Driven by Fear

“Then Jesus said to them,

‘Do not be afraid.

Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee,

and there they will see me.’”

Matthew 28:10

When the guards went into the city to tell the chief priests what they had seen and what had happened with Jesus, the chief priests bribed them by giving them money and asking them to tell the people that Jesus’ disciples came and stole the body in the middle of the night. We were told that they took the money and did as they were instructed. The guards were driven by fear.

On the contrary, Mary Magdalene and the disciples were driven by faith. The Risen Lord had appeared to them, and he told them to not be afraid and to tell the others to go to Galilee where they will see Jesus. They did, and they were fearless.

Are our actions driven by fear or by faith? How deep is our faith? On the first day after Easter Sunday we are presented with this act of deception by the chief priests. What were they afraid of? Were they afraid that they were wrong and that Jesus was right? Why couldn’t they accept the fact that Jesus rose from the dead? Perhaps because if they did, they would lose all credibility, and that is something that they could not risk.

What or who do we allow to control our actions and decisions? If we are driven by and act on fear we will end up living in falsehood and in the darkness and not in the truth; but if we are driven by and act on faith, despite any pain or suffering, we will live in freedom, with a clear conscience. Jesus came, suffered, died, and rose from the dead so that we no longer need to live in the darkness. So just as our Lord said to His disciples, He says to you today, “Do not be afraid.”