Are You Afraid of Jesus?
In 2010, a mannamed Barry Glassner published a book entitled The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things.While I cannot endorse all his ideas, I agree with his view that people andorganizations (like politicians, advocacy groups, the marketing/advertisingindustry, and news outlets, including weather reporting) manipulate ourperceptions about what is going on in the world, stoking our fears about lowthreat concerns. They usually have an ulterior motive for doing this, such as gettingus to vote in a certain way, raising funds, or persuading us to buy a productor service.
For example, Glassner highlights our fear about flying in airplanes. While airplane passengers mayfeel uncomfortable when their plane hits turbulence or when they remember that theyare flying thousands of feet high, in a metal tube, at 500 mph, their fearsabout crashing or dying are greatly exaggerated. Glassner points out that, “Inthe entire history of commercial aviation…fewer than 13,000 people have died inairplane crashes.” In fact, “The average person's probability of dying in a planecrash is about 1 in 4 million, or roughly the same as winning the jackpot in astate lottery.” Despite these obscure odds, airplane crashes often makeheadline news, while car accidents do not.
It’s fascinating to consider whether you are allowing misinformed fears to influence your life. It happens to everyone. But there’s one thing – one person – that Satan wants everyone to fear, and that is Jesus. You see, if he can get you to be afraid of him, then he can get you to stay away from him. Just as the wrong perspective about airplanes can keep you from getting onto a plane, so the wrong perspective about Jesus can keep you from believing on him for salvation or following him with your life. In fact, I suggest that most people in the world are afraid of following Jesus for one reason or another.
Are you afraidof Jesus – of who he is or what he says? If so, then why? As you think aboutthese questions, consider what Mark’s Gospel says about being afraid of Jesus.In fact, Mark mentions fear and being afraid many timesthroughout this record of Jesus’s life and ministry, making this a point ofemphasis.[1] Fromthis emphasis, we learn the right way to respond to Jesus and his teaching. Areyou responding to him the right way?
Elite, powerful, and influential people were afraid of Jesus.
When you readthe Gospel of Mark, you sense that this is the case. The religious leadersrepeatedly witness the miracles that Jesus performed and his popularity withthe people. They were jealous of him for surpassing them in both these ways –in miracle-working power and in popularity. But their jealousy gave way to fearon yet another point – the authority of his teaching. This fear over histeaching reached a climax prior to his crucifixion and is something that Markmentions three times.
The Jewish religious leaders – the Pharisees – were afraid of him because of the authority and substance of his teaching (Mark 11:18, 32; 12:12).
The teaching ofJesus rose above the petty, legalistic debates and speculations about ancestrythat the Pharisees engaged in. He:
- taughtbased upon a full knowledge and mastery of the complete Old Testament,
- outwittedthe religious leaders’ toughest questions,
- addressedthe needs of the heart,
- andmagnified the eternal, spiritual kingdom of God over Jewish culturalpreservation.
As a result, histeaching captivated people, whether they believed what he was saying or not.Sadly, most of the religious leaders did not embrace his teaching, even thoughthey could not disprove what he was saying. Rather than be drawn to him, theybecame afraid of him. The very teaching that should have inspired faith stirredup fear instead. The irony in this is that these leaders, by virtue of theirrole as religious teachers, should have appreciated what Jesus had to say.Instead, they were afraid.
A Gentile political leader – Herod – was afraid of John the Baptist because of his godly reputation; John was a follower of Jesus. (Mark 6:20).
Jewishreligious leaders were not the only powerful people to be afraid of Jesus.Gentile, Roman political and military leaders were also afraid of him. In fact,they were even afraid of people who followed and identified with Jesus. Herod,for instance, was a brutal, corrupt, and powerful Roman politician. Yet he wasafraid of John the Baptist, a man who taught people to follow Jesus and a manwho had a godly, Christ-like reputation. The irony here is that Herod was notafraid of Jesus (and his followers) because they represented a politicalthreat. Instead, they were afraid because followers of Jesus represent a moralthreat, a perpetual reminder of their immoral lifestyle.
