Today's Gospel

Do Not Be Afraid

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where we are exploring the genius of the gospel and looking for a word, phrase, idea each day to anchor our lives, to anchor that day, to think about throughout the day. Let's get connected to the Holy Spirit. Let's invite the Holy Spirit to come and inspire us. You listen for your word, phrase, or idea. I will listen for mine. Today's reading is from Matthew chapter 28 verses 8 through 15. So, they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Hail." And they came up and took a hold of His feet and worshipped Him. And then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sum of money to the soldiers and said, "Tell people His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep. And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

So Jesus has just risen from the dead. This is the first encounter anybody has had with Him. And what does Jesus say to the women? He says, "Do not be afraid." The most repeated phrase in the New Testament, the most repeated phrase in the Old Testament, the most common phrase that comes from the mouth of Jesus is not love one another, is not any of all the other ones we think it might be, it is do not be afraid. Why? He senses that we are. He senses that fear is an obstacle. He senses that fear is something human beings fall into and actually fall into quite easily. And so He counsels them again, "Don't be afraid. It's going to be all right. I'm here still." And of course, the other thing that strikes me in today's reading is the Pharisees. Immediate reaction is not to say, "Okay, what happened here?" Not to say, "Okay, maybe He was the Messiah. "Maybe He did rise from the dead. "Maybe He was the Son of God." Their immediate reaction is to draw the soldiers into a lie and to bribe them to perpetuate that lie. They say, "Here's the money. If anyone asks, tell them His disciples came in the night and stole His body away while we were sleeping." There are times in our own lives where we're just not interested in the truth. We're so interested in forcing our own agenda that we don't even pause to think about, "Okay, what is true here? What is good here? What is the right thing to do here?"

Let's be mindful of that today. Have an amazing day. Remember, do not just be yourself. People say all the time, just be yourself. No, be the very best version of yourself; all that God created you to be.