What would Jesus say to the afraid?

Over the last two years there were times we were not allowed to do things. Sometimes, we couldn’t go to schools, we couldn’t go to weddings, we couldn’t go to funerals. But the government still let us do a few things; let us exercise outdoors. We could still buy alcohol and in some states we could still get a haircut. I don't know about you, but when I went to get a haircut, I felt like I was doing something very dangerous, something very death-defying, something very unsafe. And that's what COVID has done. Covid has reminded us just how dangerous life really is. Before 2020, if we wanted to do anything dangerous, we had to do something like skydive or rock climb or ride a motorbike.

Life is dangerous now

Now that COVID has changed our experience, everything feels dangerous, going to a restaurant is dangerous, having a family get together is dangerous, standing close to someone without a mask is dangerous. Fear and uncertainty has crept into our lives. What would Jesus say to the afraid? In this article we explore a discussion Jesus had with a community leader and we ask this question, What would Jesus say to this person? What does Jesus say to us today?

Mark 5:21-24 &35-43

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him…( skip to vs 35)
35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

36 Overhearing[a] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

In the passage we read that Jesus meets a man who is afraid. He’s a synagogue leader called Jairus and when he saw Jesus, he fell at Jesus’ feet. Jairus pleaded earnestly with Jesus, my little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.

So Jesus went with him. As a synagogue leader, Jairus is of high social standing and a leader in the community, but he is also desperate because his daughter, who's only 12 years old, is sick and dying, He falls at the feet of Jesus and he begs him to come with him. Because maybe, just maybe, maybe Jesus can heal his daughter and save her life.

So what would Jesus say to Jairus and what would Jesus say to us today?

Well, to those of us who are afraid, Jesus says three things. The first thing that Jesus says is this, life will be full of uncertainties. In the next few verses we hear the tragic, terrible, terrifying news that Jairus’ daughter is dead and there's nothing that they can do.

We can relate a bit to Jairus, straight after the bushfires, we had floods that we could not control, then came a coronavirus that we could not control. This has been the wake up call for our modern western white collar professional storyline.

The Western Storyline

When I went to med school, I got taught this story of endless, endless progress. I got taught this when I went to Med School Medical School that we once used to die in our twenties and thirties from infectious diseases. But then we invented vaccines and antibiotics so we don't die in our 20s or 30s anymore. Then we used to die in our forties and fifties from accidents, but then we invented seatbelts and airbags so we don't die in our forties and fifties anymore. Now we die in our sixties and seventies from cancer and heart disease, but we'll soon cure them.

With the Western storyline, comes the idea that we're going to live forever, but then, BOOM! overnight, 2020 came.

We cannot predict the future and we're back at the mercy of infectious diseases. It's like we've wound the clock back one hundred and fifty years. So life is full of uncertainties, we cannot guarantee the future. Life is unpredictable, we cannot control the outcome of our lives.

So what should we do about this? Well, this brings us to the second thing that Jesus says, and it's this. Trust Jesus with the uncertainties. Verse 36, Jesus told Jairus, Don't be afraid, just believe.

Don’t be afraid, just believe

Jairus has just found out his daughter is dead, and Jesus says, Hey, don't be afraid, just believe this, this is the part of the story I don't get. This sounds to me to be so insensitive, so uncaring and so naive from Jesus, unless we really can trust him with the storyline.

How knowing the Storyline changes things

During the COVID isolation, my family got to binge on movies and I've got to introduce my three young boys to the whole Star Wars saga. But my youngest son found it to be very scary. He was terrified of Darth Vader. He was terrified of the stormtroopers, and he was terrified of the evil emperor. When he was watching it, he was so scared his little body would shake and tremble, then he'd look at me and say, Dad, why aren't you afraid? I said to him, Well, I've seen it before, I know the storyline. I know how it ends.

And Jesus says to Jairus, Just trust me on this right now. None of this makes any sense, but it's all part of a bigger story. Trust Jesus, he knows how it ends. And this is the same for all of us, our life, too, will be full of terrible, terrifying tragedy. Our lives will have trauma, we will suffer death, disease, divorce, separation, heartache and then we really only have two choices:

Two Choices

Choice number one is this to decide that the universe is uncaring. We're just atoms and molecules. We're just a blip in the timeline of the universe. Things just happen, viruses come and go, bushfires come and go, floods come and go. They are just things that happen, and the universe does not care.

We have a second choice, and it's this: What if the universe does care? There's a God who loves us, who made us and who saves us and everything that's going on right now, no matter how much it hurts, no matter how terrifying, terrible and tragic it is, even though it doesn't make any sense to us. It's all part of a bigger story. There's a wisdom behind what is going on and we just have to trust God with the storyline.

Trust Jesus in the uncertainty

Trust his wisdom on this. He's got it all under control. So after we've handed our uncertainties over to Jesus, what do we do next? Well, this brings us to the third thing that Jesus says, and it's this. Jesus is our certainty.

Verse 40, Jesus went in where the child was, took her by the hand and he said to her Talitha Kum which means little girl, I say to you, get up. mmediately the girl stood up and she began to walk around. Jesus gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, then he told them to give her something to eat.

Jesus comes in and he takes control. He is the one in control. He is the one that we can hang all our certainties upon. During all the COVID uncertainty in Australia we stockpiled toilet paper. Apparently, out of all the countries in the world, we stockpiled more toilet paper than any other country.

Certainty Anchors

Why do we panic buy TP when covid stress escalates? Well, according to psychologists, we look for what are called certainty anchors. We have to anchor our certainty on something. What we stockpile, that is our certainty. Toilet paper is a good certainty anchor because it's pretty certain that we are going to need toilet paper.

However, in this story, Jesus becomes our certainty anchor in the whole story. He is the one in control. He walks into the funeral and he says, Hey, don't mourn, she's not dead, she's asleep. He's the one that walks up and grabs the child by the hand. He's the one that says, Get up

Are hey, are we saying Jesus will always be guaranteed to take away death, disease separation? No, but the guarantee is this:

We can trust Jesus has the biggest storyline for us and that he is the biggest certainty anchor for us. If we trust Jesus, we can be part of his family. We can be a child of God, and there will be a day in the future when he says“my child, get up” we will and we will see Jesus once and for all, that is the greatest certainty anchor to hang on to.

So going back to our original question, what would Jesus say to the afraid? In this story, Jesus has said to Jairus and to us that no one, yes, life is full of uncertainties. There is something terrible, terrifying and tragic about what happens to us and how we can't control the future, and there is so much uncertainty.

But we can trust Jesus with our uncertainties. He knows what's going on. Trust his story line for us.so time to make Jesus our certainty anchor. He's the one thing we know for sure.

Jesus is most certain thing we can hang our life on. If we put our trust in who he is and what he's done for us. Nothing can take that away from us. No bushfire, no flood, no virus, no death, no disease, no tragedy.

This article is adapted from a talk by Sam Chan from 2020, to listen to the whole talk, check the related content below this article.