Author: Randy Elster

Following Christ takes courage. It’s not easy to obey sometimes because of the world around us. And sometimes what Jesus calls us to do doesn’t quite make sense.

We see this in Matthew 3:13-17 (NIV), when Jesus makes a request of John the Baptist to baptize him like he has all his other converts.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

We see here three situations where it takes courage to obey Christ.

ONE: It takes courage to obey Christ when it doesn’t make sense.
John understands who Jesus is, that He’s the Messiah, the One he is preparing the way for. And because John understands who Jesus is, he doesn’t understand His request for John to baptize Him. In fact, he sees it the other way around: that Christ should baptize him!

Christ will never ask us to do anything contrary to the wisdom in His Word, the Bible. But there will be times when He asks us to do things that don’t make sense. Many times they don’t make sense to the world. Sometimes they won’t make sense to our family. And sometimes they won’t make sense to ourselves. But there are times where understanding will come on the other side of obedience.

TWO: It takes courage to obey Christ when there’s no concrete outcome to predict.
The response that Jesus gives to John, His reason for the request, is, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”

I don’t know about you, but when I read that, my response is, “Say what?!” Maybe there is some hidden meaning there I am not getting, but it seems to me Jesus is saying, “Just do it, John. It’s the right thing to do. That’s all I can tell you.”

My takeaway here is that many times we will need to obey what we know we should do without any concrete reason other than it’s the right thing to do. We may not be able to predict a good outcome to our obedience. We may not understand how this accomplishes anything for our lives or for God’s mission. All we understand is that obedience is required.

THREE: It takes courage to obey Christ when no one gives us a pat on the back.
Finally, we see in the Scripture that there is a tangible evidence, reassurance, and validation directly from God after the obedience. The heavens open, the Spirit of God comes down like a dove and alights on Christ, and God’s voice says He is well pleased with His Son.

I’m a words of affirmation guy in the five love languages terminology; I crave the affirmation of those I love. But let’s face it: in most work environments affirmation, pats on the back, and attaboys are few and far between. And sometimes—OK, many times—our obedience doesn’t come with an approving message from the heavens or even a pat on the back from a friend. In fact, it very well may go totally unnoticed by everyone except God.

This can be the hardest part of obedience—when no one seems to notice. As C.S. Lewis said, “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” It takes courage to have that kind of obedience and integrity.

Are you willing to do what God asks of you …
… even when it makes no sense?
… even when there is seemingly no positive outcome or no reason other than it’s the right thing to do?
… even when no one sees or pats you on the back?

In Matthew 2 (NIV) we read about the time after the birth of Jesus, when He is visited by the magi and Herod seeks to kill Him. It strikes me in this passage how many times the Lord warns someone for their protection. See how many times you count below:

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

I counted three separate times where the Lord tells Joseph to move, plus the one time the magi are warned.

From Joseph’s perspective, it was to keep his family safe, certainly a big, important goal. But from God’s perspective, there is eternal significance in his commands. Yes, Jesus was born to die, but not yet. He needed to fulfill several prophecies and do many things on earth before He was to give His life for us. He had to fulfill God’s plan.

Sometimes we need to think beyond our small world and realize that what we do has eternal import both for us and for those around us. We need to recognize that what we do and say can impact ourselves and those we love—whether positively or negatively—for years to come. And maybe even into eternity.

When I do comprehend that it’s not all about me, but about others and about my potential impact on the kingdom of God, then it becomes a little easier to have the courage to have that difficult but necessary conversation, or to make the effort to do something out of the way for someone else, or to conquer that huge goal before me.

As one of several staff pastors at NorthStar Church, I find myself listening at times to people in their time of need. As they pour out their heart, they are looking for words of encouragement from me. And sometimes I feel at a loss as to what to say.

This is not just the dilemma of clergy, but everyone is in that situation at times where you wonder what you can say or do to encourage a friend.

In my study of courage in the Bible, I’m also looking at the idea of encouragement. The word encourage means, in part, to inspire courage.

As I looked at the episode in Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV) where an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph, it seemed to me to give a template for encouraging others in their time of need.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

It seems to me that the angel’s words to Joseph give us five important ways we can address someone’s fear and encourage them:

1. Acknowledge their fear.
“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid …”
The first thing the angel does is address Joseph’s fear. We need to acknowledge their fear is real, but help them to turn from it and take courage.

2. Help them think beyond their own thought processes.
“…do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife …”
The angel gives Joseph specific instructions that are contrary to what he was thinking. Remember, Joseph was thinking the best course of action would be to divorce her quietly (v. 19). (The other option was to have her stoned—unthinkable.) But the angel helps him see an option he had not considered viable: marry her. This flies in the face of societal norms for the time.

When someone is in a time of crisis and stress, it’s hard to think straight. Help them see that the path they might need to take could be contrary to what they are thinking now.

3. Open their eyes to the possibility of the miraculous.
“…because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”
This bit of information was inconceivable (pardon the pun). It had never happened before—and hasn’t happened since. We need to encourage those in need to be open to the miraculous. Help them to pray and ask God to do what only He can do.

4. Give them some possible next steps.
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus …”
The angel gives some practical direction: call Him Jesus. When someone is overwhelmed, it’s hard to see or even have the motivation to do what must be done. Help them by identifying one to three simple, practical next steps that will get them started.

5. Connect them to the eternal.
“…because he will save his people from their sins.”
Help them see how their life connects to God’s master plan. Help them see beyond themselves and how they impact others. Help them see beyond right now—this life that is but a breath—and into eternity.

One bonus point: This is not directly addressed in this passage, but make sure you listen before you encourage. Everyone wants to feel like they are truly being listened to. Look them in the eye and address them by name, just like the angel did to Joseph.

Of course the end result of the angel giving Joseph encouragement—or inspiring courage in Joseph—was that Joseph obeyed and displayed courage (vv. 24-25).

How can you use these ideas to inspire courage in someone this week?