The second portion of John 11 has a tremendous interplay of faith and fear. There is the faithfulness of Jesus in raising Lazarus, and then the fear of the Sanhedrin in response to Christ's resurrection.
Fear is a powerful force, and the opposite of faith. Faith fuels the courage to step into the unknown because of confidence in what (or who) you know. Fear siphons that courage and keeps us stuck. Faithful is the response to Jesus that follows and imitates. Fearful is the response to Jesus that says "but what if this costs me everything I have?"
Fear is natural. The Sanhedrin, tasked with the preservation of Old Testament faith, had every reason to be scared. The Romans were increasingly intolerant of the Jews, and the Romans had already taken several steps to ensure that they controlled significant aspects of the Jewish faith (including the attachment of the palace of King Herod, a Roman plant, to the Temple). One more major uprising (especially from a guy who opposed the religious devout) could have easily spelled doom.
That vision of the world, however, is minus a consideration of God. The activity of a loving and faithful God doesn't fit into a world of fear. When we are afraid, the world becomes a big and powerful place and God is subject to the whims of the world. However, if we can introduce the truth that God is greater than our fears, the power of fear gives way to the hope of faith.
What are your stories of faith and fear?
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