In beginning of this study we must keep in mind the context of what Jesus is speaking about here. If we go back into chapter 11, Jesus began to condemn the Pharisees and scholars of Judaism for their hypocritical religious beliefs and actions. We then moved into this chapter in our last study that opened up with a warning from our Lord where He said in Luke 12:1b “Be on your guard for the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”
It was what Jesus said here that guides us in this section as well. The religious leaders had all of the knowledge, power and authority over the common people. Most people could not read Hebrew and struggled to have the opportunity to educate themselves further. This gave power to the religious system that had been corrupted by the religious leaders of this movement.
The section we will deal with shows us that we are to not be worried in times of going against the religious leaders of our time as long as we are following the commands of Jesus. Jesus points out this very clearly here. The religious leaders in Jesus’ time would cast people out of the synagogues and their religion if they did not agree with all that they taught and did. This could have been fearful to many because this meant more than just moving to another local synagogue, this meant you would be cast out of social events, if you had a business your business would be shut down, you would be looked at as an outcast and a pagan.
With this in mind Jesus addresses the need to fear only God. We will look at this in 3 points that will show us that having a healthy fear of God is primary in our life as a Christian. This is something that we need to address in our time as well with government overstepping boundaries of freedom and even religious denominations turning against what the Bible says. We need to put this as the focus of our life now and not wait until the problem arises. Let’s look now at our first point for this study.
1.Fearing God NOT MAN.
Look with me at Luke 12:4-5 that says But I say to you, My friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will show you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!
To start off we must define the word fear that we see 5 times in these 4 verses. This is a word we have seen many times in our study of Luke, at least a form of this word. It is the Greek word phobeó (fob-eh’-o) which means to withdraw or flee because of feeling inadequate. This word is where we get the word phobia so that gives to us some idea of what this word is related to. But the primary focus of this word is that what we are fleeing from has power over us. This understanding is highly important in knowing what fearing God means.
It does not mean we are frightened to the point that we will never want to be in His presence but rather knowing that when we come into His presence we are in the presence of deity and not man. To fear God is to reverence God, to fear God is to know that God is holy and we are not. As we will see, this connection is in context of Jesus speaking against the false religious system of Judaism and the leaders of Judaism.
Jesus says first in verse 4 to not fear those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. This is in the context of the religious leaders that He has been condemning. Jesus knew of course that true followers of His will face this reality of being thrown out of the synagogue. This really has already been something that the religious leaders had made clear to the people. Just a little earlier in the Judean ministry of Jesus this was an issue. This is not recorded in Luke but it is recorded in John.
In the context of John 9, Jesus came upon a man that had been blind since birth. Jesus heals this man which could not be refuted in any way. The neighbors of the man and all that saw him as a beggar knew that this man was blind and now able to see. People began to question him of how he was healed or if he was actually healed at all. The question was, is this the man that was born blind or has Jesus fabricated this miracle?
So they brought him and eventually the parents of this man to question them before the Pharisees. After questioning him they turn to the parents asking in John 9:19 “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?”
The answer they give in seen in John 9:20-21 that says “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.”
The problem seems to be that they do know that he was born blind and now able to see but they did not give an answer to how. It wasn’t that they didn’t know how because they could have easily been there at the time of the miracle. John 9:22-23 says His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. 23 For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”
They feared the religious leaders because of their power to remove them from the synagogue which would uproot every connection they had in business and religion. In fact they continued to question this once blind man but he would not play to their fear tactics. He continually showed his commitment to the truth of what happened to him from the power that Jesus had. At the end of all of it John 9:34 records what the Pharisees did to this man, it says They answered and said to him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.
The fact is that when you are truly following Jesus you will be in opposition to man-made religion and to the false world view of what Christianity should be to them. Truly following God leads us to not fear man but God. It is for that reason Jesus says in Luke 12:5 But I will show you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!
