Originally Posted by JonA

I went ahead and made such a list; here is what I came up with:

No Specific Charge	Tell No One (secret)	Tell Someone (proclaim)
1:21-28--Exorcises a spirit in the Synagogue (publicly)	1:40-45--Cleanses a leper (leper tells)	5:1-20--Gerasene demonic exorcism
1:29-31--Cures Simon's mother-in-law of a fever	3:12--Orders spirity not to make him known (no miracle)	16:1-8--Resurrection (figure tells women; women tell no one)
1:32-34, 39--Heals many	5:35-43--Raises a girl (from death?)
2:1-12--Heals the paralytic through the roof (publicly)	7:24--Did not want others to know he was in a house (no miracle)
3:1-5--Heals withered hand (publicly)	7:31-37--Restores speech and hearing (onlookers tell)
4:39--Calms the storm (disciples only see)	8:22-26--Two-try cure for blind man (told not to go into village)
5:21-34--Heals the woman with a hemorrhage (publicly)	8:27-30--"You are the Christ" (tells disciples to keep secret)
6:5--Healed sick	9:1-10--Transfiguration (tells disciples to keep secret until raised from dead)
6:35-44--Feeding 5,000 (publicly)
6:45-52--Walk on water (disciples only see)
6:56--Heals many (publicly)
7:25-30--Exorcises demon from distance
8:1-9--Feeding 4,000 (publicly)
9:14-27--Casts spirit out of boy (publicly?)
10:46-52--Restores sight (publicly; man follows Jesus)

Now, when I look at this, I notice that the Messianic secret is not as much of a secret as one might first think: there are far more instances of Jesus giving no instructions and giving instructions to tell than there are of Jesus giving instructions not to tell. Thus, I suspect that more important than a simple charge to secrecy, the events associate with the charge are crucial to understanding the significance of the Messianic secret.

The type of miracles associated with not telling are cleansing, resurrecting, and restoring senses miracles (only one of such miracles occurs with no specific charge, Mk. 10:46ff., in which the healed man follows Jesus).

In Mark, the only ones we are told for sure know Jesus' identity are his disciples (8:27ff.) and demons (3:12). The only ones who know of the Resurrection—the most important event of the gospel—are the women (16:1ff.).

None of these folk who are in the know tell anyone (as far as we know). The rest of the instances of making things known relate only to miracles (cf. 4:10–12), which Jesus does not consider the important aspect of his ministry (8:11ff.). Thus, the important things are never made known; the unimportant things are proclaimed with fervor.

How might a never-ending gospel fit into this pattern?

It's something to consider.

Jon