Summary
Fear Not
There is a meaningful difference between being scared and living in fear. Something that scares us startles us, makes us jump, perhaps sends us the other way—and then we move on with our day. Fear is different. Fear hooks into the brain. It produces incessant thinking, worrying, and dread that stands in front of the mind at all hours. It wakes us in the night, races our heart, and grips the entire being. Fear interferes with everything.
Franklin Roosevelt's famous line—"the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"—captures something true about how fear paralyzes, but it also drives us back into a kind of fear about fear: Do I fear too much? Not enough? Just right? Scripture answers differently. The only thing we have to fear is not fear itself; rather, in God we are called to fear not. The opening word to Joshua at the brink of the promised land puts it plainly: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go" Joshua 1:9. Joshua faced very real threats—hostile peoples, an unknown future, the death of Moses—and three times the Lord commanded him to courage grounded not in himself but in God's presence.
At its root, fear is a matter of trust. The First Commandment begins, "I am the LORD your God. You shall have no other gods before me" Exodus 20:2-3. Luther's explanation in the Small Catechism teaches that this means we should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. When fear of frogs, of flying, of the unknown, of loss, of death takes the throne of the heart, that fear has become an idol. We end up fearing, loving, and trusting the very thing we cannot control, and it weighs down the whole being. In our sin, we cling to what we know and what we think we can manage—but in truth we control nothing: not what others think, not how others act, not even our own fears.
Only one in all of history has had complete authority and control: Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. "I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord" John 10:17-18. With full authority He set His face toward Jerusalem. With full control He sweat blood in Gethsemane and went to the cross. He did not trust His fear; He did not trust that Rome or the religious leaders or the devil would have the final word. He trusted the Father, and He laid down His life so that His righteousness could be exchanged for our sin. Because He rose from the tomb and lives even now, fear has been emptied of its claim on us.
This is why John can write, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment… We love because he first loved us" 1 John 4:18-19. The full punishment fell on Christ. The love of the Father, given through the blood of the Son and sealed in us by the Holy Spirit through the waters of Baptism, is the foundation on which fear cannot stand.
So the command to Joshua reaches us as well. To "be strong" is to grow firm; to "be courageous" is to be determined and persistent; "do not be frightened" means there is no need to tremble; "do not be dismayed" means do not be shattered or broken. And the reason given is not a strategy or a feeling but a Person: the Lord your God is with you wherever you go—every moment of your existence this side of heaven, you do not go alone. Cling to that promise, and hear the command of the gospel: Fear Not.
Video citations
- "Fear Not" 1-5-25 — Here. Here. What are you afraid of? This is a real ass ask. So tell me, what are you afraid of? Frogs? Okay. That's okay. No judgment. No judgment. What are you afraid of? Flying. Okay. I know that…