JESUS NEVER SAID, "BLESSED ARE THE FEARFUL." Although he showed deep compassion for those who did exhibit fear, Jesus never justified fear. Instead, he showed fear to be groundless through his healing works, which proved each individual's spiritual, unbreakable unity with God.
Jesus' response to people in dire situations remained constant: "Be not afraid." After stilling the fierce storm on the Sea of Galilee, he asked his disciples, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" (Matt. 8:26). And before raising Jairus' daughter from death, Jesus said to those looking on, "Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole" (Luke 8:50).
Why was it so important to Jesus that we "be not afraid"? Perhaps because Jesus understood how fear blinds us to the reality that our life exists only in and of God, indestructible and harmonious—the reality that Jesus demonstrated continuously throughout his ministry of healing. Until his disciples gained this understanding, they were filled with fear at the thought of losing Jesus.
Jesus' disciples had become anxious before the Last Supper, because he had said that soon he was going to leave them. But he also promised them he would not leave them comfortless. That evening, Jesus gave them his most profound teachings about his unity with his heavenly Father. And he reassured them of the unity with God that all have who obey his commandments and follow his teachings.
Twice during that evening Jesus urged the disciples not to be afraid. The first time he said, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me" (John 14:1). The second time he was more imperative and commanded them to "banish [their] fears" (New English Bible, John 14:27).
Unable to fully understand what Jesus was teaching them, the disciples did become afraid of what might happen to him. In this fearful state, they became inattentive to the demands of the hour and were unable to stay awake and stand vigil in prayer with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion (see Matt. 26:36-46).
The disciples also feared for their own safety. For example, when the assembly of scribes and elders was interrogating Jesus, Peter denied knowing Jesus several times.
Not until after Jesus' resurrection did the disciples fully grasp the truth of his teachings about the indestructibility of their spiritual existence in God. At the Pentecost, when the disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost, Peter spoke from a different perspective than he had before Jesus' crucifixion. Peter's fear had apparently left, for with confidence he preached to them about "Jesus [whom] God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses" (Acts 2:32). Just before saying this, Peter reassured the other disciples in the words of the psalmist David that Jesus' "soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption" (Acts 2:31, see Ps. 16:10).
The disciples went on to perform healings on a much higher level than they had been able to before witnessing the resurrected Jesus. The Scriptures report that crowds of people brought to the apostles "the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured" (New Revised Standard Version, Acts 5:16). In one instance, Peter healed a man who had been unable to walk his whole life (Acts 3:1-10), and Peter even raised someone from the dead (Acts 9:36-43).
Jesus expected that not only his disciples but all those who followed his teachings could know the fearless confidence that comes from an understanding of life in God.
I felt terrified. In desperation I reached out to God in prayer.
I experienced the saving power of this understanding many years ago, during my last year of high school. I had stayed late after school one day, waiting for a friend on the men's swim team to finish practice. As we were leaving through a deserted school parking lot, a group of five young men, whom my friend and I had never seen before, approached us. As they got closer, they began taunting my friend. One of them pulled out a knife.
I felt terrified. There was no one else around. Even the fact that my friend was tall and physically strong didn't reassure me.
Walking a couple of steps ahead, I closed my eyes. In desperation I reached out to God in prayer. My deep desire was to become filled with the conviction of our spiritual identity—the reality that not just my friend and I, but that all of us, existed in God. I knew that in this spiritual reality there was only divine Love, God, at work instead of hatred.
An answer to my prayer quickly came, because I suddenly became filled with a deep and holy conviction that at that very moment we were all united harmoniously in God. Standing there with my eyes closed, I remember feeling an inner sense of light and radiance surrounding all of us. I believe that this light was God's reassurance to me that He was with us all and that I didn't have to be afraid.
After maybe two or three minutes, one of the young men told the one with the knife to put it away and leave us alone. He did, and they all walked away.
As we continued walking out of the parking lot, my friend seemed shaken. Feeling deeply grateful for God's protection, I felt impelled to tell him that I had been praying and that I felt it was God's presence and power that had dissolved this potentially dire situation. I couldn't know for certain, but it seemed that my friend, a self-professed atheist, was now a bit more open to the idea God's existence.
Jesus' command to be unafraid is not one that only a few brave souls can obey. The good news of the Gospel is that God enables all of us to be fearless by lifting our consciousness to a higher level of spiritual understanding of the divine Life, where we dwell—an understanding that heals. When Jesus commanded us not to be afraid, he knew that we would be enabled by God to follow through.
