Be My witnesses - Tell no one

Matthew 16:13-17:9 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.

²¹ From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. ²² Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.

²⁸ “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

17 Six days later Jesus took 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 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While he was still speaking, 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 When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground 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 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.”

In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus says:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”   Mark 16:15 says:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”    And in Acts 1:8 Jesus says:  “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”   So there is a call, a commission, a commandment that we as believers should preach the gospel, make disciples and be witnesses of Christ. Yet, in today’s text there were two times Jesus instructed His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ or of the revelation from God that Jesus is His Son. How do we reconcile these two things?

First it says:  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.    It is upon the foundation of the rock of the revelation from the Father, that Jesus says He will build His church and the church will have power and authority to stand against the very gates of Hell. Why then would He tell His disciples not to tell others about the truth of this revelation?

Later in the text it says:  Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him… While he was still speaking, 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!” When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone. 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.”   Why was it that Jesus did not want the disciples to tell others what they had seen and heard, so that they might believe?

In John 6:44-45;65 Jesus says:  “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.”… “No one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”   How then do we balance the call, commission and commandment of Jesus to preach the gospel and be His witnesses with the knowledge that no one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws them?  First we must know and be convinced of what it says in 2 Peter 3:9:  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.    God’s desire is that none would perish, that all would come to repentance through Christ. In John 12:32 Jesus Himself says: “I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” So the drawing is to Christ on the cross. It is important that people are told more than Just that Jesus is the Son of God and the Anointed One. They must be drawn to the cross, where they themselves can hear Jesus says: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

In 2 Corinthians 2:1-5 Paul says:  When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.     It’s not enough that we tell people that Jesus is the Christ. Our words will never convince them. If we are to preach the gospel and be Christ’s witnesses, then, like Paul, we must do it in demonstration of the Spirit and of the power of God. Jesus said we would do the works He did. (John 14:12) Certainly it would be a convincing demonstration of the power of God if we opened blind eyes, caused the lame to walk, the deaf to hear; if we raised the dead back to life and Jesus says all these signs will accompany those who believe. (Mark 16:17-18)  But the power of God and the things that Jesus did, are also seen in love and compassion, in kindness, forgiveness and self sacrifice. In today’s text Jesus says: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”    The power of God is seen by others when they see how we are changed. The best witness we can be is for we ourselves to be like Jesus. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says:  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”   Living as the light of Christ in the darkness of the world is our witness to the power of God. Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.   Our lives should be a demonstration of God’s love, lifting up Jesus so that they may be drawn to the cross and know that He died that they could be forgiven.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for drawing me to the cross. Thank You for the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, my Savior. May I, through the power of the Holy Spirit, be Your witness. In my life may others see Your love and Your light. May they be drawn to the cross, that they would know their sins are forgiven. May they see the good works and glorify You.   Amen