Mission Venture Ministries

“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:4-7)

What brings fear into our life? Many people are afraid of darkness, others of their failing health or getting old. Then others are afraid of being poor or harmed physically. And there are many that are fearful of death.

So how do we deal with fear? Should we fear? If so, then what kind of fear should we have? Our verses answer these questions.

Amazingly, Jesus tells us that worldly fear is something we need not be concerned about, instead, what we should fear is God because He is our Sovereign Lord.

Jesus is addressing those he considers as His friends and He is telling them not to be afraid of those who want to harm or destroy the body.

People during Jesus’ time were afraid of what the Scribes and Pharisees were capable of doing to them because some feared being put out of the synagogue (John 9:22 & John 12:42) and not have a means for living and supporting themselves. And others were put to death like Steven for being true to the Lord. (Acts 7:54-8:2)

Jesus said not to be in fear of these people – for once they destroyed the body, they could do nothing else to harm the person, since the body of those who believed in Christ would sleep in Jesus, and be raised on resurrection morning, and be united to their soul, and be forever with the Lord. Therefore, Christ’s disciples have nothing to be anxious about, because “we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.” (Romans 8:28)

As Jesus continues He warns them in verse 5: “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!” Worldly fear is nothing but Godly fear is everything! Man destroying the body can do nothing else to it, but God will judge all of us and will send the unbeliever to the lake of fire for eternity because “the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

We need to be aware of what Hebrew 9:27 says: “… It is appointed unto men to die once and after this comes judgment.” And the consequences for the unbeliever are found in Revelation 20:11-15: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

In verses 6-7 Jesus asks, “Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

Sparrows in Jesus’ times were a cheap commodity, almost valueless, yet, God does not forget “one of them.” So how much more valuable are we than sparrows?

Jesus says here, that every hair on a person’s head is numbered. If God is so minutely aware of those details, then don’t you think that He is aware of all that transpires within your life?

So the question is: What do you fear?

Non-believers should be very fearful because: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” Hebrews 10:31. On the other hand the Bible tells us that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10; Psalm 111:10) and the fear of God begins by recognizing our own sin and fearing the consequences which is death and eternal separation from God.

The person that has not accepted Jesus as His Savior needs to turn to the Savior because He took the punishment upon Himself that our sin deserved and died an excruciating death on the cross. We need to trust in Him and repent before it is too late, because none of us know when our life ends.

Jesus speaks these words to give peace to His followers. They are those who fear God, and are given the assurance of His love, guidance and comfort no matter what is happening in their lives.

Remember that God cares about us in the deepest way. Sparrows have enjoyed their existence since their creation, under the protection of God’s providence, but we “are of more value than many sparrows.”

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