NOTES for Luk 9:18-22

We often wonder why Christ asked the apostles not to tell anyone who He was, yet sometimes suddenly spoke of it Himself. But if we recall the moments when Christ says plainly that He is the Son of God, we see that beforehand He says something that could shock many people of that time and drive them away from Him, something completely at odds with their image of the Messiah: for example, the sixth chapter of John's Gospel.

This is not because Christ wants it to be hard for us to believe in Him. He wants us to believe truly, despite everything. He never says “I am the Christ” in such a way that it would be impossible not to believe, because He Himself has given us freedom. In this Gospel passage too, He does not say directly, “I am the Christ of God.” He has just fed five thousand; believing now is very easy, but it would be faith not in God, but in a magician and sorcerer. No, He simply asks the apostles—those who have seen Him not only feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish, but also tired and silent; those who are with Him all the time, for whom this would not be coercion—who He is for them. The apostles can answer that He is the Christ of God because they follow Him and not only listen to His Word, but strive to fulfill it.