Do not befooled. Powerful leaders of corrupt religious institutions and movements wereafraid of Jesus. Likewise, powerful political leaders in America and beyond arealso afraid of Jesus. They may behave as though they are in control and asthough they have no concerns for Jesus or his teaching. Yet even so, they livewith lingering doubts and fears about his ultimate authority over their lives.There is no one as powerful or having as much authority as Jesus. The Gospel ofMark makes this clear. For this reason, the powerful people of this world whohave authority over us are themselves afraid of Jesus.
Regular, ordinary people were afraid of Jesus.
Powerful and influential figures are not the only ones afraid ofJesus.
People from urban and rural communities were afraid of him because of his power to free a man who had been oppressed by a demonic spirit (Mark 5:15).
Here was a manwho had been physically tortured and psychologically oppressed by a demon formany years and a community who had been terrified by him the same amount oftime. No one had been able to help him. Yet when Jesus sent the demon away andfreed this man from his oppression, how did the people respond? Not with peace,relief, or celebration, but with fear and astonishment instead.
Do you see theirony here? Sometimes we witness a similar effect today. When a person believeson Jesus and he begins to change their life from bad to good, from oppressionto sin to freedom from its clutches, the people who know him often respond withcynicism, doubt, and fear instead of with joy and enthusiasm.
- Ratherthan be glad that you have quit smoking, they roll their eyes.
- Ratherthan rejoice that you are committed to making your marriage work, they laughthat you would even care.
A woman was afraid of him because he knew that she had touched his robe in a crowd and called for her (Mark 5:33).
On thisoccasion, Jesus recognized this woman whom no one else would have recognized. Infact, people would have ignored her for at least two reasons.
- One,she was a woman and women received low-class treatment in those days.
- Two,she had a medical condition that would have classified her as unclean anduntouchable, a detriment and blight to society.
But Jesus didnot share this prejudiced, unfeeling mindset.
As he made hisway through a tightly-packed crowd, he knew that she had reached out her handto touch the lower hem of his robe – something no one else would have detectedwith all the people pushing against him. At moment she touched his robe, shewas healed. What’s more, Jesus also called out to her, recognizing that he knewshe had touched him.
The irony hereis that when you would have expected her to be relieved and overjoyed, she wasafraid instead. Knowing at once that Jesus possessed superior knowledge andpower, perhaps she feared what he might say or do to her. Had she beenpresumptuous and done the wrong thing by reaching out to him? Thankfully, welearn that her fears were unfounded. In fact, Jesus approved of her actions,saying to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and behealed of your affliction.”
His own disciples were afraid of Jesus.
In addition to people at large, the close followers of Jesus were also afraid of him on multiple occasions. This is a remarkable phenomenon, one that should cause you who follow Jesus to ask whether you are afraid of him as well.
They were afraid because of his power over nature, when he calmed the storm at sea (Mark 4:41).
When you readabout this violent storm at sea and how Jesus calmed the storm merely byspeaking to the wind and the waves and telling them what to do, you wouldexpect these men to be relieved that the storm had ended and that their liveshad been spared. Instead, they were afraid even more. Mark says that they feargreatly. Does this seem odd to you? By demonstrating his power over nature, heprotected his followers from drowning. But they responded with fear instead ofrelief.
They were afraid again of his power over nature, when he walked on the water in another storm at sea (Mark 6:50).
Once again, thedisciples experienced a life-threatening storm at sea, but this time they sawJesus walking on the water towards their boat. He was not sleeping in the boatwith them as he was in the previous storm. Once again, you would expect them tobe relieved, especially since he had delivered them from a storm once before.
Yet here theywere afraid again. In fact, Mark used a word here that means “troubled anddisturbed.” Again, does this seem odd to you? In the moment when they shouldhave ceased being afraid of the storm, they became even more afraid of Jesuswho had come to save them. Do you ever feel this way about Jesus?
