With that Psalm in mind, I probably should not be preaching this message tonight. I shouldn’t be addressing this subject, because I am not sure that I have the proper interpretation of things. The prophet of God ordinarily should only declare those things about which he is absolutely sure. But our text raises a question which I think that we should meditate for a while. I say that because it comes up in different contexts at least a half dozen times. The very frequency of the subject demands that we cogitate upon it for a least a few minutes. And yet it seems to stand in stark contrast to other scriptures, justice and even to logic. The Lord Jesus forbade these seeing blind men to shout the praises of God. And this true of a few others as well..
The leper of Matthew 8 was forbidden to shout the Lord’s praise – Matthew 8:1-4.
“When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.”
Mark and Luke seem to indicate that the healing of this man was done publically. It was done out in the open, not inside anyone’s house. And all lepers were supposed to call out their condition so that anyone who wanted could avoid them. It was part of his responsibility to draw attention to himself, so that no one would be contaminated by him. And thus, the healing of this man was probably observed by several, if not actually a great many people. But then the Lord forbade the man from publishing the great news. However as Mark tells us, “But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter.” Why was he commanded to keep his mouth shut?
Perhaps the reason is found in the words that Jesus used. “And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.” This leper, knowing himself to be healed, was required by law to present himself to the priests in order to be publically declared free of his disease. Could it be that the priests, who were by this time growing in their hatred of Christ, might have spitefully refused to declare him clean, if he insisted that it was by the miraculous power of Jesus of Nazareth?
The Lord could have ordered silence in order to protect the man whom He had blessed. Generally speaking, we should question the conversion of the man who refuses to testify of Christ. But there may be cases and situations, where not to be silent would mean that Christian’s hurt or death. Is it possible the Lord could tell a new convert in Iran or Saudi Arabia, not to speak openly of Christ? Yes, speak of your Saviour to your family and close friends. But to take out an ad in the newspaper and force the Devil into silencing you might not be God’s will. That is something that I’ll have to leave in Lord’s hands and will.
In the case of this leper, there might be another reason that Christ forbade this man’s testimony. Mark says, “But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city.” Under certain conditions, too much praise may actually hurt the cause of the ministry. And as evidence remember the “praise” of the demon-possessed woman of Philippi. This well-known witch followed Paul and Silas “and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.” This woman’s testimony, although true, actually hurt the missionary ministry, because everyone knew exactly what sort of person she was. I know that the situation was different, because this leper was thoroughly honest, but his testimony hindered in some ways the more important work of Christ. That will probably never be true of you, but was of him.
The miracle at Jairus’ house is the second time when Jesus forbade people’s testimony.
We don’t read of it here in Matthew but there it is in Mark. First, Christ expelled everyone from the house except for the parents and His closest disciples. There were few actual witnesses of the raising of this dead child, even though the evidence was eventually obvious. When she got up from her death-bed, “They were astonished with a great astonishment.” “And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.” “And (yet) the fame hereof went abroad unto all that land.”
There is nothing in any of the three gospels to explain why the command for silence was given. And there is no warning about what would happen if the command was broken. So we move on in the immediate context.
As the Lord Jesus was leaving Jairus’ house the two blind men confronted him. Like the leper, they were making a spectacle of themselves, but for different reasons. It wasn’t a command of the scriptures that everyone be warned of their presence – they were simply desperate. We notice that Christ didn’t initially do anything about their need; he had another appointment, and He didn’t let them interrupt Him in His journey to another house. But those men were not deterred, and they followed the sound of the moving throng of people. When everyone reached the house, they were granted permission to enter. And they were subsequently healed. As verse 30 says – “Their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, see that no man know it.”
There is something to consider in what Christ said in both Jairus’ house and in this second house. “And he charged them straitly that no man should know it.” “Their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, see that no man know it.” I am told by the experts that the words “straitly charged” cannot be expressed much more strongly. The Lord was adamant that these people’s lips were to be sealed. Perhaps His language was hard because people had not obeyed Him earlier. And if I had to guess I would say that Jairus and his family did obey, but these blind men didn’t. Again, why did the Lord forbid these blind men from trumpeting their testimony and praise?
