At the beginning of this month, I was reading the Gospel reading from Mark with my children in preparation for the upcoming Sept. 6, 2009 Sunday liturgy. The Gospel was from Mark 7:31-37 about Jesus healing the deaf man.
After reading the scripture, my 7 year old son (our little thinker) asked me "Why didn't Jesus want anyone to tell about the miracle He just performed?"
I wasn't exactly sure how to answer his thought-provoking question. The only thing I could come up with was that Jesus knew people's hearts were not going to be open to the miracle account even if the crowd ran to tell others.
What do I say to my children about the times in scripture when Jesus orders others not to mention his miracles that he performs? I have often wondered the same question as my son.
Particularly in Mark's Gospel Jesus is always telling people not to tell anyone of His identity and specifically about His miracles. It is often referred to by commentators as the Marcan secret. But to the listener of the Gospel it is no secret because in the first verse we hear: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." But for those who are embodied in the Gospel they misunderstand who Jesus is. In Mark's Gospel no human being professes that Jesus is the Son of God while He is alive. Jesus rebukes and silences the demons who try and announce who He is. Jesus knows that the people are not yet ready to accept this concept of a suffering Messiah because they are looking for short sighted relief of their oppression under the Romans. Much like how 65% of Catholics voted for the Big O because they want economic and temporal relief rather than heeding the words of Jesus, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in Heaven always look upon the face of my Heavenly Father" (Mt. 18:10). Once word spread of Jesus' power to heal and perform miracles He could not freely enter into towns without being mobbed. People would focus on His power to physically restore rather than His power to forgive sins and save our souls. It wouldn't be until after His death and resurrection that all of these signs would make sense. In the Synoptic Gospels there are four different classes of miracles: Healings (15), Exorcisms (5), Resuscitations from death (2), and Nature miracles (4). Jesus is so much more than a miracle worker and He wanted people not to get caught up in the sign while missing the message that God has touched the earth and walks with His people. Try handing out one hundred dollar bills in a third world country or an inner city area and see how long it takes before you get mobbed. How many times do we hear at Christmas people getting trampled in a Superstore at 6:00 am because of a ridiculously low sale price? The greater mystery is how was Jesus able to hold back His power to heal during the first 30 years of his hidden life because He obviously didn't perform any miracles because once He started His life was never the same and people hounded Him everywhere He went.
Hi Father Pat! I hope you don't mind me asking, what is the Big O?
I have also asked this question of Fr. Ed Chalmers in MA and he thought that Jesus wanted everyone to discover who He was on their own. He didn't want people to just follow blindly but to use prayer and discernment to figure out who He was and what He meant to the world.