They were afraid of his heavenly glory when he was transfigured before them (Mark 9:6).
On a secluded mountainaway from everyone else, God the Father showed Peter, James, and John thebrightness of Christ’s divine, heavenly glory. Christ’s human appearancenormally veiled this glory. But on this occasion, the Father allowed thesethree men to get a small glimpse of how grand and glorious Jesus was – he wasmore than just a human being, he was also the God of heaven, and this wouldexplain why Jesus was so powerful and displayed unlimited authority overnature, demons, sickness, religious and political authorities, and death.
As you wouldexpect, the disciples were afraid. In fact, Mark used a modified word to describetheir fear on this occasion, a word which means not just afraid, but “extremelyafraid.” In fact, this moment made such a lasting impression on Peter that hereferred to it in a letter he wrote to believers decades later (2 Pet 1:16-18).This is the one occasion in this book when you might agree that the disciplesshould have been afraid. Yet even here, the revelation of Christ’s deity insuch a visual way was not supposed to push the disciples away from Jesus. Itwas given to strengthen their faith in him and to draw them closer to himinstead.
They were afraid of his teaching about his upcoming death on the cross (Mark 9:32).
This occasionstands out because the disciples were not afraid because of something Jesus haddone or something they had seen. Instead, they were afraid because of whatJesus was saying. He was telling them that he would soon die on the cross.Though his death would deliver them from sins and restore their relationshipwith God forever, they were not encouraged. They were afraid instead and thisfear grew stronger.
They continued to be afraid of his teaching about dying on the cross and of the hardships they would face as a result of following him (Mark 10:32).
For the thirdtime in Mark’s Gospel, we find Jesus talking about his upcoming death on thecross (Mark 10:32-34). In this conversation, he gave more details than before.He also emphasized the way that nonbelievers would behave towards anyone whoidentified with him after his crucifixion (Mark 10:28-31). Their families wouldpotentially disown them, they would potentially lose valuable property, theywould be pursued and persecuted, and they would be marginalized and demoted, pushedto the fringe of society.
This example ofhow the followers of Jesus were afraid of his teaching gets to the heart of ourfear about Jesus. If Jesus is the divine Son of God who has power and authorityover all things and who is the head over God’s eternal kingdom, then believingon him and following him will certainly have implications for our lives. On onehand, he will deliver us from the power of sin and evil, darkness and death. Hewill even exercise control over whatever storms I may go through in life. Buton the other hand, I may also suffer for him just as he suffered for me.
The kingdom ofGod is a secure kingdom, governed by Jesus, benevolent, all-knowing,all-powerful person who is both God and man, yet following him may require meto change my priorities, admit where I’ve been wrong, and accept some sufferingand loss. Are you afraid of this?
They were afraid from seeing an angel and discovering that Christ had resurrected from the dead (Mark 16:8).
This finalepisode of fear in Mark’s Gospel describes the way that some ladies respondedto the resurrection of Jesus. From this we learn that “the resurrection doesnot magically dispel fear and cowardice, transforming fallible human charactersinto faithful disciples. Faithful discipleship consists of following Jesus, notcontemplating doing so; acting courageously on his behalf, not standing on thesidelines and watching.”[2]
This instanceshows that even the most devoted, faithful followers of Christ who know that hehas risen from the dead may struggle with fear. Though we know that Jesus hasdefeated death and all that is evil, that he lives forever, and that he hasdemonstrated his power in the ultimate way (rising from the dead in his ownpower), we remain afraid to follow him. Having witnessed the resurrection,these women at first hesitated to tell anyone the good news. From othergospels, we know that they eventually spread the news, but fear prevented themfrom doing so at first.
Having tracedthe theme of fear throughout Mark’s Gospel, are you better able to answer thequestion of whether you are afraid of Jesus? Are you afraid of who he is orwhat he says?
Despite the waythat powerful people, ordinary people, and even people who followed Jesusclosely frequently responded to him with fear, is this the way that you and Ishould respond to him today? Was fear the right response?
