NOTES for Luk 12:4-5

First of all, let us not fail to notice the form of address the Lord uses here: "My friends." Not slaves, not servants, not even disciples - friends! Who are friends? For us, they are those whom we love, from whom we do not want to part, to whom we wish the very best. And now let us read what Jesus says to His friends, warning them of future disasters, persecutions, and killings.

We would choose ways to avoid the coming danger and speak about reasonable caution... Jesus' words are unexpected: "Do not fear." Will the troubles pass by? No, but one must not fear death, physical death, because the murderer can do nothing more to us, and physical death is not the end. So if anything must be taken seriously, it is what separates us from the One who gives eternal life: sin. To take it seriously means to try to avoid it here and now. For after death resurrection awaits us, and after it the judgment carried out by the Judge who gave His life for our salvation. And if we are not filled with reverent trembling before this Judge - this is what the biblical language calls the fear of God - then our path with Him is broken off, in Gehenna!