Luke 2:10 … To bring the Good News (10/19/16)
“Do not be afraid … for I am bringing Good News of great Joy for everyone.” ~ Jesus (Luke 2:10)
Often read as a simple admonishment from Jesus (i.e. him essentially telling folks to cheer up because he had come to save them from their trials and troubles), this verse actually reflects several far deeper meanings …
First of all, the “Good News” that Jesus came to bring was not what Paul thought it was (namely, that Jesus is the only Son of God and that worshipping him as such would guarantee said believers an everlasting spiritual life after their physical death – see 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 & Romans 10:9 et al) … No, the “Good News” as far as Jesus was concerned was twofold: A) that the perfect Bliss of the “Kingdom of Heaven” is available to everyone in every moment of their conscious lives (see Matthew 10:7), and B) that the way to experience this Present-Moment Paradise was via purposeful acts of self-sacrificial Kindness (see Matthew 24:12-14) — especially in those “down times” when we least feel like doing so, and especially towards strangers & enemies who seem “least deserving” of the same (see Luke 10:29-37).
Second, Jesus also points out in this verse that we cannot access his version of Salvation while we are afraid for our own well-being; indeed that it is psychologically impossible to simultaneously fear for ourselves and Care for others – that the two are mutually exclusive and cannot coexist at all – that we must always choose one or the other in every moment of our lives.
And this, my dear Friends, provides at least one meaningful explanation as to why Jesus so often admonished others to “fear not” — for we cannot know Bliss unless we choose to exude real LOVE, and we cannot exude real LOVE while choosing to succumb to fear instead.
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