Scholars use the words “Messianic secret” to talk about certain times when Jesus did not want people to know that he was the Messiah. He told certain people not to tell anyone about the miracles he did (see: Mark 1:43-45; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26). When unclean spirits saw Jesus and cried out saying who he was, Jesus told them to be quiet. He commanded them not to make him known to others (see: Mark 1:23-25; 3:11-12). Jesus sometimes warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah (see: Mark 8:27-30; 9:9). He wanted to wait for the right time for people to learn that he was the Messiah (see: John 2:4; 7:6, 8).
Jesus told people not to tell others about his miracles because he did not want crowds of people coming to him. The crowds of people prevented Jesus from doing the things he wanted to do (see: Mark 1:43-45; Luke 5:12-16).
Jesus did not want others to know he was the Messiah because the Jews did not understand what things the Messiah would do. They expected the Messiah to be a political and military leader like King David. They thought the Messiah would lead the army of Israel to fight against the army of Rome. They thought the Messiah would free Israel from the Roman Empire, and he would become the king of Israel.
But Jesus did not come to earth to do these things. Jesus came to earth to save people from sinning (see: Mark 8:31-32; 1 Timothy 1:15). Jesus did not want the Jews trying to force him to become king or to lead a fight against the Roman Empire (see: John 6:14-15).
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