This iconic photo was taken during the Tiananmen Square student protest in Beijing in 1989. It shows an ordinary person standing in front of four tanks, which were among many tanks sent to the square to clear protestors. It captures the essence – and foolhardiness – of courage. The person apparently has no concern about their personal safety in the midst of a dangerous and tense situation. They may have been quite frightened but chose to act in this way regardless.
In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus is journeying towards Jerusalem and is warned by some Pharisees that King Herod wants to kill him. Presumably Jesus took the warning seriously as Herod had already killed John the Baptist. Rather than being ruled by fear, however, Jesus calmly sends word back to Herod that he intends to carry on his journey and his ministry as before. He feels compelled to go to Jerusalem even though the city has a reputation for killing God’s prophets. Jesus acts with courage.
Note that courage is not the opposite of fear. Courage is acting or speaking despite one’s fear. Courage may well be what God calls us to embrace in a given situation, although sometimes caution and withdrawal from a potentially dangerous situation is the better course of action. Our natural inclination may well be to withdraw but some situations require us to act with courage (e.g. Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion, speaking to politicians in the lead-up to the election). We need God’s wisdom to know which way to act as well as God’s strength and boldness to act with courage.