Fear - Luke 7-8

Luke 8:25 (ESV Strong's)
25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Fear

Fear, according to Jesus, is a matter of faith.   We probably don’t think this way in our human way of processing.  However, Luke gives us several examples in this chapter about the faith/fear dynamic.  Notice, not only the above passage, but these, also.

In the story of Jesus healing the demon possessed man, notice what happened with the town people when Jesus casts the demons out of the man into a heard of pigs:

Luke 8:37 (ESV Strong's)
37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.

In the story of the woman who snuck up behind Jesus and touched his garment, in faith, hoping to be healed, notice:

Luke 8:47 (ESV Strong's)
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.

In the story of the healing of Jairus’s daughter, notice:

Luke 8:50 (ESV Strong's)
50 But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.”

In each of these stories we see that faith overcomes fear.   Fear introduces into our lives a thought that we might not be able to get what we want or need.  So, if we are committed to being safe and a storm comes, the fear of the storm destroys or blocks our commitment to remain safe.   Hence, we fear.

The demon possessed man was bad, but having the daemons go into a heard of pigs introduced a fear that the town people could not reach their commitment of commerce and predictability.  They may not liked the demon possessed man, but he was predictable and controllable.  They feared the unknown and being out of control.  

The lady who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment feared mankind.  She wanted to be and was committed to being unseen and hidden in the background of life.  Her touching the garment exposed her.  

The family and friends of Jairus’s daughter feared they had lost a friend.  They were committed to keeping her alive.  

In each of these stories, fear was a road block to the person(s) commitment in life.   The answer to overcome them was to focus their commitment on wanting what God wanted for them.   We do that via faith.   Faith puts our assurance in God’s ability to produces in us what He wants for us.  That allows us to overcome fear.  Since fear is trying to prevent us from reaching our commitments in life, if our commitments in life are to be used by God, then we know that we have nothing to fear.   Fear is a matter of love and believing that God loves us more than anything else.  Therefore, knowing He loves us, we can know that whatever happens in our lives is out of love:

1 John 4:18 (ESV Strong's)
18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

When we believe God perfectly loves us we have nothing to fear since our faith in God’s love for us trumps fear’s torment.