Matthew 16:20

Tell no man. Until the very close of His ministry — until the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, in fact — Jesus avoided public discussion of His Messiahship. He never claimed publicly to be the Messiah. Apparently to avoid publicity as the Messiah (see on Mark 1:24, 25), Christ repeatedly enjoined the evil spirits not to address Him as “the Holy One of God” (see Mark 1:24, 25, 34; 3:11, 12; Luke 4:34, 35, 41). The Twelve, on their tour through Galilee, were not to discuss the question of whether Jesus was the Messiah (see DA 350), because the popular misconceptions entertained concerning Messiah (DA 30, 414, 415; see on Luke 4:19) would tend to thwart the proclamation and reception of the gospel. Men would have construed such a proclamation in a political sense, as they did at the time of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem (see on Matt. 21:1, 5; John 6:15).