What Mark 4:35-41 tells us about fear and how to respond to it

This week’s readings have discussed the overriding importance of staying close to God. We’ve seen how vital it is to not let fear, preoccupation with worldly things, and even otherwise legitimate things get between us and what God desires of us. Today’s reading, Mark 4:35-41, gives additional insights into one of those potentially distracting things—fear—and illustrates several encouraging things about it.

One is that even godly, faithful, folks experience fear and that it does not disqualify them from relationship with God. Here we see that the disciples—people who literally dedicated their lives to following Jesus—experienced great fear. We see that elsewhere in the gospels, during other storms and in connection with Jesus' passion.  But Jesus did not give up on them; He still loved and used them. So do not despair when you experience fear; fear does not equal failure and doubt does not equal disqualification.  

Another thing this reading shows us is to bring our fears to God; prayer is a powerful response to fear. Here, the disciples brought their fears to Jesus, prayer in its most direct form, and received peace. That is consistent with what we see in Philippians 4:6-7  and  1 Peter 5:7; those verses tell us that we receive peace when we bring our fears to God. So go to God when you are scared, you will experience peace from the very process of sharing your fear with Him. The fear causing circumstances may not be immediately changed, but your ability to deal with them will be. 

 Finally, this reading shows that we do not have to be shy about bringing our fears to God; we can express our fear without inhibition.  The Greek word translated in a very understated way as “said” in verse 38 actually connotes a much stronger communication. It describes commanding, exhorting, speaking emphatically. Jesus didn’t reject the disciples or their plea because of that. In fact, he later instructed them to be bold in presenting their concerns to God. Luke 11:5-8, Luke 18:1-8. We see that elsewhere in scripture, God’s faithful servants presented raw emotion to Him and did so with great intensity, but God was not offended. 1 Samuel 1:4-28, Psalm 55:1-8, Psalm 42:2-4.   Relatedly, Romans 8:26-27 assures us that we can bring our raw emotions to God even if we are so upset that we cannot clearly articulate them. So do not pull your punches with God, pour your heart out to Him.

 

Prayer:

Lord, draw us to you when we are afraid. Do not let our fear separate us from you, but help us boldly cast our cares on you. 

 

Fear does not equal Failure and Doubt does not equal Disqualification

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

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16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:5-10, 16-20 (emphasis added)

Woven into the great good news of the resurrection is the sub-theme that Jesus uses us despite our fears and doubts. We see that in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ response to the women who first discovered His resurrection and some of His disciples’ doubts.

To fully appreciate what’s going on there we must consider what preceded it.  The women and the disciples had been with Jesus for three years, immersed in His powerful teaching and witnessing His great miracles, including several instances where raised the dead. Indeed, they had participated in and were direct beneficiaries  of  some of His miracles. Further, and of particular importance here, Jesus had repeatedly told told them that He would be murdered and resurrected. They therefore should have known that His death would not be the end of things. 

Yet, being human, they were overwhelmed by the traumatic circumstances of Jesus' death and the apparent failure of all they had lived for. They lost sight of Jesus’ plan and experienced fear and doubt, even in the face of powerful evidence that what Jesus said was going to happen was actually happening.  In short, they didn’t “get it,” their perception was clouded.

But rather than giving up on or condemning them, Jesus understood their frailty and continued to use them. He gave them immediate missions (to tell the others about the resurrection, to meet Jesus at a particular place), and that lead to their being restored to very fruitful service.

         So what does that meant to us, 21 centuries later? At least two things.

First, it shows us that God uses us in spite of fears and doubts, that our human failings do not disqualify us from effective service.  Jesus’ patience with the women’s fear and the disciples' doubts are part of a broader pattern of God getting us past our initial fears/doubts and using us in spite of them.  Abraham, Moses,  Gideon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Mary, Peter, and Ananias each had initial doubts about what God called them to do, and God used them in spite of those, and even later, doubts.

Second, it shows us how we should respond to those fears and doubts: by taking the immediate next step God asks of us. The women did that by relaying the message Jesus gave them, in spite of their own fear. The doubting disciples showed up where Jesus told them to meet Him. Neither were huge tasks, but both got those folks past their fears/doubts and back into the pattern of productive service.

Mary’s Grit & God’s Compassion--1:26-38

Two things have always struck me about this passage. One is Mary’s courage. Not only did Mary show tremendous faith in taking on the awesome task God asked of her, she handled the very stressful encounter described here with remarkable composure. The other is God’s grace in helping her through this.  Several things stand out:

 

1.  Mary is very brave. Other accounts of Gabriel’s appearances indicate that he is a terrifying creature who incites strong, sometimes debilitating, reactions.  Daniel 8:15-18, 27  and Luke 1:11-12 While Mary is “greatly troubled,” v. 29, she keeps her composure far better than the other, more mature, folks Gabriel appeared to. Maybe that’s why God chose her to be Jesus’ mother; she was going to have to go through some very tough stuff.

