“Do not be afraid of anyone.”
-Matthew 10:26
These words of Jesus are addressed to his twelve apostles, whom he has just called and given authority to share in his mission. He knows they will experience setbacks and opposition. He knows most of them will lay down their lives because of their faithfulness to him. And he tells them to not be afraid.
There’s a great episode from The Chosen that depicts this scene – Season Three, episode 2, “The 12 Apostles Find Out They’re the 12 Apostles”. You can a clip of it on The Chosen Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI9AHBcW1Fg
The fearlessness of the Apostles doesn’t come from the fact that everything will be easy for them. It doesn’t come from their wisdom, knowledge and power. It comes from their growing dependence on God the Father, who is gradually being revealed to them by Jesus. God the Father counts the hairs of your head, he knows every sparrow that flies in the sky, and clothes the grass of the fields with beauty every day.
Jesus tells the disciples they will be thrown out of synagogues and rejected by many, that they will be led before kings and tribunals. This will lead to them giving testimony to him. And not only testimony with words – words that Jesus promises they will receive from the Holy Spirit in the time of their need – but with their very lives.
Remember how Israel came out of Egypt carrying unleavened dough on their backs – a sign that they would be fed not by the work of their own hands, but by God, who would provide them bread from heaven?
Remember how David took off the armor offered to him, and faced off against Goliath with just a few stones and his slingshot? True, David was a good shot – but it was his dependence on God that won that day more than his skill at war.
And Jesus sends out the disciples with the clothes on their back, the shoes on their feet, no money bag. Their very appearance is a sign of fearless dependence on God. They will have what they need when they need it. And they are afraid of no one.
Like them, may we also be signs of God’s faithfulness by our fearlessness. Not because of our wisdom and power, but because of the power of the Gospel that has been entrusted to us, the unfailing love of the Father that sustains us, the gifts of the Holy Spirit poured out upon us, and the presence of Jesus himself, who promised to remain with us always, until the end of time.
-Fr. Tom
