Jesus kept His Divinity secret …
“His brothers therefore said to Him, ‘Depart from here and go into Judea,
that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.
For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.
If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.’
For even His brothers did not believe in Him.” -- John 7:3-5
1) – by always speaking in parables
“But without a parable He did not speak to them (the multitudes).
And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.” -- Mark 4:34
“To you (disciples) it has been given to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that
‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ” -- Luke 8:10
2) – by insisting that it NOT be told to others
He instructed demons to NOT say who He really was -- Mark 1:23-25, 1:34, 3:11-12
He healed people, but told them NOT to tell anyone --- Matt 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-44, Luke 5:12-15
He told his disciples, but said NOT to tell anyone ------- Matt 16:20, Mark 8:29-30, Luke 9:20-22
3) – by NOT speaking of it to the multitudes
Anyone teaching this “up front” to the unsaved will usually be called a crazy person.
Even today, some “Christians” see the Bible verses, but somehow don’t believe them!
4) – exceptions: a few people knew about His claims
Jesus claiming Deity was clear enough to the Jewish leaders, causing them to want to kill Him.
He told His disciples that He and the Holy Spirit were Deity, but it was way over their heads.
The reason He told them these things is given in the Comments below.
Reasons WHY Jesus kept His Divinity secret …
#1 – His humilty prevented Him from declaring Himself openly
”… Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery (*) to be
equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant,
and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
(Philippians 2:6-8)
(*) He did not wish to cling to, use, take advantage of … His equality with God.
#2 – Large crowds could hinder His ministry at times
“And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him,
He gave a command to depart to the other side (of the lake).” -- Matthew 8:18
“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat
and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.” -- Matthew 14:22
#3 – The Holy Spirit was NOT available to reveal spiritual Truth
The Holy Spirit was NOT given to believers until after Jesus ascended to heaven (John 14:16-26).
Some of Jesus’ disciples would NOT listen to His claims without condemning Him:
“And He said, ‘Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless
it has been granted to him by my Father.’ From that time many of His disciples
went back and walked with Him no more.” -- John 6:65-66
Back then, as today, people simply cannot comprehend a dual-God (or triple-God) concept.
If non-believers regard the simple gospel as “foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:18),
any mention of God walking around on the earth will be regarded as even more ridiculous.
Comments
1) -- “The Spirit if the Lord is upon Me because he has anointed Me to preach the gospel
to the poor” -- Luke 4:18
Notice that Jesus did NOT say He was anointed to get anyone saved …
because the Holy Spirit was NOT yet present to convict anyone of spiritual Truth.
2) -- Jesus told His disciples about who He was privately … so that later
(when they were born again) the Holy Spirit could bring it to their remembrance,
and they would make sure that His words were recorded for posterity.
3) -- There are only 2 causes for people to believe that Jesus Christ was/is God
– being born into this religious doctrine via family, society, etc. (i.e. blind faith)
– being given this revelation by God Himself via the Holy Spirit
“His brothers therefore said to Him, ‘Depart from here and go into Judea,
that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.
For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.
If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.’
For even His brothers did not believe in Him.” -- John 7:3-5
1) – by always speaking in parables
“But without a parable He did not speak to them (the multitudes).
And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.” -- Mark 4:34
“To you (disciples) it has been given to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that
‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ” -- Luke 8:10
2) – by insisting that it NOT be told to others
He instructed demons to NOT say who He really was -- Mark 1:23-25, 1:34, 3:11-12
He healed people, but told them NOT to tell anyone --- Matt 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-44, Luke 5:12-15
He told his disciples, but said NOT to tell anyone ------- Matt 16:20, Mark 8:29-30, Luke 9:20-22
3) – by NOT speaking of it to the multitudes
Anyone teaching this “up front” to the unsaved will usually be called a crazy person.
Even today, some “Christians” see the Bible verses, but somehow don’t believe them!
4) – exceptions: a few people knew about His claims
Jesus claiming Deity was clear enough to the Jewish leaders, causing them to want to kill Him.
He told His disciples that He and the Holy Spirit were Deity, but it was way over their heads.
The reason He told them these things is given in the Comments below.
Reasons WHY Jesus kept His Divinity secret …
#1 – His humilty prevented Him from declaring Himself openly
”… Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery (*) to be
equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant,
and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
(Philippians 2:6-8)
(*) He did not wish to cling to, use, take advantage of … His equality with God.
#2 – Large crowds could hinder His ministry at times
“And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him,
He gave a command to depart to the other side (of the lake).” -- Matthew 8:18
“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat
and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.” -- Matthew 14:22
#3 – The Holy Spirit was NOT available to reveal spiritual Truth
The Holy Spirit was NOT given to believers until after Jesus ascended to heaven (John 14:16-26).
Some of Jesus’ disciples would NOT listen to His claims without condemning Him:
“And He said, ‘Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless
it has been granted to him by my Father.’ From that time many of His disciples
went back and walked with Him no more.” -- John 6:65-66
Back then, as today, people simply cannot comprehend a dual-God (or triple-God) concept.
If non-believers regard the simple gospel as “foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:18),
any mention of God walking around on the earth will be regarded as even more ridiculous.
Comments
1) -- “The Spirit if the Lord is upon Me because he has anointed Me to preach the gospel
to the poor” -- Luke 4:18
Notice that Jesus did NOT say He was anointed to get anyone saved …
because the Holy Spirit was NOT yet present to convict anyone of spiritual Truth.
2) -- Jesus told His disciples about who He was privately … so that later
(when they were born again) the Holy Spirit could bring it to their remembrance,
and they would make sure that His words were recorded for posterity.
3) -- There are only 2 causes for people to believe that Jesus Christ was/is God
– being born into this religious doctrine via family, society, etc. (i.e. blind faith)
– being given this revelation by God Himself via the Holy Spirit
