Jesus instructed those He healed not to speak about the miracles for several interconnected reasons. Primarily, He wanted to prevent the crowds from focusing solely on His miraculous powers rather than His core message of the Kingdom of God and salvation. The widespread attention caused by the miracles often drew massive crowds seeking physical healing or signs, which hindered His ability to preach and teach effectively. For instance, after healing a leper, Jesus commanded him to remain silent, but the man disobeyed, leading to Jesus being unable to enter towns openly and having to retreat to desolate areas.
This restriction was also part of a broader strategy related to timing and the “messianic secret” theme in the Gospels. Jesus knew that premature public acknowledgment of His identity as the Messiah could lead to political expectations, such as the desire to make Him a king by force, which conflicted with His mission of spiritual redemption and sacrificial death. By limiting the spread of news, He could maintain freedom to move and teach, especially with His disciples, without being overwhelmed by crowds. Additionally, He wanted to avoid drawing the attention of religious authorities who might see His growing influence as a threat, potentially leading to His premature arrest.
Furthermore, Jesus did not want the miracles to be misunderstood as the primary purpose of His ministry. He emphasized that His mission was to bring spiritual healing and salvation, not just physical cures. In some cases, He even instructed others to spread the word, such as the man healed of demons in the Decapolis, demonstrating that the command to remain silent was context-specific and not a blanket rule. Ultimately, the instruction was a deliberate method to ensure His message could be heard and understood on its own terms, rather than being overshadowed by sensationalism or political agendas.
Matthew 8:1-4 Legacy Standard Bible
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
1 Now when Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came to Him and was bowing down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
See also: Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16
Why did Jesus command people to not tell others of the miracles He performed?
After healing a man of leprosy (Mark 1:41-42), “Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: ‘see that you don’t tell this to anyone…’” (Mark 1:43-44). To our way of thinking, it would seem that Jesus would want everyone to know about the miracle. But Jesus knew that publicity over such miracles might hinder His mission and divert public attention from His message. Mark records that this is exactly what happened. In this man’s excitement over his being miraculously healed, he disobeyed. As a result, Christ had to move His ministry away from the city and into the desert regions (Mark 1:45) “As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to Him from everywhere.”
In addition, Christ, though he had cleansed the leper, still required him to be obedient to the law of the land—to go at once to the priest, and not to make delay by stopping to converse about his being healed. It was also possible that, if he did not go at once, evil-minded men would go before him and prejudice the priest and prevent his declaring the healing to be true because it was done by Jesus. It was of further importance that the priest should pronounce it to be a genuine cure, that there might be no prejudice among the Jews against its being a real miracle.
Finally, Jesus did not want people focusing on the miracles He performed, but rather the message He proclaimed and the death He was going to die. The same is true today. God would rather that we be focused on the healing miracle of salvation through Jesus Christ instead of focusing on other healings and/or miracles.
King James Study Bible
The purpose of Jesus in giving the command to tell no man was to draw attention away from the miracle itself and to appeal to the spiritual need in man. In the Gospels the crowds were often attracted by Jesus’ miracles, but not always by His message. Show yourself to the priest, that is, in obedience to the Mosaic Law regarding cleansing. Present the offering that Moses commanded: These gifts are found in Leviticus 14:2–32, where they are typical of Christ’s atonement and the cleansing it provided. As a testimony to them: that is, as evidence to the priest that the leper had indeed been cleansed.
MacArthur Study Bible
8:4 tell no one. Publicity over such miracles might hinder Christ’s mission and divert public attention from His message. Mark records that this is precisely what happened. In this man’s exuberance over the miracle, he disobeyed; as a result, Christ had to move His ministry away from the city and into the desert regions (Mark 1:45). the gift that Moses commanded. A sacrifice of two birds, one of which was killed and the other set free (Lev. 14:4–7). as a testimony to them. I.e., the priests.
NIV Study Bible
5:14 Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest. By this command Jesus urged the man to keep the law, to provide further proof for the actual healing, to testify to the authorities concerning his ministry, and to supply ritual certification of cleansing so the man could be reinstated into society. a testimony to them. See note on Mk 1:44.
