Be Not Afraid

It must have been very difficult for those guys who were following Jesus around listening to his teachings. Most of the time they had no idea what he was talking about. He basically told them that everything they knew was wrong, and it seemed impossible for them to think outside the box into which their minds had been placed. They grew up in a world where God was an all-powerful being who punished the wicked and rewarded the righteous right here on earth. If you were doing well, it was because God favored you. If you did badly, it was because God was punishing you. Good people prospered and were rich. Bad people were poor. Thus, the beggars and crippled were being punished by God for something they had done and therefore deserved everything they were getting.

Moreover, Jesus kept making references to the divine in each person, a concept completely foreign to his students. Time and time again, they would be fascinated and awed by the miracles he was supposed to have performed, and time and time again, Jesus would tell them that the miracles were not the point. He only performed the miracles so that people would know that God existed and that S/He cared. This was the whole point; to have faith in the divine, and to more than HAVE faith, but to “faithe”, to put that faith into action. Jesus tried to release people from fear, the fear of death, the fear of sorrow. He came to bring peace, the peace that comes from knowing that everything is going to be okay. There is a way to escape the sorrow and suffering of life. And his homies just didn’t understand.

Jesus kept trying to tell them, but they just didn’t get it. He kept trying to tell them he had to die, if only to prove to them that death was not final. Even during that final dinner they had together, the Passover Seder, he says to them, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God, then have faith in me. I am going to prepare a place for you, and then I’m coming back for you, so you can be with me. And where I am going, you know.”

And then leave it to Thomas. He would be the student who wouldn’t believe that Jesus had survived death until he could feel the wounds in his hands and feet, until he had seen with his own eyes. Thomas looks him in the face and says, “Teacher, we don’t know where you’re going. How the hell are we supposed to know the way?”

And this is when Jesus says that really, really famous line, “I am the way, the truth and the light. You come to the Father through me. If you know me, you know the Father. From now on you know God and have seen God.” He is not saying that he is the only way to God. He is saying his teachings of love and service are the way to God, something echoed by the Buddha and Mohammed.

Phillip, who still doesn’t understand what Jesus is trying to say says, “Teacher, show us the Father, so we can believe you.”

And I can just picture the look in Jesus’ eyes as he says, “Phillip, have I been with you for such a long time, and you still don’t know me? Whoever has seen me as seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show me the Father?’ Don’t you understand that the Father is IN me, and I am in the Father? Whatever I say comes from Him. Anyone who has faith (who faithes) can do what I do and more than I do. If you love me, do what I taught you. God gives you the Spirit of Truth, which most people don’t see because it can’t BE seen. In a little while the world will not see ME, but you will see me because I am in YOU, and YOU are in me.”

At this point Judas, (you know, the guy that handed Jesus over to the cops) asks why it is that Jesus tells THEM this crap instead of telling everybody about it, but Jesus doesn’t really answer his questions. He continues saying that people who believe what he says will do what he taught them. And then Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not the kind of peace the world gives, but a greater peace. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not be afraid.”

After this, Jesus and his students go off to that garden and he is arrested. And you all know what happens after that. Jesus knew what sort of fate awaited him, and it didn’t take any prophetic powers to figure that out. What he taught was revolutionary, and he knew it could not be tolerated. The status quo had kept the rich rich and the poor poor. Most people lived in fear, fear of God, fear of the priests, fear of the government. The message of Jesus released them from that fear. And the message is still relevant.

There is no reason to let your hearts be troubled. There is no reason to be afraid. You are important. You are divine. The spirit, the power of the universe, the Tao, the Prajna, the Chi, dwells within you. It is a part of you as you are a part of it. There is no death. There is nothing that can harm you. This is what Jesus said. “I am in the Father and the Father is in me…and I am in you…believe this and you will do what I [Jesus] have done and greater than this.”

But what was it Jesus did? Are we talking miracles here? Well, I don’t doubt that we COULD perform miracles if we are strong in faith, but what Jesus did was to comfort the afflicted, bring hope to the poor and oppressed. That’s what Jesus did. That’s what he calls on us to do. “What you do to these, the least of my brothers (and sisters), you do to me.” Whatever you do to others, you do to yourself. Feed the hungry. Take care of the sick. Comfort people in their sorrows. That’s what he told us to do, to love one another. That was his message love. We should love each other, just as God (or whatever you want to call that power) loves us. And make no mistake about it. That power, God, the Tao, whatever, does love us, does care. I realize that it doesn’t seem scientific, or rational to believe so. But I have seen it proved out time and time again, not just in stories from the Bible, but in my own life.

Churches like to talk about mysteries, but there is no mystery to the message of Jesus. It is a message of love. There is no need to be afraid. Do not let your hearts be troubled. God loves you. You are divine. Nothing can harm your spirit. Now you love and take care of one another, and you can have a beautiful world. It’s up to us. If only all the people who say they are followers of Jesus just listened to him.

You are divine. So is the person next to you. They might not know it, probably don’t. They might not even act particularly divine. But then, neither do I a lot of the time. But I keep trying. I keep trying to remember that the divine spark burns within me. I try to remember that the person who is driving me nuts is divine also. It isn’t easy. Nobody said it was. But this is the key to being happy. This is how you grab hold of a little peace, not just the peace you feel when everything is wonderful, but the kind of peace that keeps you going even when you start to doubt you can take another step.

After Jesus was gone, his followers took his message to the four corners of the known world. They finally started to understand what he had taught them. They would still have their problems. There would still be disagreements about how to follow Jesus. Later the early church would argue about whom should be allowed to become Christians. They would become entangled by rules and traditions that would bind them as surely as the Jewish establishment had been bound before Jesus came along. But if you look beyond all the rituals and traditions, the rules and regulations, you still find the message of Jesus survives. And in spite of all their faults and sins, most churches still try to follow in their own way. Love one another. Take care of each other. Sometimes they forget. Sometimes they are blind. Aren’t we all?