NOTES for Mat 16:20

Interpreters of the Gospel and specialists in the New Testament have argued a great deal about what is usually called Jesus' "messianic secret." Why does He forbid the disciples to speak of Him as the Messiah? Why, even when Peter saw in Him precisely the Messiah, the first of the apostles and, in all evidence, the first of human beings to do so, does Jesus order him to keep silent, even while acknowledging that the mystery of His messiahship was revealed to Peter by the Spirit of God? The most common answer is simple enough: Jesus was not going to become the Messiah of popular messianic expectations.

The people expected from the Messiah deeds that were quite clear and obvious: the Messiah had to restore an independent Jewish state, establish in that state laws corresponding to the Torah, and become its king. In popular consciousness, the image of the Messiah-King was inseparable from the image of an earthly kingdom and a righteous ruler like David, whose descendant the Messiah was supposed to be. Jesus naturally had no intention of doing anything of the kind, and therefore "messianic" popularity among the people was of no use to Him. Meanwhile, He could easily have gained such popularity, because the miracles He performed were seen and heard by everyone. That is why Jesus cuts off every rumor about His messiahship, and even forbids some people to tell about the miracles He has performed.

But the matter was evidently not only the "messianic" glory that Jesus did not need. The matter also concerned the disciples themselves. After all, they looked at Him, at the Messiah, in much the same way as their contemporaries did, despite all Jesus' efforts to help them see the situation differently. The same Peter, almost immediately after his messianic confession, begins to argue with Jesus when He starts telling him and the other disciples about His coming death. Even Peter, who recognized Him as the Messiah, understood neither the meaning of His path and ministry nor the real significance of the Messiah and His role in the salvation of humanity. In such a state, it is impossible to bear witness.

More precisely, it is possible, but it will be testimony not about the Messiah as He truly is, but about one's own views and assumptions concerning who the Messiah is and what He must do. Therefore it was better for Peter and the other apostles to keep silent about Jesus' messiahship. The Kingdom was another matter: preaching about the Kingdom was accessible to the disciples, and at a certain point Jesus Himself sent them out to preach it, with enough success.

It was successful also because here there were no personal ideas, fantasies, or concepts: during the preaching, each of the disciples simply became an instrument of God's direct action. But in relation to Him, to their Teacher, none of the apostles, including Peter, was ready for anything like this: too much that was human stood between Jesus and His disciples during His earthly ministry. And He orders them to be silent about His messiahship. Until the Resurrection, until Pentecost. Until the time when everything would become clear to them.