encouraged Him to go publicly into Judea and show Himself to the world. Jesus responded that His time had not yet come. Later in His ministry, however, He openly began teaching His disciples that He would suffer, be killed, and rise again.
This is an important part of understanding His instructions to His disciples. Jesus knew what was going to happen, and He knew that everything had to happen according to Heavenly Father’s plan.
There was also another problem. Many people had an incorrect understanding of what the Messiah would actually do.
During Jesus’ time, many Jews were looking for a Messiah who would deliver Israel from Roman rule and restore the nation to political power. They were looking for a king and a national deliverer. Jesus certainly was the King and the promised Messiah, but His mission was much greater than simply establishing an earthly kingdom.
He came to save people from sin and death.
That distinction is important. If Jesus’ disciples had gone throughout the country announcing that the Messiah had arrived without explaining what His mission really involved, many people could have interpreted that announcement in a political or military sense.
We actually see an example of this in John 6. After Jesus miraculously fed the five thousand, the people recognized the significance of what He had done and wanted to take Him by force and make Him king. Instead, Jesus withdrew from them (John 6:14-15).
They had witnessed a genuine miracle, but they were thinking about Jesus in terms of an earthly king. Jesus knew that simply announcing that He was the Messiah could create even more misunderstanding. Interestingly, even His own Apostles did not immediately understand what kind of Messiah He was going to be. Peter is a great example. He correctly recognized Jesus as “the Christ,” but when Jesus explained that He would suffer, be killed, and be raised again, Peter objected.
Matthew tells us that Peter essentially rejected the idea that this could happen to Jesus. The Savior then corrected Peter and explained that Peter was thinking about things from a human perspective rather than understanding God’s purposes (Matthew 16:21–23). So Peter knew who Jesus was, but he didn’t yet fully understand what Jesus had come to do.
This is an important point when looking at the LDS understanding of the Savior’s ministry. The central purpose of Christ’s mortal mission was not to become an earthly political ruler. His mission was to perform the Atonement, overcome death through the Resurrection, and make it possible for God’s children to repent and return to His presence. The disciples needed time to understand that.
Jesus therefore didn’t simply want His disciples going around proclaiming, “Jesus is the Messiah!” without understanding what that actually meant. He needed to teach them first. They needed to understand His Atonement, His death, His Resurrection, and His role as the Savior of mankind. Once those things had happened, the situation changed completely.
After His Resurrection, Jesus gave His Apostles a very different command. Instead of telling them to keep His identity quiet, He instructed them to go into all the world and teach the gospel.
In Matthew 28:19–20, He told them to “teach all nations,” baptize them, and teach them to observe His commandments. The disciples were now to openly testify of Jesus Christ.
The reason for this change is fairly straightforward. The most important events of His mortal mission had now taken place. His Atonement had been accomplished. He had been crucified and resurrected. His disciples now had the complete message they were supposed to share with the world.
The Book of Mormon gives us a similar perspective. It teaches that Jesus Christ’s coming and Atonement were part of Heavenly Father’s plan from the beginning. After His Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the people in the Americas and openly identified Himself as the resurrected Savior. He taught them His gospel and instructed His disciples to teach others. There was no longer a reason for His identity to remain hidden.
So, was Jesus embarrassed about being the Messiah? Was He trying to keep people from believing in Him? Not at all. The simplest way to understand His instructions is that He was saying, “Not yet.” Jesus knew that His mortal ministry had a specific purpose and that the events of His life needed to happen according to Heavenly Father’s plan. He also knew that people could easily misunderstand what it meant for Him to be the Messiah. He wasn’t merely a political king who had come to overthrow Rome. He was the Son of God who had come to redeem all of God’s children.
That is why the instructions to His disciples eventually changed. Before His Atonement and Resurrection, there was a reason for caution and silence. After His Resurrection, the time had come for the Apostles to proclaim the truth openly.
In the end, Jesus wasn’t hiding His identity permanently. He was waiting for the right time for the world to understand what His identity actually meant.
He was the Christ.
He was the Son of God.
He was the Savior and Redeemer.
And He had come to accomplish the Atonement and overcome death so that all of Heavenly Father’s children could have the opportunity to return to His presence. The disciples eventually understood that message, and after the Resurrection, they spent the rest of their lives proclaiming it to the world.
Gramps
