Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. – Luke 9:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 11, 2017): Luke 9

In the wake of tragedies like the one in Las Vegas ten short days ago (October 1, 2017), it is not uncommon to hear investigators telling reporters that there are certain facts that they just can’t disclose in interviews. The problem is that public knowledge always has the dangerous potential to change what the investigation and what is happening. And in the case of terror incidents like the Las Vegas massacre, changing or informing the narrative also has the potential of inspiring copy-cat incidents. And so investigators remain quiet about what we know.

The New International Version of Luke places an unfortunate, and artificial, division between verse twenty and twenty-one of Luke 9. Verse twenty-one seems to provide a kind of language bridge between two ideas presented in the Chapter. The first idea is that Jesus is the Messiah. The second idea is that Jesus would, at some point in the near future, suffer and die at the hands of the religious elite. The artificial break seems to tie Jesus warning not to tell anyone to the prediction of Jesus death, but the comment makes more sense when it is related to the idea that Jesus was the Messiah.

The problem was that “Messiah” had become a very political term. It is apparent that Jesus was aware of two competing concepts. He was the Messiah, but he was not the Messiah that the people were expecting. If news got out from the disciples that the Messiah was here (and there were likely many people who claimed to be Messiah during Jesus lifetime), then the narrative would inevitably change. Jesus would be treated differently. People would be attracted to the Jesus movement who were at odds with the direction that Jesus knew he had to go. And Jesus mission would have become even harder.

And so the warning is issued. Don’t tell anyone that you know who I am. For now, that will be for us to know. Oh, the time will come when everyone will be aware that Jesus is the Christ, and arguments over the concept of a Messianic Jesus will erupt. But for now, that discussion needs to be reserved for the future. For now, we have work to do that will only be interrupted by the knowledge that Jesus is the Messiah. Because, in the minds of the people, dying for the sins of man is a very un-Messianic job, and yet the very one that the Messiah came to accomplish.        

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 6