Expositors Bible Commentary
Jesus' command for the leper to keep silent shows that Jesus is not presenting himself as a mere wonder-worker who can be pressured into messiahship by crowds whose messianic views are materialistic and political. His authority derives from God alone; he came to die, not to trounce the Romans. The people who disobeyed Jesus' injunctions to silence only made his mission more difficult. Jesus commanded the cured man to follow the Mosaic prescriptions for lepers who claimed healing (cf. Lev 14). Why? Partly because Matthew wants to show that Jesus did submit himself to God's law. But the result is startling: the law achieves new relevance by pointing to Jesus. In conforming to the law, the cured leper becomes the occasion for the law to confirm Jesus' authority as the healer who needs but to will the deed for it to be done. Thus the supreme function of the "gift" Moses commanded is not as a guilt offering (Lev 14:10-18) but as a witness to others concerning Jesus.
Matthew 9:27-31 Legacy Standard Bible
27 And as Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, [z]crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28 And when He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus *said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They *said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “[aa]It shall be done to you according to your faith.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows about this!” 31 But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.
See Also: Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43
Matthew 12:9-14 Legacy Standard Bible
Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath
9 And departing from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. 11 And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. 14 But going out, the Pharisees took counsel together against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
Matthew 17:1-13 Legacy Standard Bible
The Transfiguration
17 And six days later Jesus *brought with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and *led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three booths here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” 6 And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” 8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.
9 And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.” 10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.
What is the Messianic Secret ?
The Messianic Secret is a theme of biblical criticism developed in 1901 by a German Lutheran theologian named Wilhelm Wrede. The Messianic Secret involves Wrede’s explanation for Jesus wanting to hide His identity from His enemies by commanding the disciples to keep silent about His mission on earth and the miracles He performed. Wrede claimed that Jesus did not ever think He was the Messiah and that Mark (and the rest of the New Testament authors) sensationalized Jesus and made Him into the Messiah. Wrede claims Mark added the Messianic Secret in an attempt to give a reason for why Jesus was not accepted by many as Messiah until after His death. Wrede’s theory enjoyed some popularity during the 1920s but faded soon thereafter.
Is there any biblical basis for Wrede’s theory? It is undeniable that Jesus told His disciples on several occasions to keep what He had done secret. Each of those incidents, however, has a much more plausible explanation than the one put forth by Wilhelm Wrede. Further, each is consistent with the other Gospel accounts, and not an invention by Mark.
In Mark 1:43–45 Christ commanded the leper He had healed, “‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.” Jesus knew the publicity about the healing would hinder His ability to minister in the area, which is exactly what happened when the leper disobeyed, and worse, the sensationalism caused by miraculous healings would hamper the spreading of His message. Because of the leper’s disobedience, Jesus could no longer enter a city without being mobbed by those seeking healing, causing Him to abandon His ministry in the city and keep to relatively uninhabited areas. The healing of the leper is also found in Matthew 8:1–4 and Luke 5:12–16, with Luke reiterating the reason for the command for secrecy in verses 15–16.
Further “evidence” for Wrede’s theory of secrecy involves the explanation for Jesus speaking in parables in Mark 4:11 where He tells His disciples that the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God had been given to them, but to others He spoke in parables so that, “though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.” This is not, however, a plea for secrecy. Rather, it is an explanation of divine revelation in the hearts of true believers, revelation that is unavailable for those who, like the Pharisees, continued to reject the truth. The “mysteries of the kingdom” are revealed to those who have “ears to hear” but not to those whose hearts are darkened. As the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus would have been able to distinguish between those two groups. Again, this is not an invention of Mark, as it is reiterated in Matthew 13:11–17.
Mark 8:27–30 is another example of a statement that has led to misunderstanding about the secrecy Jesus required. When Peter, speaking for the rest of the disciples, declared Jesus to be “the Christ,” which means “Messiah,” Jesus “strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.” Far from denying His identity as the Messiah, Jesus was aware that the people, and even the disciples, did not yet understand that He came to die on the cross for sin. They were awaiting the appearance of the Messiah as the conqueror who would free the Jews from Roman oppression. If the crowds attempted to press Him into service in such a way, His mission and message would be compromised. As further proof, Jesus immediately began to teach His disciples about His true mission (Mark 8:31–33).
The Messianic Secret theory is just that—a theory, and one that has been disproved and universally rejected among theologians. The truth is that Jesus commanded secrecy about His identity from certain people at certain times during His ministry, but for perfectly good and logical reasons. There can be no doubt, however, that by the time His ministry came to an end, His disciples knew exactly who He was and is—God in flesh who came to save His people from their sins.
