Theology

Filled with Wonder or Fear?

Fear is an emotion common to man, so common that the command most often repeated in Scripture is some form of “fear not.” But, fear isn’t always sinful. A friend recently shared that when she lived in upstate New York, coyotes ran rampant near her family’s farm, and more than once, she started to open the back door only to see a coyote standing on her porch. Healthy, God-given fear told her NOT to open the door, and she wisely listened! In a recent article, “Fear is Not Sin” Dr. Ed Welch said:

Fear and what we do with our fear are two different things. Fear is natural; our responses to fear can be more complicated and are best assessed by whether they turn us toward the Lord or not.

In the account of Jesus’ birth, we see two different responses to fear: first, the shepherds and then King Herod.

Shepherds (Luke 2:8-10)

In the Old Testament, the role of the shepherd was humble work, but not despised. Moses, Jacob, and David were all shepherds and David refers to the Lord as his shepherd in Psalm 23. In the New Testament, Jesus is called the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14). All of this sounds very positive to me, but by the time of Jesus’ birth, shepherds were not highly respected. The constant care needed by the sheep did not allow the shepherds time for ceremonial washing or keeping the Sabbath, so they were considered unclean by the religious leaders of the day.

These men—humble, hardworking, and disregarded—were the people chosen to receive the announcement of Jesus’ birth from the angels, not the social elite. As pastor and theologian, Warren Wiersbe said,

Shepherds are not easily fooled. They are practical men of the world who have little to do with fantasy. If they said that they saw angels and went and found the Messiah, then you could believe them. God selected hard-working men to be the first witnesses that His Son had come into the world.

And yet, what was the first response of these practical, hardworking men?

They were filled with great fear.

They weren’t just a little startled; the Greek word used for fear is phobeo which is the root of our word, phobia. These strong men were terrified, but to be fair, they did not have our experience with technicolor movies, CGI, or computerized drones dancing in the sky. There in the darkness, with only the light of the stars around them, they witnessed the arrival of an angel announcing, “…unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” followed by a full angel choir joining in to sing the most amazing news ever: “Glory to God in the Highest…”

And what did they do after experiencing this glorious terror? Their fear turned to excitement and excitement to action, as they hurried to see “this thing the Lord has made known unto us.”
Their position at the bottom of the social ladder did not stop them from sharing the good news with all who would listen.

King Herod (Matthew 2:1-3)

Herod’s response to the birth of Christ came later, but his fear was no less profound.
When the Magi (more on them in future posts) arrived asking to see “the one born king of the Jews,” this was no neighborly visit from a few religious folks. These were influential men, referred to by one historian as a powerful “group of Persian-Parthian king makers.” As Herod was only king by appointment of Caesar Augustus, and his kingdom was a “rebellious buffer state…situated between two mighty, contending nations,” he had good reason to fear.
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Scripture tells us Herod was “troubled” at this news. “Troubled” sounds mild to our ears, but the original word carries the idea of churning, turbulent water. History shows Herod the Great as a ruthless man, killing at least three sons and his favorite wife in fits of paranoia. It is then no surprise that consumed with fear that the Magi might actually dethrone him in favor of this newborn king, he threw all of Jerusalem into turmoil, ordering the death of hundreds of children. Herod’s murderous response to his fear brought overwhelming grief to the people that he, as king, should have “shepherded” but he did not.
Unable to stop the plan of God, Herod failed and eventually died of an excruciating illness. In fear he sought to save his life and his kingdom, but eventually lost both.

What About Us?

What, then, do we do with our fears? Do we, as Herod, turn inward seeking to protect ourselves and build our own kingdoms? Or, do we, as the shepherds, turn to the Lord, and allow fears to be turned to wondrous faith that cannot be kept to ourselves?
“Unto you is born this day…a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!”

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