Over time, I’ve learned to really enjoy the Gospel of Mark. I think it’s because it was written to Gentiles, which gives us contemporary Gentiles a perspective that seems more “natural,” for lack of a better word. The Gospel of Matthew was written to the Jews, implying a different bent. In fact, one of the challenges with Matthew’s book is that it requires a more intimate knowledge of Jewish customs, idioms, and social practices in order to fully unlock its wisdom. Mark’s book, on the other hand, has always seemed easier for me to digest because it reads more plainly.
While I was reading the Gospel of Mark this morning, I was stricken by a recurring theme – fear of God. I know I’ve written multiple blogs on this topic, at least one in recent memory, but I do not hesitate to write on it again due to my feeling that many people still fail to fully grasp what the Spirit’s trying to impress upon them. As a result, they remain without proper fear of the Lord; instead, they fear others (see previous blog, Whom Do You Turn To For Love?). This misplaced, inferior fear keeps a person in bondage to the sphere of spiritual death, perpetuating misery, anxiety, and general malcontent with life, itself. Furthermore:
How can there be faith and obedience when there’s a lack of fear of the Lord?
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
— Proverbs 9:10
If true faith and obedience lead to blessings, how can a person ever expect to be blessed in the absence of fear of the Lord?
You see, true wisdom, as Holy Scripture describes it, is understanding the answer to the above rhetorical question. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding” (Psalm 111:10a). The Bible is very clear on this topic – fear of the Lord is the foundation for faith, obedience, and blessing. In keeping with Paul’s oft used athletic analogy, how does a person finish a race if they don’t even know where the starting line is? “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules” (2 Timothy 2:5). Wisdom dictates that fear of the Lord is equivalent to finding the starting line (contrarily, if you don’t find it, you certainly cannot partake in the event).
OK, let me walk you through the impetus for this blog.
And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
— Mark 4:36-41
What do you see here? Fear, right? However, we see two different kinds: fear of physical danger and fear of the Lord. What does Jesus point out as being the distinction between the two? “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith” (v40)? Jesus’ disciples had an immature fear of the Lord at the time, hence their misplaced fear in natural phenomenon. This type of fear dominates those who do not have an appropriate fear of the Lord. A lack of faith is the obvious result.
Faith in the Lord is tantamount to fear of the Lord.
Let’s continue with this passage (I encourage you to read Mark 4-5 on your own for the full context).
And when [the demon who possessed a man] saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”
— Mark 5:6-7
Incredibly, this demon feared Jesus even more than His own disciples did! Here’s what happened after Jesus cured the demon possessed man:
The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
— Mark 5:14-15
What were the people afraid of? They feared the One with the power to cast out demons, which implied supernatural ability. A little further along in the passage, a woman was cured by simply touching Jesus’ robe. Pay close attention to the relationship between her fear and her faith.
But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and tremblingand fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
— Mark 5:33-34
The woman’s fear coexisted with her faith. That’s the gist of this blog. I cannot overemphasize this basic principle, my friends. I believe one of the most abused doctrines in contemporary Christianity is the ‘Fear of God’. It’s as if everyone shows up for the so-called “race,” but nobody is standing at the starting line. Oh sure, everyone’s got their eyes on the blessings, the crowns, the rewards, the prize, but they aren’t set up to compete by the rules. In other words, they end up running a different race, a different course that is perverse. And along the way they remain filled with fear of the natural, anxiety, worry, etc…all things bound up in the sphere of death. These are not blessings; rather, they are bona fide curses. The reason? They do not properly fear the Lord, therefore, their faith is weak.
I often wonder how a person can go so long and not fear the Lord – it seems almost impossible! The only reason I can come up with is that they dismiss the Word of God. They may read their Bible religiously, even go to church; but, they somehow (willful ignorance?) miss the essence of God, their Creator. Maybe they are too preoccupied with the details of life, or maybe they just don’t want to know God the way He intends for them to know Him. I don’t have all the answers, but I do know that a person who doesn’t fear the Lord cannot possibly have genuine faith in Him; and, the greater the fear the greater the faith (we have our greatest faith in the things we fear the most).
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins