DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint Matthew 12:15-21 (12/31-1/13) Gospel for the Saturday
after the Nativity of Christ
The Straight Answer: Saint Matthew 12:15-21, especially
vss. 15 - 17: “And great multitudes
followed [Jesus], and He healed
them all. Yet He warned them not to
make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the
Prophet....” Notice the
directive from Christ our God in the midst of these three verses, the command that
warns us “...not to make Him known....” (vs. 16). Rightly understood, this verse goes to
the heart of what we celebrate at Jesus’ Holy Nativity. Our Lord’s caution may seem
utterly contradictory: He heals many in the great multitudes following Him, yet
tells them (and us) not to make Him known.
What is this all about? What
prompts Him to urge us to keep silent concerning Him? Why muffle us from telling others about
Him? After all, the very reason
hordes of people follow Jesus is because of His kindness, His love and His
tenderness to suffering that draws crowds to Him. Is He pointing us away from telling
anyone about His care and relief of sufferinghealing?
As if to heighten this puzzle, the Evangelist
gives an extended quote from Isaiah - words that underline Christ’s
seemingly strange, contradictory directive. “He will declare justice to the
Gentiles” (in the Septuagint: “He will bring forth judgment to the
Gentiles,” vs. 18 = Is. 42:1).
Understand that in this passage‘Gentiles’
means ‘the nations of the earth.’ The Child born in Bethlehem impacts
every people, nation and tribe across our entire planet; yet He seems, by His
directive, to want us not to make Him known.
Look again at Isaiah. This wise Sage prophesied, “He
will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the
streets” (vs. 19). Many
quarreled with Him, yet He did not stir up the multitudes in revolution when
they came to Him to hear and be healed.
Indeed not! He did not break
or injure any of those bruised among the people (vs. 20). He did not quench the hearts that began
smoldering when He loved them (vs. 20).
And He brings about justice across the whole world despite the injustice
heaped on Himself.
Why then does the Lord Jesus caution, warn or
direct His followers not to make Him known? The question is urgent, if for nothing
else than because it seems incompatible with what Christ did, with what He
does, and with the victory that He is achieving over human sin and against our
miserable suffering and death. We
find the key to this gospel conundrum in yet another commandment of the Lord:
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and
great commandment” (Mt. 22:37-38).
Metropolitan Gregory Postakov
notes that “...the Lord God gave us the commandment to love Him with our
whole hearts and our whole souls not because our love could somehow increase
His blessedness or majesty, but because He greatly desires to make us blessed,
and without our love for Him from our whole souls and from our whole hearts we
cannot be blessed. ‘The
scarcity of love for God in our souls is the most intolerable of all
evils,’ says Saint Basil the Great.
The commandment given us by the Lord God to love Him with all our souls
and all our hearts is clear proof...that God greatly desires our salvation and
blessedness.”
We see now that Christ our God is not
interested in advertising Himself, but in saving us. This is the message of the words
“He healed them all. Yet He warned
them not to make Him known” (Mt. 12:15-16). Think what the Lord has done, is doing,
and will do for His faithful followers.
If you know His healing, then you understand. If you do not know His healing, then
follow Him, for He “...greatly desires our
salvation and blessedness.”
He waits at this moment to do this for you and me. No need to ‘promote’
Jesus. “Let us prove
ourselves children of the Light and heirs of eternal good things.”
Thou hast healed me, O Lord: grant me grace
to walk in the way of Thy commandments.
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