Matthew 16-17

It took me about 7 minutes to read this passage. The devine mission of Jesus was revealed to the twice in this part of Matthew. Both times he tld hisa followers to not speak these truths to others until after his resurrection. (16:20, 17:9) These are truths we now take for granted, but they were withheld for the larger group of disciples until after Jesus was glorified. What was it about Jesus' devinity that caused him to restrain his closest followers? Maybe they weren't ready to stand up to the attacks that would come with such a proclamation. Maybe such a public statement would have stirred up the Zealots and started an all out war against Rome. I don't know for sure, but this I know there were three who had seen a physically glorified Jesus before he went to the cross. And there were at least 12 who clearly heard the confession and and acknowlegdement of his messianic status before his passion. These men all understood that it was God's chosen one who was nailed to a tree that fateful Friday. That explains a lot about the lives they lived after that.
Stuart