What is Jesus' Messianic secret in the Gospel of St. Mark?
Why is it considered Secret?
According to William Wrede, a German scholar, the messianic secret motif was a
literary and apologetic device by which the Christological faith of the early church could
be reconciled with the fact that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah. According to
Wrede, Mark’s solution was: Jesus always knew it but kept it a secret for the inner group.
E. Sjöberg (1955) has interpreted the messianic secret not as a literary invention but as an
understanding both that the Messiah would appear without recognition except by those
who are chosen and to whom he reveals himself and that he must suffer. For outsiders,
then, he remains a mystery until the age to come.
Evidences of Messianic Secret;
In Mark 1:43–45 Christ commanded the leper He had healed, “‘See that you say
nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing
what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to
proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town
openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
Further “evidence” for Wrede’s theory of secrecy involves the explanation for Jesus
speaking in parables in Mark 4:11 where He tells His disciples that the knowledge of
the secrets of the kingdom of God had been given to them, but to others He spoke in
parables so that, “though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not
understand.” This is not, however, a plea for secrecy. Rather, it is an explanation of
divine revelation in the hearts of true believers, revelation that is unavailable for those
who, like the Pharisees, continued to reject the truth.
Mark 8:27–30 is another example of a statement that has led to misunderstanding
about the secrecy Jesus required. When Peter, speaking for the rest of the disciples,
declared Jesus to be “the Christ,” which means “Messiah,” Jesus “strictly warned them
that they should tell no one about Him.” Far from denying His identity as the Messiah,
Jesus was aware that the people, and even the disciples, did not yet understand that
He came to die on the cross for sin.
After Jesus’ Baptism by John, the heavens open, the Spirit descends, and a heavenly
voice proclaims Jesus as God’s beloved son with whom He is well pleased. Already in
this account there is a certain secrecy, because it is not clear whether the onlookers or
only Jesus witnessed or heard.
Jesus was then driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, the place of demons and
struggle, to be tempted by Satan, surrounded by wild beasts (the symbols of the
power of evil and persecution) and ministered to by angels. Here again he is in secret,
alone. The opening of the struggle with Satan is depicted, and the attendance by
angels is a sign of Jesus’ success in the test.
Numerous speculations are offered to explain this oddity. One explanation is that
Jesus did not want to be confused with a political messiah, which was surely the
expectation of some. Another explanation is that Jesus was intent on proclaiming the
kingdom of God; it was about the kingdom, not about him. The Messianic Secret theory is
just a theory, and one that has been disproved and universally rejected among
theologians. The truth is that Jesus commanded secrecy about His identity from certain
people at certain times during His ministry, but for perfectly good and logical reasons.
There can be no doubt, however, that by the time His ministry came to an end, His
disciples knew exactly who He was and is—God in flesh who came to save His people
from their sins.
Reference:
[Link]
structure
[Link]
