Don’t tell anyone

I have often wondered why after Jesus healed someone, he charged them not to tell anyone. The leper, the blind men, the mute man, the father of the daughter he brought back to life, and even the demons He cast out who knew who he was. Why?

Many scholars can espouse on this better then me. Why all the miracles and then the command not to let anyone know about it? Wouldn’t that draw people to Him. Wouldn’t that make people believe?

I think the truth lies in our hearts. What is more important? Jesus the miracle worker or Jesus the Savior. Perhaps the reason was that he wanted His message, His teachings, His mission to be front and center. First and foremost….. faith. If we got what we wanted all the time, every time we asked we would be like spoiled children. His actions always were driven by an increase in faith and sometimes our hearts are so hard that only a miracle can break through. 

I like to think about this from the perspective of the hemoraging woman who touches His cloak. She is healed. And He says to her,”Your faith has healed you”. This is the point.  His message is clear. He has come to heal, to cure. But not in the way that we think. He came to heal hearts. To show us the path to heaven. 

All His words, all His teachings, all His parables, all His actions lead us to transform our lives. To believe. To have faith that we are loved and through Him we have a path to heaven. 

If all people thought about was Jesus working miracles or that Jesus was the Messiah would they hear His message? If they weren’t cured would they walk away disappointed or worse? He taught to love our enemies… wasn’t the Messiah supposed to deliver Israel from the hands of the Romans??

All His words, His Gospel message lead us to one place. We pray with fervor and hope. And when we do, miracles of all sorts small and large come to us. But it is those personal miracles that only we can see that strengthen our faith. 

So for three years He performed all kinds of miracles, Turning water into wine, healings, razing people from the dead, feeding thousands, on and on. There is no question in my mind that all of those people absolutely told people. When the blind man who could now see or the paraplegic walks around. People could see and ask how did this happen? Wouldn’t they seek out the man who had done this? 

Who would have thought in a million years that the man with the message of love, of hope, of forgiveness,  would be tried, tortured and nailed to a cross? The miracle worker could not save Himself. How confused everyone, including the disciples must have been???? How their faith would have been tested. How did those miracles look now with Jesus hanging on the cross?

But then…….. the Resurrection.He conquered death. He defeated sin. He completed His mission. 2000+ years later, for you and me. His words, His message, His teachings are the most important things. Lasting and unfathomably deep. Certainly miracles. are all around us. But it demands from us what He wants the most. Faith.