ListenDaily - 16 April 2009; Fear not!
Friends, this is not an intensive analysis of the first Easter, but rather a variety of things that strike me as, well, striking.
"The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." (Matthew 28:5-10) (find this or any other passages at www.Biblegateway.org)
Characters in the Gospels are told "fear not",or"do not be afraid", or something similar, over twenty times. The angels told Zechariah, Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds to "fear not". The other occurrences were from Jesus to a variety of people. In this passage we have both. First the angel tells them "Do not be afraid..." and it is understandable. They were afraid that Jesus was dead a,d the angel is assuring them otherwise.
But then they see Jesus, and know Him. They fall down and worship Him. Their greatest fear suddenly relieved, Jesus is not dead, and yet He tells them "Do not be afraid."
I wonder why.
Maybe it is because, no matter how much you love someone, seeing a resurrected person would be unsettling.
Or, maybe His return might seem to signify that the Jews and Romans would redouble their attempts to break this movement.
There are many other possibilities. In looking at all of the 'fear nots' and 'don't be afraids', I think there might be another message here. When the 'fear not' message came from an angle or from Jesus, it was often followed by a need for action and/or understanding by the hearer. "Do not be afraid...take Mary as your wife." "Do not be afraid...just believe." "Do not be afraid...come to Me on the water." "Do not be afraid...go and tell..." And this is a command, He does not say 'try not to be afraid'.
I think that whenever we deal with God, our tendency is to be afraid. Not just because He is the Almighty, Creator, Jehovah God, but also because Satan leaps in when he sees us getting close to God. He whispers the lies in our ears...'Be afraid, you're not good enough.' 'Be afraid, God's not real.' 'Be afraid, you'll fail.' "Be afraid, you're not smart enough.' 'Be afraid, you're too young...you're too old...you're too...''
Jesus' closest followers spent part of three days under constant attack, hearing Satan screaming out at his apparent victory. With Jesus' resurrection Satan was bound to redouble his efforts. Jesus knew this.
And so, before He sends them off to "go and tell", He gives them peace, He takes away fear. And it is not a hollow phrase, spoken by someone who is suffering from fear Himself. The words of Christ are power! Remember? "Even the wind and waves obey..." And that message, that commandment, that promise is for you and I as well.
So friends, when God calls us to a task, a place, or an understanding, we must remember that He has already told us...already commanded us; "Do not be afraid."
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Questions:
1. Has God ever called you out of fear?
2. Why do you think He prefaced so many things with this command?
3. What does this say about His love for you?
INTERESTING THOUGHTS ON FEAR:
"He whose head is in heaven
need not fear to put his feet into the grave."
Matthew Henry
"Jesus promised the disciples three things-:
that they would be completely fearless,
absurdly happy and in constant trouble."
G.K. Chesterton
"Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God,
and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen,
they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth."
John Wesley
"The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying.
He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion.
He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray."
Samuel Chadwick
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