The Mind of Christ

As you know, I receive many questions about the Bible through my webpage www.davidroseministries.com. Some of the people who write me are not in a local church, or they are in a “convenient” church that may not ascribe to the teachings of the Assemblies of God.

Therefore, they trust that I will provide them with answers that align with my pastoral ministry of over 50 years in the local AG church. This serves as a base of understanding and security. Before you seek Biblical answers, please make sure that you are querying a trusted source.

As an illustration, here's a recent question that I received: “When Jesus healed people, He told some of them not to say anything and He told others to share what had happened to them. I understand the sharing part but the not telling part confuses me.”

In part, here is the answer that I provided:

Your question signifies that you are a student of the Word, and want to better understand the Mind of Christ and how He determines His steps. I believe that there are at least three main reasons why Jesus asked some people whom He healed to not tell anyone.

1. In John 7:6, His disciples were wanting to see more miracles and pressed Jesus to go to Judea for a greater public ministry. But Jesus knew it was not yet time to reveal the full manifestation of the fact that He was the Messiah. He needed time to lay the groundwork for preaching the Gospel and establishing His disciples in the faith. Jesus was a master of staying on the course that God had given Him.

2. In John 6:38, Jesus noted that His primary mission was to preach the message of the Gospel. Jesus knew that He could perform signs, wonders, and miracles, but the “meat” of His ministry was the Word. He did not want the miracles to distract from the message. The same is true today. Too often, ministers over-focus on the miraculous and diminish the Bible.

3. My personal favorite reason for why Jesus hesitated to let His abilities be known is found in Luke 4:18. Think about it: People suddenly healed were overjoyed. Many of them started shouting and huge crowds began stalking Jesus for their own miracles. Jesus had to abandon ministering in local towns and to hold His meetings in the desert where there was room for all. This made it very inconvenient for everyone.

Here’s the point: The mind of Christ is amazing. He never let anything get Him off mission. Whether it was His inner circle, or the acclaim of the crowd, Jesus ALWAYS pleased God first. And that is what we should do. As the Apostle Paul taught in Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”