From a friend:
Did Jesus tell all the people He healed/undemonized to not tell anyone because He didn’t want the religious people to find out because He knew they would crucify Him if they found out what He was doing? Or did He just simply not want anyone boasting of Him?
Scriptures:
Matt 8:1-4
Matt. 8:28-34 (pleaded for Jesus to leave)
Matt. 9:27-34
My reply:
Did Jesus tell all the people He healed/undemonized to not tell anyone because He didn’t want the religious people to find out because He knew they would crucify Him if they found out what He was doing?
This one is easy – Jesus KNEW that they were going to crucify Him. He IS God and in that, omnipotent. He gave up His glory to come here to earth but He still was God and thus had all the knowledge of God, hence His predictions in other places but most of those referred to are in the entire chapter of Matthew 24, etc.
Or did He just simply not want anyone boasting of Him?
Nope. He’s God. If our lives here on this planet are to glorify God (they are) then those who praise God according to His impact on their lives (healings included) would be the perfect way to praise Him. That’s not the reason tho. Ultimately what it comes down to is if He was seen as a healer, they could have attributed the source of His power to the “spirit world” and not directly to God. He would have had thousands of people throwing themselves at Him just to touch Him to gain healing. Sure, healing was a large part of His ministry but not to just heal people because that would be only temporary. In the same way that the apostles were able to heal people in Acts through Christ Jesus. This isn’t to bring people to them for a medical service but to show the power of God evidenced before them and therefore give credibility to their statements. In the same way there are demoniacs who are being exorcised and dead people raised in India and other 3rd world countries where they are so tightly wrapped in superstition, demon worship, and false doctrines. My pastor, while he was in India in November was able to see a demoniac at a bible study he was leading. This man kept coming back and was violently thrown to the floor and walls the whole time – they would lay their hands on him pray for him to be released but it was more for God’s glory that he would remain possessed until a time later so that all who knew him in this city to be a possessed man will see the glory of God revealed when he is released from spiritual this prison. That’s going to be so cool!
But I digress – The reason that Jesus didn’t want people to talk about it is because He knew the heart of man and that they would come to Him for medical treatment and nothing more. Like the people He fed – they kept following Him because they wanted free food and were not open to what He was teaching.
Ok, now for the fun stuff:
Matt. 8:28-34 (pleaded for Jesus to leave)
I prefer this version – more detail. Do you know why they pleaded for Him to leave? 3 BIG reasons. 1) They were afraid. They were afraid because they suspected (rightly so) that He was from God (well, He IS God), and that under the Mosaic Law they were not supposed to have anything to do with swine anyway (reason #2) and were afraid of judgment as well as the fact that their economy had just taken a huge hit (reason #3) because 2,000 of their pigs (which they aren’t even supposed to touch) have just ran into the sea and died. I LOVE this story!
That help? 🙂