From our advantage point – standing on the hill – looking toward the return of the Messiah, but with the opportunity to look back as well…. We know that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and that He will soon establish His Millennial Kingdom. But remember that those ordinary people in Jesus’ day did not necessarily think about Christ as the Lamb of God. In their faith they skipped right over the cross to the crown of David and the upcoming kingdom. And how many Old Testament scriptures are there which tie together the Messiah and healing blind men? Consider just one – Isaiah 42 – “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” Did not the Lord Jesus quote these words and declare before the disciples that He was the Messiah? As he went about the country-side healing the sick, especially the blind, He was proving Himself to be the Christ, the Messiah. But it was not yet time for Christ the King; there was still the need of Christ the Saviour to do His work. I think that part of Jesus’ forbiddance involved a quieting of the Messianic emotions of the people.
The next occasion when Christ commanded silence is found in Matthew 12:14-21.
“Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; And charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.” Is the prophecy “He shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets,” a part of the command for silence? I am not exactly sure.
Mark 3:9-12 is not directly related, but it is another case to consider. “And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.” This of course, is closely related to the praise that the demon-possessed woman was giving in Philippi. The Lord is not interested in the testimony of demons, and it certainly doesn’t do Him any good. I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that many of the people whom Jesus healed were not at the same time regenerated. Some of them went away lost, and whatever future testimony they gave of Christ was corrupted by their wicked lives. We are reminded in this that our praise of God is worthless if our lives are not consistent with God’s grace.
In commenting on the charge given to the blind men, John Gill said something which caught my eye. He said “Jesus straitly charged them, saying, see that no man know it. This was a very strict charge, and according to the signification of the word here used, it was given with great austerity of countenance, and severity of expression, in a very rough and threatening manner; which Christ might be the rather induced to, because he had given such like orders already, and they had not been observed: the reasons for concealing the miracle are not very obvious; it seems likely, that with the same view he took no notice of these blind men in the street, but went into an house, and cured them; which seems to be, to shun all appearance of VAIN GLORY, or seeking popular applause, that he gave these orders; or it may be, he did not choose to be made more known by this miracle, or at this time, or by these men; he might foresee that it would be attended with ill consequences; either the more to irritate the resentments of some persons against him; or to put others on doing things which were disagreeable to him; as setting him up for a temporal prince among them, being David’s son.” The thing which caught my attention in this statement are the words “vain glory.” Those words are found only once in the Bible and they are related to sin in us. “Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” But is there such a thing as “VAIN glory” when that glory is being given to the eternal Son of God? Under most circumstances the answer would have to be – no glory given to Christ by any of the children of God is vain. But glory given to him by the lost and wicked, is in reality – empty, worthless verbiage. Apparently, by the command of God, they shouldn’t be uttered at all.
There are two other cases of commanded silence – this time involving Jesus’ closest disciples.
The first is in Matthew 16:16-20 – “Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.” The second scripture involves the transfiguration in Matthew 17. “After Christ Jesus was transfigured with his face shining as the sun, and his raiment glowing white as light itself, Peter James and John fell on their faces and were sore afraid. But “Jesus came and touched them, and s said, Arise, and be not afraid. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” It appears to me that in both of these cases, the disciples obeyed the Lord’s wishes. These things were not publically published until the gospels began to be written.
Again, I cannot tell you exactly why these things were temporarily forbidden. It was not because of the character of those who might have testified, because they were good men and saints of God. And it was not because the testimony was not true and important. The only thing that I can think of was that this information would not have been helpful to the ministry at that particular point in time.
But now, here we are.
We are two thousand years removed from the earthly ministry of Christ Jesus our Lord. And we may be only months or days away from the beginning of the Tribulation which will end in the second advent of the Son of God. I don’t believe for a moment that the same command for silence applies to us. In fact just the opposite is the case. The more that we know of Christ…. the more delighted that we are with all of His gracious blessings… and the closer that we get to the return of our Saviour the more vocal, vociferous, and vigilant our praise and testimony ought to be.
The words of David should fill our hearts and mouths. “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious. O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.”