Christian Articles Archive
Fear Not! A Savior Is Born
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
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on Colossians after Easter
Gerard (Gerrit) van Honthorst (1590–1656),
Adoration of the Shepherds (Die Anbetung der Hirten, Adorazione
dei Pastori, 1622). 164 x 190 cm,
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne.
Larger image. |
"Fear not! Do not be
afraid!" The angel spoke these words to Zachariah, to Mary, to Joseph, and
finally to a group of shepherds on a hillside near Bethlehem.
"Do
not be afraid; for behold I bring you good news of great joy for all the
people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the
Messiah, the Lord."1
Do Not Be Afraid
Fear has a way of tying our
stomachs up in knots, paralyzing our thinking, inducing panic. Fear, and its
cousin worry, can capture our hearts when we see ourselves caught in a vortex of
disasters beyond our control.
In the Sermon on the Mount
Jesus talks about tiny, defenseless sparrows in the context of fear and worry:
"Therefore
I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink... Look
at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and
yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"2
In another place he reassures
his followers:
"Don't
be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."3
Fear Drives a Downward Spiral
During this Christmas 2008
the entire world is caught in the grip of an economic down-spiral. Houses are
being foreclosed on. People are losing jobs. Factories are closing. Food costs
in some countries have risen 25%.
More and more you glimpse a
kind of bleak fear in people's eyes. Will I lose my house? My job? What will
become of us if this recession deepens into a depression? How will I feed my
family?
Though it's been quoted so
often that it's become a cliché, Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke these words to
a nation at the depth of the Great Depression:
"Let
me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself --
nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to
convert retreat into advance."4
Fear can grip us, choke
all faith out of our hearts. Fear also drives economic depression. Fear causes
companies to contract and people to stop buying. It causes runs on banks and
panic on Wall Street. FDR reminded a nation that fear itself constitutes a large
part of the problems we face.
It was as true in 1933 as it was
on the first Christmas.
On the First Christmas
For on that first Christmas,
the world was in desperate times, too. A census is being conducted in order to
raise already high taxes. Murderous, paranoid Herod the Great is king of the
Jews. It is winter on Bethlehem's hillsides -- and cold. Inside a cave in the
town sit a
poverty-stricken carpenter and his young wife -- far from home, chilled to the bone. She
is in labor. Her child will be born in a stable, of all places. Why is it like
this? she may have asked.
And then she recalls an echo
of the angel's words to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary...."5
A Savior Is Born
On the windswept hillsides
outside of town, shepherds are huddling, too. All of a sudden the sky lights up
and an angel proclaims:
"Fear
not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all
people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is
Christ the Lord."6
Fear not. The shepherds' fear
is turned to joy as they hear news that a Savior is born. The Messiah! In
Bethlehem, the city of David himself!
And so they run down the
hillsides into the town and hurry from stable to stable until they find the Child
in the manger, just as they have been told. Tucked in that manger, wrapped in
swaddling clothes against the cold, is the Savior himself.
The Savior Will Provide
Nicolaes Maes (Dutch painter, 1634-1693), detail of "Old
Woman at Prayer," known as "Prayer without End" (1656), oil on canvas,
134 x 113 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Larger image. |
A Savior comes to rescue
people in danger, preserve those who are threatened by harm, and protect his
people from the troubles that surround them. That's what saviors do! That's
what Jesus came to do for us.
Do not be afraid because God
has sent a Savior to us -- Jesus Christ the Lord. He is the One who will:
- Never leave us or forsake
us.7
- Supply all our needs
according to his riches in glory.8
- Add to us all the things we
need as we seek him and his Kingdom.9
Christmas Is About a Savior
Our world doesn't know. They
think that Christmas is about gifts under a tree and a spirit of good cheer,
with Christmas dinner and family around the table. But as good as all that
may be, it isn't nearly as good as the Real Christmas.
The Real Christmas message is
this: God has sent a Savior for you. To save you from your sins and to help you
in this life -- to lift your burden and ease your fears. That's it! A Savior
who is Christ the Lord -- God himself!
The world is gripped by fear.
But fear's hold has been broken in those of us who believe the angel's words:
"Fear
not ... for a Savior is born to you -- Christ the Lord!"
Joyful Heart Renewal Ministries
JesusWalk®
Publications
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Director
Contact Information
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