But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” (Mark 6:49–50)
This English phrase take courage is derived from a single Greek word (tharséō). It appears 7 times in the New Testament—6 times it is a command from the mouth of Our Lord. It is rendered by the idiom take heart in the more recent translations (ESV/NIV). And those familiar with the old King James Bible will note that the translators interpreted this phrase in every instance: be of good cheer. However, cheer tends to imply merriment, happiness or encouragement. There are two Greek words for this type of emotion: hilaros (Romans 12:8; 2 Corinthians 9:7) and euthumos (Acts 24:10; 27:36). Conversely, the Greek word for take courage doesn’t denote cheerfulness. According to the Greek Lexicons take courage “has the basic sense of ‘to dare,’ ’to be bold’”;1 and “to have confidence and firmness of purpose in the face of danger or testing.”2
Let us examine the challenging tests from nature, sickness, sin and evil that Our Lord commands us to take courage.
Contrary Winds
The scene is the Sea of Galilee, and a boat with the 12 disciples onboard. This narrative is recorded in the gospels of Matthew and Mark with a rare parallel account submitted by John. Our Lord has just finished miraculously feeding the multitude of five thousand and now He intends to go to a mountain retreat to pray alone (Matthew 14:23). But first, He compels the disciples to get aboard a boat and go ahead of Him to Bethsaida on the other side of the sea (Mark 6:45).
John states it was evening in his narration (John 6:17-21) and “it had already become dark” (v. 17) and that the disciples had rowed three to four miles from where they had left Our Lord (v. 19). Matthew 14:24 adds that they were rowing against a contrary wind while being “battered by the waves.”
Not to be missed is the remarkable aspect Mark points out in his account. From Our Lord’s place of prayer on the mountain, He was “seeing them straining at the oars”! The Greek verb tenses demonstrate that His seeing them occurred prior to when “He came to them” (Mark 6:48).3 This is a perfect example of Our Lords’ attribute of deity—His omniscience.
Next, the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water and were terrified, crying out in fear that they saw a ghost. Note that Our Lord didn’t ridicule their fears but instead said: “take courage; it is I, do not be afraid” (Mark 6:50). For Our Lord to have said “be of good cheer” in the midst of their fear would seem out of place. Instead take courage is a command for the disciples to have confidence that He is there to alleviate their fears, just as He is for believers today. Therefore, we should recognize that comfort and encouragement arise from overcoming fear and is based on confident hope in God’s help and promises.4
Sickness and Sin
There are two accounts in the synoptic gospels of Our Lord commanding those He healed to take courage. The first is presented in Matthew 9:2-7 of a paralytic man. The extraordinary feature is that when these unidentified men brought this man to Our Lord, He saw their faith that they believed in Him. Turning His attention to the paralytic man Jesus said: “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven” (v. 2); for according to the erroneous theology of that day, the shaking paralysis was regarded as divine punishment for sin.5
Again Our Lord’s omniscience is on full display. Knowing the evil thoughts of the scribes accusing Him of blaspheme, He responds:
“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.”” (Matthew 9:5–6)
This power of Our Lord’s to forgive and heal was precisely stated by David:
Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases. (Psalm 103:3)
The second instance concerns a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years and physicians were unable to help her (Mark 5:26). Having heard of Jesus’ healing powers, she came up behind Him, thinking “If I only touch His garment, I will get well” (Matthew 9:20-21). Luke relates that Jesus instantly knew that someone touched Him saying: “Who is the one who touched Me?”...“Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.” (Luke 8:45-46). Once again, another example of His divine omniscience!
Matthew records Our Lord’s response to the expression of this woman’s faith:
But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well. (Matthew 9:22)
Our Ultimate Example
The scene is the Upper Room where Our Lord shared the Passover meal with His disciples. After the meal He spoke intending to prepare them for His departure; for He knew that His death by crucifixion was near. At the conclusion of His lengthy discourse (John 14-16) and immediately preceding His High Priestly prayer (John 17), Our Lord stated this:
“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
The previously defined meaning of take courage fittingly coincides with Our Lord’s statement: “In the world you have tribulation.” His claim to have “overcome the world” was made prior to His horrific suffering and death “by the hands of godless men” (Acts 2:23). And now He is asserting that we can overcome any adversity or misfortune that the world challenges us with. But the victory can only be ours if we take courage and have confidence that the Lord will see us through relying on His strength (Psalm 28:7) and His eternal promise: “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5; cf. Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:5).
Therefore, since Our Lord was able to overcome the world by the courage He displayed in the midst of His sufferings, He exists as our perfect example forever.
Conclusion
For all believers in Jesus Christ, this phrase take courage should be our rallying cry, making it a vital necessity that we understand its full implication in order to wield it effectively. For in the midst of the distressful ordeals of life, whether personal, spiritual, societal or political, we need to have complete confidence to take courage in Him, convinced that He is able to see us through as we face the conflicts head-on.[1] Grundmann, W. (1964–). θαρρέω (θαρσέω). In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich, Eds.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 3.25.
[2] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. New York: United Bible Societies, 1.305.
[3] Wallace, D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, p. 614.
[4] Mundle, W. (1986). θαρσέω. In The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Brown, Colin, Ed.), Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1.328.
[5] Waugh, R.M.L. (1953). The Preacher and His Greek Testament, London: The Epworth Press, p. 76.
No comments:
Post a Comment