Luke 12:4-7 (NIV) “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Even though the Pharisees and teachers of the law had set themselves so fully against Jesus that they were now plotting how to murder Him, that didn’t change Jesus’ plan one bit. He knew that His path led to the cross, and that until that time came the leaders were powerless to cause Him harm.
Jesus wanted His disciples to have the same way of thinking and believing, not just in the short-term while He was with them, but for the rest of their lives. As they continued to spread the gospel, they would always find those who were opposed to them, even violently opposed to them. But they couldn’t allow that to stop them, or to turn them away from the path that God had chosen for them.
At the core of Jesus’s teaching is both sides of a single coin. The first side is appropriate fear. To fear people who can only kill the body instead of fearing and obeying God, who can cast the soul into hell for all eternity, makes no sense if you think about it. If you fear God, on the other hand, your body may be tortured for a time, and even killed, but your soul will ultimately be given rest in God’s presence forever.
The flip side of that coin is God’s care. Jesus knew that God loved Him, and was guiding His steps and protecting Him until His race was completed. Nothing could harm Jesus unless God allowed it, and he knew that God would not allow it unless it materially moved His agenda forward.
In the same way, God has committed Himself to protecting Jesus ‘ followers until their own races were finished, providing for all of their needs, and helping them over all of the hard places until His plan for them was accomplished. During that whole time, nothing will harm them unless God allows it, and they can rest secure in the knowledge that He will not allow it unless it materially moves His agenda forward.
Father, thank You for the encouragement on both sides of this coin. Help me to live secure in the knowledge that You have me firmly in Your hands, just as You did Jesus, just as You did those first followers, and that You will see me through all the way to the finish line, if I will simply stay there. Amen.