Then He admonished the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
- KJV Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
- NKJV Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.
- NASB Then He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that He was the Christ.
- NLT Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus charges the disciples to tell no one that he is the Christ. It matters because his messiahship had to be understood through his suffering, not popular expectation.
Overview
Jesus commands secrecy about his identity for the present. Public proclamation could feed mistaken hopes of a political messiah and provoke premature conflict. His true mission must first be revealed through the cross, which he is about to disclose. The command guards the right understanding of who the Messiah is and what he came to do.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Mark 8:30And Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about Him.
- Luke 9:21Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone.
- John 1:41He first found his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated as Christ).
- Matt 17:9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone about this vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
- Luke 9:36After the voice had spoken, only Jesus was present with them. The disciples kept this to themselves, and in those days they did not tell anyone what they had seen.
- Matt 8:4Then Jesus instructed him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, as a testimony to them.”
- Acts 2:36Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!”
- 1 Jn 2:22Who is the liar, if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.
- Mark 9:9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus admonished them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
- John 1:45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
- 1 Jn 5:1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves those born of Him.
- John 20:31But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 16:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.