Was Jesus Afraid?

 "Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. Then He said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation." Luke 22:39-46




I was reading Day 6 of a devotional plan with a friend today. The plan said that Jesus felt fear. I got very fired up about that not seeming to be an accurate portrayal of our Savior - you know, the Son of God - who is, was, and always will be perfect. II Timothy tells us that God does not give us a spirit of fear so how could Jesus feel fear? My thoughts led me to say this in the discussion: 


I know Jesus felt all the same emotions we do, but I don't think fear is an emotion. I think "feelings" & "emotions" are separate things. 


Emotions are something we have in common with God, and we will experience them no matter what, sin or not. We will experience joy, grief, love, anger, pleasure, sorrow, and peace. I am sure there are more I'm missing. Any emotion that the Bible says God feels or has felt is an emotion that was given to us when God breathed His breath of life into us. 


Feelings, on the other hand, are from the enemy, and I think we only experience them as a result of sin. Fear, lust, jealousy, laziness (not to be confused with taking rest!), and I know I am missing more but these are not things Jesus would have felt because He never sinned. The devil may have tried to tempt Him to take part in sin that would cause these feelings but we know Jesus is perfect and never sinned. 


I don't know if I am getting my point across well, but I know it's uncomfortable but I just can't wrap my head around saying that Jesus felt something that only occurs after we fail the temptation of sin. If we have only One God & we have full faith in His plan then we have no fear. We are not perfect though so we will have moments we are afraid. 


After that discussion, I went to run some errands. And it hit me - Jesus was presented the temptation of fear, but He chose faith instead. There is a difference between acknowledging that a situation we are facing is something scary and actually giving in to the fear that the devil is offering us. Fear is the devil's fake news. Fear is a lie presented by the enemy. The truth is: God! Faith is the antidote to fear. Prayer is the weapon we need to battle against the lie of fear. God is the truth! Say it with me, 'fear is a lie and GOD IS THE TRUTH.' In John 14:6 Jesus Himself even tells us that HE IS THE TRUTH! 


So, okay, I will now admit that Jesus may have been tempted to fear. But He didn't give in...He prayed. Jesus's agonizing prayer was not Him giving in to fear - it was His battle weapon against fear. He sought out His Father - our Father in Heaven. He was in emotional agony that likely exceeds any agony we could possibly imagine. Yet He did not cave to the fear that was dangled in front of Him. He cried out to God. His path was set. God wasn't going to change it. He couldn't change it because He is a gracious, loyal God who keeps every single promise He ever made. To fulfill His promise to save His people, the agony Jesus endured was a key element to the plan. However, God did send His angel to strengthen Jesus for the hard part that came next. 


God has the tools we need to overcome the temptation of fear.  The same battle weapon that Jesus used in the garden is available to you and me. Putting the hard, scary situation in God's hands - no matter if we still have to go through the situation or not - that is the truth. The enemy doesn't want us to remember that God is with us always. If He doesn't deliver us from the hard places then He will strengthen us to endue them when we seek Him instead of giving in to fear. 


All of the things that we call "feelings" are not really feelings at all. Some of them are emotions, which are a gift from God because we are made in His image. The rest are temptations from the devil, masquerading as emotions but rooted in sin. Rebuke the lies out loud by citing God's truth. The devil can't get a stronghold on our minds with his lies if we verbally combat him with the truth from God's word. Faith over fear is not just a cute t-shirt slogan - it's a way of life. 

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