Experiencing God 219 The Narrow Way Is Not Sensational

"As Jesus cured many who were sick, and cast out demons, He would not permit the demons to speak because they knew Him".
Gospel of Mark

In the above Gospel quote from Mark, we hear about many miracles that Jesus is performing.  The first was Simon Peter's mother-in-law, followed by many who were sick and possessed with demons. We read that during that evening, the whole city gathered around the place where Jesus was staying, many who were sick with various diseases.  Included with the healing stories is one phrase which can be easily missed.   "As Jesus cured many who were sick, and cast out demons, He would not permit the demons to speak because they knew Him".  

If you examine closely the gospel of Mark, this phrase is repeated over and over.  Lets just look at a few:

In Ch. 1 vs. 44, after healing a leper, Jesus says: "See that you say nothing to anyone".

In Ch. 3. vs. 12, when Jesus was curing many in the regions of Tyre and Sidon, we read: "Whenever unclean spirits saw Him, they fell before Him, and shouted; you are the Son of God, but He sternly ordered them not to make Him known."

In Ch. 5, after healing the high priest's daughter who had died, we read:  "He strictly ordered them that no one should know this."

In Ch. 7, vs 36, after healing the deaf man, we  read: "Jesus ordered those present to tell no one.

In Ch. 8, vs 30, when Jesus asked His disciples "who do you say that I am", and Peter gave the answer: "you are the Messiah", Jesus again sternly ordered them: Tell no one about Me."

In Ch. 9, vs 9, after witnessing the transfiguration, we read: "Jesus ordered Peter, James and John to tell no one about what they had seen."

Why all the secrecy?  

I believe the answer can be found in the following reading from Mark:

"In the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and they He prayed.  And Simon and his companions hunted for Him.  When they found Him, they said: Everyone is searching for you.  He answered: Let us go to the neighboring towns so that I may proclaim the message there also, for that is what I come to do."

Simon and his companions were excited that morning when they found Jesus.  "Everyone is searching for you".  Jesus knows people well.  And He knew that if He got caught up in this popularity  frenzy, His true mission could never be accomplished, and people would have no understanding as to why He was called in the first place.  Jesus had compassion for the people He met.  He wanted them to experience wholeness, to be free of enslavement: So he healed them of their ailments.  But He knew that His purpose was not contained in this alone.  He came to proclaim that the Kingdom of God was at hand and the path to attain it could not be found in the sensational. 

Jesus' true identity as Messiah can only be realized when we examine His entire life and mission, not just the sensational.  Jesus wants to make clear that the path to the Kingdom is through self-emptying, which means becoming powerless in the ways of the world.  "Jesus did not deem his equality with God as something to be grasped at, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave."

Jesus' Messiah-ship is based on following God's will, which means allowing the small "self", the "ego" to diminish so that the "true self" may become our true identity.  And this is not the way of the sensational, but of obedience, submission and surrender to the truth revealed to us by Christ.  Jesus would describe "the way" as narrow, that few would choose it, because it is not the popular choice.