The Courage of Jesus

 

Introduction.  Human beings have great respect for the brave.  Whether it is the soul who lays down his life for his comrades; the hero who risks their own life in a disaster or the individual who against great danger defends others bravery is honored.

            While we often focus on the love of Jesus, or His purity, obedience or patience -- we should never forget his courage.  This morning we are going to consider together a number of examples of this courage.

 

I.  Courage Against False Religion  (Matthew 21:12,13).

An established institution is a hard thing to oppose.  There is bureaucracy.  There are vested interests.  Truth, justice (even efficiency) are often hidden at the cost of defending the institution. 

•  E.g.  New Government Dept -- “Department of Shiney Shoes.”  Hire staff, establish regulations, implement policies -- establish an institution.  It wouldn’t matter that - you don’t need such a department -- once it is established anyone who would stand against it would stand against a mountain of opposition!

 

II.  Courage To Rebuke Sin  (John 8:30-34; 42-44).

Everyone opposes wrong when all agree about what is right and what is wrong.  It is another thing when not everyone thinks that something is wrong that is wrong.

            Jesus dealt with people that didn’t realize the things they said were good were evil  (Isaiah 5:20).

•  E.g.  Today we face a world that says -- let’s take a man and woman who have pledged their life to one another and destroy that so that they can have as many other relationships as they want -- that’s beautiful, that’s love!  Or let’s take two men & two women and give them intimate relationships with one another --  that’s beautiful, that’s love!  No, the Lord says that’s fornication!

 

III.  Courage In the Face of Threats  (John 11:7-10).

Our greatest fears often don’t lie in what is actually happening to us but rather what we imagine could happen to us.

•  What if they laugh at me because I act like a Christian?

•  What if I lose my job because I tell them I can’t work during services?

Jesus didn’t face imagined dangers, he faced real dangers -- but he acted anyway.

 

IV.  Courage When Arrested  (John 18:4-11).

Living in a land of freedom and equal justice under the law is a privilege we often take for granted.  We can’t be held without a charge.  We have the right to face our accusers.  We have the right to an attorney.  We have the right to certain standards of evidence.  It has not always been this way.  (cf. Classic stories Man in Iron Mask, Count of Monti Cristo -- stories based on the all to recent realities of souls lost in unjust penal systems.)

            Jesus would have known the realities of His day.  Beatings, mocking, starvation, but he faced it with courage.  

 

V.  Courage When Facing Death  (Luke 9:51).

Gilbert K. Chesterton essayist and novelist of the late 19th & early 20th century observed - “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms: It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.”

•  Courage doesn’t mean having no fear.  Courage doesn’t mean He didn’t wish there was no danger.  Courage means doing right anyway.  (Matthew 26:37-39).

 

VI.  A Teacher of Courage to His Disciples  (Matthew 10:24-28).  A brave man isn’t just concerned with himself he wants what is best for others.  Jesus’ courage didn’t stop with Himself, He taught it to others.

 

VII.  An Example of Courage Imitated by His Disciples  (Acts 4:8-13).  Courage, like all noble virtues is contagious.  When it is seen it is imitated.  In 1798 the US looked as if it was about to begin a war with France.  George Washington was old and retired but his leadership was still remembered.  President Adams wrote to him - “We must have your name, if you will permit us to use it; there will be more efficacy in it than in many an army.”