This statement shows to us the sovereignty of God. God’s sovereignty shows up in more way than just His foreordaining of things. It shows up in His ability to do what no other can do. No religious leader, no political leader or any person is able to cast you into hell. Only God has that power to do so. We can not cast people into hell and we can’t cast ourselves into hell because we wouldn’t even know where it is to start with. The idea is that we are to have a healthy fear of God. This starts with knowing we are nothing but sinful people that needs God’s mercy and grace. It is with this that we understand that God should be feared. This moves us to look at 2 other points for us to consider concerning our fear of God.
2.Fearing God because of HIS AUTHORITY.
Look again with me at Luke 12:5 that says But I will show you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!
So in this point we look into what verse 5 says here. Jesus shows us that we fear God not because we are afraid of Him in the sense of something scary but rather because of His authority. But it isn’t just His authority over all things that Jesus points out here. Jesus points out specifically that we are to fear because God has the authority to cast into hell.
Some people will believe in a god that does not send to hell. They believe in an all loving God that saves all people. But that is not something that is ever taught in Scripture and this verse here specifically shows to us that is not the case. God not only has the authority to do so but will do so. For those that do not believe this needs to understand the Scripture concerning this. Look with me at what 2 Peter 2:4-10a says For if God did not spare angels who sinned, but cast them into the pit and delivered them to chains of darkness, being kept for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; 7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who go after the flesh in its corrupt lust and despise authority.
Peter says this and even more in this letter about the fact that there were not only angels that God didn’t spare but that there will be people as well that He will not spare but cast into to hell as well. This is not some type of scare tactic in hopes that people will make some profession of faith in God but rather in hopes that we will recognize our inability to escape the wrath of God unless we repent and turn to God in Christ alone.
To fear God because of His authority to cast into hell is a primary act from a true believer. It is that you recognize that your sinfulness will bring the penalty of condemnation on you. It shows that you know that God is just in sending you to hell because that is what you deserve. This gives to us confidence that if we fear God in this way, repent and believe then we will be saved. Proverbs 14:26-27 says In the fear of Yahweh there is strong security, And his children will have refuge. 27 The fear of Yahweh is a fountain of life, To turn aside from the snares of death.
To fear God is to trust God, to fear God is to honor and worship God for the fact that He has given to you the mercy and grace that you do not deserve. This leads us to look at another point of why we fear God in our last point for this study.
3.Fearing God because of HIS PROVISION.
Look with me at Luke 12:6-7 that says Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
As we look at this in the context we remember that these warnings are in light of the fact that if you truly follow Christ then you will be disassociated from many things in society. For some of us that live in the United States and other countries with the same type of governing system we have less of this type of activity. But for many in our world this is a reality. In fact this was an almost an immediate reality for the followers of Christ after His resurrection and ascension. They would be hunted down by religious people to be imprisoned, beat and even killed for their faith in Christ. They would be ousted by the authority of the Roman empire for simply having faith in Christ and denouncing the Caesars as gods.
But Jesus reminds them and us as well that they are not the ones to fear. Jesus shows that God is the One that provides and it is not dependent upon the religious establishment or the government. Jesus says in Luke 12:6-7a Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
In other words, don’t forget Who is in charge. Don’t forget Who it is that we should fear and honor. It is God who is in charge and has every detail under His control. If God takes care of the sparrow then in fact He will take care of us. I know there has been times in my life when I truly forgot this. I have been in fear of how things will end up or how I could live life because of a negative situation going on in my life. It is a reality that we will all face at one time or another. But we need to remember the word that Jesus speaks next in Luke 12:7b where He says Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
Once again the immediate message was to the disciples. This message was to not fear because even though you will be cast out, even though the religious system will hunt you down, even though they will try to shut you down in every way possible, God is still in charge. God is still the provider and the One that has the authority.
I believe that many in the church today has lost their sense of fear for God. Many live in sin openly, many speak like the world, watch the world’s shows, listens to the world’s music, desires the world’s fashion and live as if they fear being left out of the world’s goods. When in reality we need to live in fear of God. Live for what God wants in spite of the world’s views or their threats. I hope to grow in this area and I hope to see the church to grow in this area as well.
Disciple's Direction 