by journey-on 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I need a Biblical answer to something. When Jesus performed his healing miracles, why did he tell the person
to go and say nothing about it to anybody? If he had come to show himself as the messiah, why would he perform
the miracles, then tell them to keep quiet about it? Thanks for any reasonable answers.
He eventually stopped saying that. He didn't intend for his following to be due to people seeking miracles, he intended it to be people seeking wisdom and spiritual comprehension.
Respectfully,
AuldSoul
He knew the best way to spread something, is to tell people to be quiet about it.
Warlock
Jesus didn't perform any miracles. Think about it.
he intended it to be people seeking wisdom and spiritual comprehension
Thanks, AuldSoul, for your input. If the above is correct, then why perform miracles at all.....why not just teach the wisdom?
Surely, he knew, the first thing those healed would do, would run and tell somebody.
Was there some other reason?
From The Message Bible:
Matthew 12: 15 -21 Jesus, knowing they were out to get him, moved on. A lot of people followed him, and he healed them all. He also cautioned them to keep it quiet, following guidelines set down by Isaiah:
Look well at my handpicked servant;
I love him so much, take such delight in him.
I've placed my Spirit on him;
he'll decree justice to the nations.
But he won't yell, won't raise his voice;
there'll be no commotion in the streets.
He won't walk over anyone's feelings,
won't push you into a corner.
Before you know it, his justice will triumph;
the mere sound of his name will signal hope, even
among far-off unbelievers.
A careful reading of the Gospels shows that Jesus was cautious at the beginning of His ministry. However, as His time approached, He threw caution to the wind, e.g., the account of His raising Lazarus from the dead.
Also, His stern admonition to those He cured had the opposite effect as they excitedly told others of their deliverance. Reverse psychology?
Sylvia
Thanks, Snowbird. You quote the Message Bible a lot. It makes it easier to understand the literal, but I'm wondering
if some of the deeper wisdom is lost in the translation.
I am still confused as to why he would perform such an amazing act, then tell them not to talk about it. It seems to
me something is missing other than the obvious mentioned.
I mentioned in someone's thread a while back, that I am re-reading the Bible with a different perspective than I have ever
had, and I'm looking for something that seems to be missing in this "tell no one" directive.
J-O, I confess: I've fallen in love with The Message Bible.
Something else to consider:
John 7:1 -2 Later Jesus was going about his business in Galilee. He didn't want to travel in Judea because the Jews there were looking fora chance tokillhim. It was near the time of Tabernacles, a feast observed annually by the Jews.
3 -5 His brothers said, "Why don't you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do? No one who intends to be publicly known does everything behind the scenes. If you're serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world." His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn't believe in him either.
6 -8 Jesus came back at them, "Don't crowd me. This isn't my time. It's your time—it's always your time; you have nothing to lose.Theworld has nothing against you, but it's up in arms against me. It's against me because I expose the evil behind its pretensions. You go ahead, go up to the Feast. Don't wait for me. I'm not ready. It's not the right time for me."
9 -11 He said this and stayed on in Galilee. But later, after his family had gone up to the Feast, he also went. But he kept out of theway, careful not to draw attention to himself. The Jews were already out looking for him, asking around, "Where is that man?"
12 -13 There was a lot of contentious talk about him circulating through the crowds. Some were saying, "He's a good man." But others said, "Not so. He's selling snake oil." This kind of talk went on in guarded whispers because of the intimidating Jewish leaders.
Doesn't it feel good to read, research, and arrive at your own conclusions without looking over your shoulder or facing a "readjustment" meeting with the "loving shepherds"?
Sylvia
HERE is a video showing how Jesus changed water to wine (very entertaining, only 1 minute long):
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/152707/?searchterm=Super%20Best%20Friends
For those who can't or don't want to view the video, here's a synopsis:
Jesus: The miracle I'm most famous for is turning water into wine
Stan: Can you do it again?
Jesus: Behold! Here you can see ordinary water. Now turn around.
Stan: (Turns around)
Jesus: (Replaces water with wine from under table) Ok. Now turn back.
Stan: (Turns back)
Jesus: Low and behold! It is now wine!
Stan: That's it? That's how you did that trick? That trick sucks, Jesus.
Jesus: Well, I guess it worked better on people 2,000 years ago.
Journey on said: If the above is correct, then why perform miracles at all.....why not just teach the wisdom? Surely, he knew, the first thing those healed would do, would run and tell somebody. Was there some other reason? He healed certain people because he had great compassion. He was not performing miracles for ego and self glorification. He did it out of love and compassion for others. He felt their pain. He was moved to heal because he could. JO..if you knew it was within your power to help someone and relieve their pain, and that person was humble and perhaps shunned by others because of their defect....would you not be moved to compassion to do something? Jesus had deep feelings for people. The problem was that when word got out that he could do this, the crowds began to want a sideshow. They didn't want to hear his teachings, they wanted a circus performance! An example of this was when he became angry at the crowd for demanding that he heal them and Jesus said "heal yourselves!" and walked away. He did not want the physical healing ability to take center stage because he came to teach a better way of life. It did cause distraction from his ministry and the priests accused him of having powers from satan. Everything he did got twisted around on him. John 4:48 Jesus put him off: "Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe." Then, it got to the point where instead of listening to his words and messages, people "tried him" and wanted PROOF. They tested him. They sought him out just for miracles. John 6:2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. It was inevitable that this was a great part of his downfall. It created resentment from the priesthood and the government feared he might use his power to sway people away from the corrupt power they held over the masses. They feared loosing their power and livlihood because of Jesus. John 11:46-48 They saw what Jesus did, and believed in him. But some went back to the Pharisees and told on Jesus. The high priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish ruling body. "What do we do now?" they asked. "This man keeps on doing things, creating God-signs. If we let him go on, pretty soon everyone will be believing in him and the Romans will come and remove what little power and privilege we still have." And you know yourself, that no matter, even when you have irrefutable proof, a hard core JW will still not listen to the truth. And so it was the same with Jesus and the Jews. John 12:37 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. Maybe we expect too much of ourselves sometimes. If even Jesus couldn't make them listen, how can we?
