Curious Christian

6 responses to “The Secret Ways of Jesus”

1. 

   cindy

   2009-07-02

   good questions, matt. the standard messianic secret answers have never quite satisfied me either, but i don’t have much insight, so i usually keep quiet on it. (sic!)
   there may be something to your insight that he was simply modeling a life of humility.
   what do you think?

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2. 

   Tony Maude

   2009-07-03

   The issue with people like Jairus is one of timing. In John 2:4 Jesus responds to Mary’s request to intervene at the wedding in Cana by telling her, “My time has not yet come.”
   Jesus commanded Jairus and others not to tell anyone because he wanted to avoid the crowds trying to “make him king by force.” He struggled enough against this as it was – having people stirring the pot would have been almost impossible to control. Everything had to wait for the right time and place i.e. the Passover at Jerusalem.
   The demonised were commmanded to silence because Jesus was not prepared to rely on demonic witness to his identity – this in addition to the reason given above about the time, place and method of revealing his identity needing to be right

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3. 

   Jeff A

   2009-07-03

   I’m with Tony on this one Matt. I preached recently on Luke 4 where Jesus silences some Demons and I do think it related to keeping the lid on who he was until the right time.

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4. 

   Janet

   2009-07-04

   The answer from some emerging types might be that Jesus always intended the Kingdom to be somewhat “underground”… it is like the yeast that you cannot see, yet it effects the whole loaf. They would claim the world of church buildings and visible church hierarchies isn’t really what Christ had in mind… for the kingdom of God is within you… true worshippers worship in spirit and in truth… etc.
   (effect or affect… I can never remember which is which!!!)

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5. 

   Jarred

   2009-07-07

   Interesting thoughts, Matt. It also seems to me that there’s a certain sense that Jesus had a desire to prevent the miracles — or even the miracle-worker — from becoming more important than the message. And I think that’s a huge key for the implication for bloggers. What’s more important? What is being said by the blogger or what kind of acclaim the blogger receives? If it becomes apparent that the latter is of more importance, I think we shade into problems.
   Of course, to me, this also begs another question. What is true humility and what is false modesty? While it certainly is not appropriate to brag about one’s accomplishments, it doesn’t make sense to completely deny them altogether or act as if they’re altogether meaningless. So where in the balance can true humility be found? What guidelines have you discovered for finding that balance?

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6. 

   Matt Stone

   2009-07-07

   An interesting question Jarred, and one we are working through at the moment in our church.
   At a recent small group gathering at our house, which was much smaller than usual, we ditched what we’d intended and it just turned the gathering into a story night. By the end of the night it became aparent there were many important stories that members of our community had to tell, that very very few people in our community actually knew about, beyond a select few. Was it possible that we had over excelled at the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing? To the point of it being detrimental? We’re thinking some of these stories need some wider telling within our community for the good of the community.
   It was a situation similar to this that prompted my initial forays into the blogosphere. I think there is a place for wider communication, but we need to be very careful of the temptations associated with acclaim. If ever I am tempted to temper my words due to potential loss of subscribers i take that as a warning I am slipping. Jesus would not have baulked.
   I take note of Tony and Jeff’s comments, I agree timing was an issue, but I think there is more, I think Jesus was wary of certain ways of being messiah. In fact, it could be argued that the miracles of Moses were more of a public spectacle than those of Jesus. Is there a message in that?

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