Messianic Secret

Part of Wrede's theory involved statements in the New Testament by Jesus to demons who recognize his divine nature as well as to his followers not to reveal to others that he is the Messiah.

The word mystery is from the Greek μυστήριον mystērion meaning secret or hidden information as opposed to the modern English usage.

[1][7] In Wrede's theory, the secrecy is a literary strategy meant to head off this objection while steering a middle course between two points of view in early Christianity about Jesus's role as messiah: that Jesus only became the messiah starting at the crucifixion (Phillipians 2:6-11), or that his role had been fully filled and preordained since the beginning of time (John 1:1).

[4] The secrecy encompasses Jesus's teaching and miracles, and is frequently violated so as to give the gospel's audience a foreshadowing of the passion and resurrection.

[8] Wrede recognized the inherent inter-relationship of his approach with the hypothesis of Markan priority – namely that Mark was written first and influenced the other Gospels.

[4] Yet, the followers of the Messianic Secret hypothesis were later forced to assume Markan priority – an issue that has resulted in various forms of criticism by other scholars.

[3][11] In the 1960s, Ulrich Luz demonstrated that the commands of silence which Jesus gave to healed persons belonged to a different category from those issued to his disciples.

[12] G. E. Ladd, a former Baptist professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, stated that the Messianic Secret "is a clever theory, but utterly lacking in evidence".

This theological explanation is supported by Matthew's explicit link between Pharisaic conspiracy to "destroy" [15] Jesus and the latter's command to his followers "not to make him known.

He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.