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Today we are continuing to study Jesus’ command to His disciples, found in John 6:16-21.
Let’s read the passage together.
“It is I; don’t be afraid.”
Do not be afraid.
Four words that are so easy to say, but so difficult for us to follow.
We all deal with fear in our lives.
It is one of the first effects of sin entering this world.
Adam and Eve dealt with it.
Their children dealt with it, their children’s children dealt with it, and so forth right down to our grandparents, our parents, and now we deal with it in our own, daily lives.
Fear grips us when we least expect it, and it comes in all the familiar times and places.
Fear keeps us from things, and separates us from friends and family.
Fear is destructive.
As we examine the fears in our lives, we find some fears that are common to others… fear of the dark, fear of what other will think of me, fear of heights, fear of death.
Yet we also find that our fears are personal.
What I fear is not what you fear.
The degree to which I fear is greater than you .
What I fear may seem ridiculous to you.
What you fear may be ridiculous to me.
Get over it already.
We don’t like it.
We do not want to be afraid.
We realize how bad fear is, and we do not like what it does to us.
We try many techniques that the world says will help us overcome our fears: think about something else; consider the facts; calm yourself, your physical response to fear; face your fears... Yet, we are still afraid.
Is this all there is? Living with fear all our days?
No. Jesus came to give us life, eternal life.
And the way he describes the eternal life He gives is this way…
Fear is a thief that robs us of life, kills us slowly and destroys us from the inside out.
Jesus came that we may have life and have it to the full.
Jesus knows us, and came to give us a greater life, a life where we no longer have to live in fear.
Jesus came and died for our sin, taking the punishment we deserve for our sin, and rising from the dead to give us a new resurrected, powerful life.
One in which we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness and the freedom that comes from righteousness.
But what does His death for my sin have to do with my fear?
Well, let’s consider our fears.
This was the homework from last week.
We were to consider our fears, and answer the questions Jesus asked of His disciples when they were in fear.
What John records in chapter 6 is not the first time Jesus and His disciples were in a storm on the sea of Galilee.
Matthew records the other instance in chapter 8 of his gospel.
On that occasion, when His disciples were fearful of dying in the storm,
“Why are you so afraid?”
Jesus asked them, “Why are you so afraid?”
What is it that we fear?
First, we only fear for what we love.
His disciples were loving something.
There was something very dear to them, and when they were in the storm, they started to predict what was going to happen next… “We are going to die!”
What did they love?
Their lives!
Sounds reasonable doesn’t it?
How many of us would be just like them?
I would.
Well, Jesus knew what was in their hearts, yet He still asked the question.
I believe He asked it for their benefit, to have them look into their hearts.
“Why are you so afraid?”
We need to answer the question Jesus asked of His disciples.
We need to ask, “Why am I so afraid?”
“What is it that I love so much that I am so afraid?”
We do not fear for things we do not love or cherish.
How many of us were fearful of tropical storm that was heading toward the gulf coast last week?
We were not fearful because we do not cherish those people’s homes.
But if a storm was coming to our neighborhood, we may be fearful, for our home… not our neighbors’ homes.
Fear shows me what I love.
If we are having trouble deciphering what we love, we can consider, “Why am I so afraid?
What am I predicting?”
Just as the disciples’ prediction, “We are going to die,” showed what they loved, so too, our predictions show what we are loving in that fear.
Our predictions not only show what we love, but our predictions feed our fears.
Our predictions act like miracle grow for our fear.
Have you ever experienced that?
The more you think about your fear, and what is going to happen, the more fearful you become, right?
Yet if we were honest, in a time when we are clear-minded, we do not know the future, and our predictions have not come true.
We have a really bad track record when it comes to our predictions.
So, why do we do that?
Why give and listen to our predictions which do not help, but only make things worse?
Because even though we have been proven to be false prophets on so many occasions, we trust ourselves, and our predictions!
Our fear show us what we love.
Our fear shows us what we care about most.
Our fear shows us how we tend to predict, and feed the flames of our fears concerning the things we love, and how we do not want to lose those things we love.
Our fears and predictions show us what we trust most, ourselves.
That leads us to our next question, the one Jesus asked on the second occasion when the disciples were caught in a storm on the sea of Galilee.
Well, lets move on to the next question Jesus asked.
This question was from the second storm, the one John recorded.
However it was in what Matthew recorded that happened with Peter specifically.
“Why did you doubt?”
Peter heard Jesus say, “It is I; don’t be afraid.”
Then, Peter, said if it is you, then tell me to come to you.
Jesus said, “Come.”
Peter believed Jesus, got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus!
Then, he saw the wind, was afraid and began to sink.
Jesus saved Peter and then asked, “Why did you doubt?”
To doubt something means you were not trusting.
Fears show us what we are truly trusting.
My fear shows me who or what I am trusting.
In some cases, it is another person.
My fear shows me most often that I am trusting myself.
However, I know my limitations, and therefore I doubt myself and my ability to handle this situation, therefore, I give in to fear and predict, “I’m going to fail! I’m gonna die!”
When we are in fear, we see that we are not trusting God.
We say we trust Him.
However, if we are honest, when we are in fear, we are not trusting Him.
We say we are trusting God… but if we were truly trusting would we be afraid?
NO.
Living in our fear shows that we are not trusting in God.
Fear is an enemy, and we want to be free!
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