In this passage of God’s Word, we see Jesus being put on trial by the religious leaders. It’s clear that these religious leaders were fearful of the change that Jesus would bring, if He were allowed to continue His ministry. This fear that the religious leaders had led them to down a despicable path, which ended by killing Jesus. By taking a look at this passage and seeing how the religious leaders committed these atrocious acts because of their fear, we too can learn how to recognize and avoid unhealthy fear in our own lives. Fear caused the religious leaders to:

1. Be complacent, and even approve of sin

Luke 22:63-65, Rom 1:32, Prov. 13:10, Rev. 22:19

2. Run with and spread notions we know to be false

Luke 22:66-23:5, Rom. 1:24-27, Matt. 24:4, Heb. 4:12

3. Be involved in destructive relationships

Luke 23:6-12, 1 Cor. 5:11, 14:7, 15:33, Prov. 13:20, 22:24-25, James 3:17

4. Be impervious to logic and reason

Luke 23:13-16, Rom. 1:18-23, Prov. 1:7, 12:15, 19:20-21, James 3:17, 1 Thess. 5:21

5. Be surrounded by echo chamber

Luke 23:18-23, Ps. 135:15-18, Prov. 11:14, James 3:17

6. Make horrible decisions

Luke 23:24-25, Prov. 14:12, Rom. 1:24-32, Gal. 6:7-8

1. Had you ever heard these passages taught before? What stood out to you?

2. The religious leaders probably would have never recognized that what they were doing was out of fear, however, it clearly was. Do you ever find yourself making the same mistakes that they made (check out the 6 points on the flip side of this paper)? Could it be that you’re making those mistakes because of fear?

3. There is good fear and bad fear. Do you feel like you have any bad fear in your life? Does it cause you to sin, make unwise decisions, or have an unhealthy focus on something? If so, take some time to jot down your unhealthy fear, and what it causes you to do.

4. Read 2 Timothy 1:7. God’s Word makes it clear that we are not to have a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. Instead of fearing, we should trust in God. That’s easy to say, but in reality, pretty difficult to achieve. What are some practical, non-trite, real life examples of some steps you could take in order to fear less and trust God more?

5. What is your biggest take away about how this passage affects your life? What do you need to work on? Who can you share this with and ask you to keep you accountable to accomplishing this?