FEAR! not?

Luke 12:4-7

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁴ “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. ⁵ But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell.^[a] Yes, he’s the one to fear.

⁶ “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins^[b]? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. ⁷ And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

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Jesus was meek and mild so Christians should be meek and mild too right?

Wrong...

I think it's easy to get this picture of Jesus as a big ol' teddy bear. The picture that the Bible paints of Him has much more depth than that though.

In Luke 11, the chapter that precedes our verse, Jesus wipes the floor with the Pharisees.

The Pharisees are like the politicians of the day and the church leaders of the day all rolled up into one. Jesus, while speaking to a large crowd was invited over to a Pharisees house for dinner. At this dinner were many Pharisees as well as other distinguished people of Jewish society like lawyers. 

Jesus knew the way that the Pharisees operated, it was part of their law to wash your hands before dinner, but Jesus didn't do it. When it draws their attention he lays into them and tells them how hypocritical they are. 

When the lawyers speak up and tell Jesus that he's offending them Jesus turns his attention to them and lays into them as well.

(You can read this in Luke 11:37-53)

Afterwards when he's with his disciples and the crowd he begins to teach them to have no fear towards other authorities. There's only one person you need to fear, and that's God himself.

Let's look again at our verse.

Luke 12:4-7

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁴ “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. ⁵ But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell.^[a] Yes, he’s the one to fear.

⁶ “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins^[b]? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. ⁷ And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

The Pharisees that Jesus just told off had the power to have Him killed. Here Jesus is giving us a glimpse into His boldness, the source of it. If we are to be followers of Jesus, there are times when we too need to be bold.
In verses 4 and 5 He gives the hard truth, then in verses 6 and 7 He gives reassurance of God's loving character.

Verses 4 and 5 reminds me of a scene from a movie. It's one of those where the main character (let's call him Jack) is talking to another character (Lucy) and Lucy seems to be very concerned that she can't find her cell phone charger and she is ranting to Jack about what will happen if she doesn't find it.

All the while Jack is staring in horror at a catastrophe that is approaching them behind Lucy's back.

Jack doesn't care at all about the missing cell phone charger because he's got bigger things to fear.

We don't like to talk about it, but ultimately it is God who has power over hell. It's not like God is in charge of heaven and Satan is in charge of hell. Hell is God's creation as well to execute justice/judgement. Our main concern should be that we are in right standing with our Lord.

If that is our focus, other smaller worries pale in comparison.

The next two verses reassure us of God's character so we don't get carried away with the fear aspect.

Luke 12:6

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁶ “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins^[b]? Yet God does not forget a single one of them.

This is also mirrored in Mathew.

Matthew 10:29

New Living Translation (NLT)

²⁹ What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin^[a]? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.

Jesus is saying that nothing happens without the Father being aware of it. He's aware even when a sparrow falls to the ground. If God so cares about the sparrows (which are not worth much) then He cares even more for you.

Jesus goes on...

Luke 12:7

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁷ And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

Not only is He aware of you, He is intimately aware of every detail of your life. And He sees you (even though He knows every mistake you've ever made) as valuable. 

Jesus is saying you don't need to be afraid of the people or things of this world. There is only one thing that is ultimately worth worrying about, and even then the one person that is truly worthy of your fear...that person loves you.

What are you afraid of? Is there something that keeps you from being bold regarding your faith?

Trust that God knows all the details and that He loves you and is in control. God is the ultimate authority, He has the final say. Focus on Him and the troubles of this world will lapse into secondary concerns.