 

2. We should not be surprised that God selected someone as brave as Mary to be Jesus’ mother. His word consistently stresses that we need fortitude to accomplish all that He calls us to. Scriptures reflecting that are collected here.  Those scriptures, and this passage, illustrate that the path to God’s greatest blessings/works is often scary. 

 

3. God therefore helps us deal with the doubts that might undermine fortitude, doubts that naturally arise, when He calls us to challenging tasks. We see an example of that here in God providing the sign/proof about Elizabeth’s unlikely pregnancy. Luke 1:36-37. It follows a pattern we see regarding His calls:

a. God sometimes provides initial signs to build faith as the person He calls starts on the big, daunting, task God calls him to. We see that in the call of Gideon (Judges 6:11-40) and Moses (Exodus 3:7-4:17).

b. God likely does that because He knows our weakness/fears, Psalm 103:13-14, and gives us the help we need to overcome them. 1 Corinthians 10:13.

 

4. The nature of the sign God gives via Elizabeth’s pregnancy is also worth noting. It was meant as a proof of the promises He just made, but it could not immediately have had that effect because it relied on a fact Mary could not immediately verify. Its full ratifying effect could only occur later, when the existence of that fact is confirmed.  We see that pattern elsewhere in scripture; God points to a future occurrence as proof of His present declaration. See e.g.Exodus 3:11-12 and John 2:18-22. What do we make of that?

a. God recognizes and accommodates the flagging nature of our faith. He realizes that the trust that immediately results from an encounter with Him will subside over time. He also knows that the work He gives us to do will outlast that initial trust. He therefore gives us something to recall in the future to revive trust. 

b. It is reassuring because it illustrates that our initial lack of comprehension does not preclude our eventual effectiveness. Mary probably didn’t understand what God was talking about when He brought up Elizabeth’s pregnancy, but that did not stop her from fulfilling the mission God gave her. We see the same dynamic in the Disciples’ initial incomprehension of Jesus’ statements about his upcoming death and resurrection. They didn’t get it when those statements were made, See Mark 9:31-31 and Luke 24:1-8, but that didn’t stop them from ultimately getting done what God called them to. A similar dynamic is discussed at “Fear does not equal Failure and Doubt does not equal Disqualification.”

 

Prayer

Father, help us to recall Mary’s courage when you call us to difficult things or put us in unsettling situations. Please extend the same sort of graces to us that you did to Mary when we are unsettled. We ask this in the name of Mary’s Son, Jesus. 

 

This reflection was excerpted from What We Can Learn From Jesus' Nativity: The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38).   The complete version of that reflection and other meditations related to Jesus’ birth are collected at What We Can Learn from Jesus' Nativity: The Annunciation through Simeon & Anna.  

God reaches out to draw us to Him in spite of our shortcomings, His scriptures are one way He does that (readings for April 15, 2018)

Key:

What these passages tell us about God

What these passages tell us to do

Commentary

Hyperlink

Reading 1 ACTS 3:13-15, 17-19

Peter said to the people: "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in Pilate's presence when he had decided to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. The author of lifeyou put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.

Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did; but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away."

Responsorial Psalm PS 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9

R. (7a) Lord, let your face shine on us.
When I call, answer me, O my just God, you who relieve me when I am in distress; have pity on me, and hear my prayer!
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
Know that the LORD does wonders for his faithful one; the LORD will hear me when I call upon him.
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
O LORD, let the light of your countenance shine upon us! You put gladness into my heart.
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.
As soon as I lie down, I fall peacefully asleep, for you alone, O LORD, bring security to my dwelling.
R. Lord, let your face shine on us.

Reading 2 1 JN 2:1-5A

My children, I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.

The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his commandments.
Those who say, "I know him," but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him.

Alleluia CF. LK 24:32

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us; make our hearts burn while you speak to us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 24:35-48

The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you."But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see,because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have." And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.  While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them.

He said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled."Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.And he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

Today’s readings stress two themes:

1.    First and foremost, God wants relationship with us in spite of our sin, our lack of comprehension, our lack of faith. That is shown here by the fact Jesus did not condemn His disciples when they failed to “get” what had happened in His passion and resurrection (Gospel). It is also shown here through Peter’s approach to the unbelieving/uncomprehending people of Jerusalem; He does not write them off but extends God’s offer of forgiveness and reconciliation to them (first reading).  St John explains one of the ways that God reconciles us to Himself in spite of our sin(second reading). This dynamic is further explored in Fear does not equal Failure and Doubt does not equal Disqualification. 

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2.    Second, the scriptures give us the means to more fully understand—and receive—God’s love.  One of the ways Jesus brings peace to his distraught/confused disciples is to use the Old Testament scriptures to help them understand what He has been through (gospel). Peter likewise invokes the prophets to help the residents of Jerusalem obtain reconciliation with God (First reading). St. John stresses the blessing that come from focusing on, and adhering to, the principles laid out in scripture (Second reading).  That dynamic is further discussed in James 1:21-25and ¶¶ 15, 156-157 of Pope Francis’  very enlightening exhortation, GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE ("Rejoice and be Glad").