Jesus does notwant you to be afraid of him – despite his astonishing, divine power,knowledge, and teaching. Here’s how he himself says that you should respond tohim:
First, Jesussays, “Do not fear, only believe” (Mark 5:36). When he said this, he was not referringto being afraid of him. He was referring to being afraid of death, which youwill probably agree is the leading cause of fear and is also the underlyingreason for many other kinds of fear. (For instance, we fear flying in anairplane because we fear dying in a crash.)
In thisinstance, he was speaking to the ruler of a synagogue who was afraid that hisyoung daughter was about to die from illness and there was nothing he could doto heal her.This man was influential and powerful in his community and he wasvery religious, yet he was still afraid of death, afraid of losing his beloveddaughter to the power of death.
How do youovercome the fear of death in all its forms? By believing on Jesus. When youturn from all your other sources of confidence and admit that you need God tofree you from sin and when you trust in Jesus alone instead, then you can feardeath no longer. Don’t be afraid of death, but believe on Jesus instead. Healone has enough authority and power to shield you from death. Have you turnedto Jesus to deliver you from sin and death and to be your God and Saviorforever?
Second, Jesus encouragesthose who have chosen to follow him, “Take heart [be courageous]; it is I. Donot be afraid” (Mark 6:50). He said this as he walked to his disciples on thewaves of the sea in a storm. This reminds us of ourselves when we are stillafraid of things that come our way in the course of Christian life and service.
- YetChrist’s authority and power over nature and over everything else is no reasonto be afraid of him; it is a reason to run to him instead (just as Peter walkedto Jesus on the water).
- What’smore, it is the reason why you should not be afraid to follow whatever he saysand to put his words into practice in your life.
Yes, you maysuffer. Yes, the waves may be large and ominous around you. Yes, you may get“the short end of the stick” in this life in various ways. But take heart and becourageous. Jesus is with you in your trials, and trials will come. But don’tbe afraid to follow him. Run to him instead. His power and authority should notmake you afraid; they should encourage you to embrace him, to rely on him, andto obey him even more.
Consider Hebrews10:22-25. The people who received these words were facing many difficulties infollowing Jesus, the very hardships that Jesus had taught his disciples about(Mark 10:28-31) of which they were afraid (Mark 10:32). Because of thesedifficulties, these believers were either withdrawing from regular involvementwith their church or being tempted to do so. To encourage them in the rightdirection and to correct their fear, the person who was writing encouraged themto draw near to God through Jesus (Heb 10:19). Then he encouraged them todemonstrate this newfound faith and confidence by participating together withtheir church more and more, not less and less – to not be afraid of taking thisstep (Heb 10:25).
Satan wants youto be afraid of believing on Jesus. He wants you to keep on living a life thatis oppressed by sinful habits and hopeless feelings. Don’t be afraid. He is theSon of God with power and authority over all things. This is not a reason to beafraid of him. It is the reason to believe on him today.
Satan alsowants you who have believed on Jesus to be afraid of following his teaching andcalling throughout life. He wants you to be afraid of suffering, afraid oflosing out on what this world offers, and afraid of drawing near to Jesushimself. But don’t be afraid. Whatever God is leading you to do next throughhis Word, you should do it without delay.
[1] Fear-relatedwords such as φοβέω, φόβος, φοβερός, φοβέομαι, φόβητρον, δειλία, δειλός,δειλιάω, ἐκφοβέω, ἔκφοβος, and ταράσσω appear through this book 16 times in 14verses, making this a significant theme throughout the book. See Mark 4:40-41;5:15, 33, 36; 6:20, 50; 9:6, 32; 10:32; 11:18, 32; 12:12; 16:8. Thesereferences do not include other allusions to fear, such as the unnamed youngman who fled from the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested (Mark14:51-52).
[2] James R.Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, The Pillar New TestamentCommentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Eerdmans, 2002), 496.
