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.
