Don’t Be Afraid
What scared you when you were a child? Do you remember? I’m sure I was scared of the normal things like the dark and the boogeyman, but I also remember being terrified of basement stairs. You know, the kind that are just planks of wood with empty spaces in between. I don’t know why, but I had an irrational fear that I was going to fall between those planks and plunge to my death below. OK, I’m not sure I thought I’d die, but I was still pretty scared. To this day, I think about it when I have to climb open stairs.
Fear is a powerful emotion. And it doesn’t even have to be rational to wreak havoc. And yet fear is also insidious. It can be so subtle that sometimes we don’t even realize we are carrying it. In fact, I think a lot of us are walking around more scared than we realize.
To get at what I mean, let’s talk about a group of men in the Bible who I think didn’t recognize they were afraid: The Pharisees. The Pharisees often get a bad rap. Let’s not forget, the main reason they butted heads with Jesus was not because they were insincere in their beliefs but because they were passionate about them. I wonder if the stories about the Pharisees are given to us not so that we can stand in judgment of them, but so that we can be warned by them. If we’re willing to recognize the Pharisittical tendencies in ourselves, we might avoid the pitfalls that ensnared these religious leaders. I actually think it can be helpful to choose to identify with the Pharisees in the stories we read to give the Spirit an opportunity to shine a light on anything in our lives that we might not yet see.
So, let’s do that as we look at an encounter between Jesus and a group of Pharisees recorded in Matthew 12.
On this particular day, Jesus and his disciples are walking through a field of grain. His disciples are hungry and begin to pluck the heads of grain and eat them. Just one problem: It was the Sabbath. And when the Sabbath-conscious Pharisees see this, they say to Jesus:
“Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath!” (Matthew 12:2)
Jesus gives several arguments for why his disciples’ actions are not of concern, but none of these reasons satisfy the Pharisees. They follow him into a synagogue, and:
“...a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’” (Matthew 12:10, emphasis mine)
What were the Pharisees doing? Looking for a reason to prove Jesus was in the wrong. They wanted to label him as trouble, and were looking for a charge that would stick. But why were they doing this?
Drawing on my own experience of being human, I think there are likely two reasons, one embedded within the other.
The first reason: this group of Pharisees had defaulted to a posture of suspicion. It’s only natural that this happened. They had encountered someone (Jesus) who wasn’t fitting the mold they believed was the only possible shape of piety. Jesus certainly held a different view of the Sabbath than they did, and therefore, they deduced, he was not to be trusted. In fact, he had to go. Just a few verses later we read:
“...the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.” (Matthew 12:14)
Just stop and ponder this for a moment. The Pharisees were so fixated on what they believed was wrong behavior on the part of Jesus that they didn’t think twice about plotting an action that would violate one of the most clear-cut commandments in their own treasured Law: “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13)
It makes no sense. Until you dig deeper into the second reason behind their actions. It’s what I think was likely driving their posture of suspicion.
Fear.
Yes, fear is a powerful motivator. It blinds us to the bigger picture. And no doubt, Jesus’ message and his ministry were stoking the Pharisees’ fears.
They feared the loss of public support.
They feared the loss of control.
They feared the loss of power.
But I think there were even fears that could be considered more noble. They feared that their way of living out their faith and devotion to God was being challenged. Perhaps they feared that if they didn’t fight for their convictions that everything they held dear would come crumbling down.
I guess I can empathize with the Pharisees because I see us struggling with this fear too. In a world and a culture that is rapidly changing, many followers of Jesus are afraid. And this fear is leading us, too, to adopt a posture of suspicion.
What are some of the ways I see this playing out?
We are suspicious of any person who isn’t in our own “tribe.” We tend to believe the best about ourselves and the people we consider most like us, and we tend to believe the worst about “those people.”
We are suspicious of any teacher or author who doesn’t 100% agree with us on whatever disputed topic we’ve latched on to as centrally important. It doesn’t matter if that person holds to every tenet of the Gospel and the Apostles’ Creed. If they don’t agree with us on (fill in the blank), they can’t be trusted on any topic.
We are suspicious of viewpoints we don’t understand. But rather than seek understanding, we look for the labels that random bloggers and social media influencers put on these viewpoints such as “conservative” or “progressive” or “woke” or “new age” and let those labels trigger our fears.
Listen, I get it. It has been hard to navigate this cultural landscape. A lot has felt out-of-control, and that feels scary.
And I’m not saying that we shouldn’t practice discernment or hold on to our convictions. Believe me, I am a person with deeply held beliefs and convictions.
What I am saying is this: There is nothing to fear.
There is a reason “do not be afraid” is one of the most oft-repeated exhortations in Scripture. God knows we are prone to fear. But we don’t have to be afraid.
In Jesus’ Farewell Discourse (John 14-17), as he prepared his disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit, which would usher in the age of the church, he shared these words:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27, emphasis mine)
As we wait for Jesus to return, one of the ways we can best honor him is to refuse to give into fear and suspicion.
Jesus doesn’t need us to label people.
Jesus doesn’t need us to cancel people.
We don’t have to be afraid of anything that seems dark, for Jesus is the light (John 8:12).
The next time you find yourself tempted to give into the “us versus them” mentality, remember the Pharisees. Identify the fear and suspicion in your own heart. And rather than give in to the darkness as the Pharisees did, choose to be light.
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light…” (Ephesians 5:8)
In fact, if we relax into the love and grace and security of our heavenly Father, we might even find that Jesus is at work in many of the places we’ve decided are unredeemable. If we drop our suspicions, we might even be able to join him in bringing more of the Kingdom there.
So, let’s not fall into the trap of the Pharisees and give in to fear and suspicion.
Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus and trust him. He knows what he’s doing. He often works in unexpected ways.
There is nothing to fear. So, don’t be afraid.
