God Is With Us: Jesus Is Our Reason To Not Be Afraid

In your cards this year, I doubt you’ll write ‘Do not be afraid!’ as your Christmas greeting. But this is a central message of the Christmas story and throughout the whole Bible.

Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds are all told not to be afraid—and they’re all given the same reason why.

Jesus is our reason to not be afraid

‘You will call him Jesus,’ Gabriel tells Mary. ‘You will give him the name Jesus,’ an angel tells Joseph. ‘A Saviour has been born to you,’ the shepherds are told before a whole host of angels shone around them with the glory of God!

Anyone who trusts in Jesus can live free from fear. And his name tells us why.

Jesus means Saviour

The name ‘Jesus’ derives from the Hebrew root for ‘to rescue’ or ‘deliver’. It can translate as ‘The Lord is Salvation’. An obvious question might be, ‘Who needs saving?’

Humanity's rebellion against God is told in the first chapters of the Bible. Because of God’s holiness, wrongdoing cannot go unpunished. We see the suffering in our world, and we instinctively want justice, so knowing that God deals with sin is a good thing.

But the problem is we’re all implicated. We can all think of times we’ve been selfish or hurtful ... so the thought of God’s justice could be frightening.

Jesus is God’s solution to our problem

Thankfully, God didn’t leave things there! Instead, he sent Jesus to be our rescuer. Jesus didn’t come just to be a cute baby in a sentimental story; he came to restore our relationship with God.

This world will remain broken until Jesus returns. But, just like Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds, we don’t need to be afraid ... not because there’s nothing difficult in life, but because Jesus — God's rescuer — promises to be with us always.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you that because Jesus comes to be with us, we can live free from fear. Help us remember that he is with us always,even when life is full of difficulty. Amen.