Was Jesus Afraid?

After my ankles and wrists were nailed to the wood there on the hill outside of Jerusalem, a soldier nailed a plaque above my head. The plaque said “King of the Jews.” It wasn’t some official sign, just something these young soldiers carved right there in front of me. They were young and naïve, they didn’t know what they were doing. But when I saw that word “King” it reminded of a time when this huge mass of people surrounded my followers and me. We taught them. We healed them. And then we fed them. Once we fed them food, the people became a sort of mob. They wanted more and more, pressing us back, back, back toward the water’s edge. Then they began shouting “Our new king! Our new king!” I told my closest followers to get on one of our boats and sale to the other side. They couldn’t wait to leave! “Thank God,” one of them shouted. I just laughed at that. As they sailed away I heard one say, “Jesus is laughing! Isn’t he afraid of all of those people?” Should I be afraid of getting stepped on? Maybe so. It was a lot of people! Or should I be fearful that they might actually make me a “king”, expecting me to dole out food whenever they need it? Expecting me to be a kind of warrior-ruler who would use sheer power to get things done? Well, that is not what I was sent by God to do, so I can see where the “our new king” chant might make a person fearful.

You might be wondering, “Was Jesus ever afraid?” I was human—I felt anger, I felt love, I felt sadness, and yes, I felt fear. But perfect love actually casts out fear. When God enters the very core of who you are, there is much less room for fear. Let me tell you the rest of the story about that day when we fed the crowd.

A storm kicked-up right after my friends set sail. You can imagine how scared they were. I walked out to them and got in the boat with them. Now they were freaked out not only by the storm but because they couldn’t figure out how I got all the way out there to them. I just said “Do not fear, I am.” When these guys talked about it later, they mixed-up what I really said. They reported me saying “Do not fear, it is I.” That’s not what I said. I said “Do not fear, I am”…the Greek words I used were “ego amee”. It was God speaking through me! God was using the same two words—ego amee—on my followers in their fear that God used with Moses in his time of fear…God told Moses “I Am.” At that point, Moses calmed down and was able to listen to God. And after I spoke those words, my followers calmed down too. Be still and know that “I Am”, God says to us all when we are afraid.

So, was I afraid of the mobs, the trials, the torture, the nails…dieing even? Yes, but only for a short while. Perfect love casts out fear. That’s what your Bible will tell you in 1 John 4:18. Peace to you, my new followers!