Fear Not?

Often times Jesus has to say to his disciples or those who follow him, "Do not fear."  During the storm the disciples seem to be scared out of there minds.  They freak.  They wake Jesus and he asks them, "Why are you so fearful?"  And here we see that Jesus doesn’t understand our situation.  That must be what the disciples thought – "Man Jesus just doesn’t get it."

To us Lutheran’s Jesus really doesn’t seem to get it.  The disciples are looking for comfort, for Gospel, and Jesus gives them law.  He says, "Do not fear."  But they we’re afraid.  We too have our worries and fears and Christ says not to do it.  Don’t worry about anything.

But then what are we to do?  We aren’t doing what the Lord is commanding.  He says "Fear not."  That’s an imperative, that is, something to be done.  But it isn’t.  We go off and the storm comes, and Jesus says "Do not fear."  We tend, at such times, to pull a dimwitted disciple answer, "But you don’t understand….."

But he does.  He came and lived the truth that God is interested in us, that God is here, that God is and will be on the scene, and that we are men of little faith.  Not that Christ had little faith, but we see by his example what we ought to do – not fear.

But even though the disciples had little faith, even though they lost there senses, Christ calms the storm.  In our lives too the Lord calms our storms.  He calms the gale-force winds with which the devil, the world, and our flesh assault us.  He calms there terrible deadly waves with his own deadly wave which doesn’t just leave us dead, as the devil’s does, but the Lord’s wave kills AND makes alive.  Though we fear many things he even feeds us his own body and blood which rejuvenate our strength so that we can with stand the assaults which come our way.

He does this not only for those who do not fear, but even for those of us who do fear, fret, and loose our senses.  Whether the fear be great or small it is removed in the blood of Christ.  Christ says, "Fear not!"  And sometimes we say, "Yes," but most of the time we say, "No."  One thing, however, is that for both answers Christ says, "It is finished!"  And to this we cling, lest our fear over take us.