Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
- BSB Then He admonished the disciples not to tell anyone that He was 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 he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
- Luke 9:21And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing;
- John 1:41He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
- Matt 17:9And 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.
- Luke 9:36And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.
- Matt 8:4And 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.
- Acts 2:36Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
- 1 Jn 2:22Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
- Mark 9:9And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.
- John 1:45Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
- 1 Jn 5:1Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
- John 20:31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
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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.