Was Jesus Afraid Of Satan According To John 14:30-31?

If care is not taken, many Christians will be deceived and their faith adversely affected by false teachings.

Already, the minds and hearts of many believers have been abused with erroneous interpretations of biblical passages, leading them to a state of confusion and doubt.

A few years ago, a pastor in Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city, told a congregation he was ministering to that Jesus was afraid of the devil when He walked the earth.

The Charismatic church leader was explaining a scriptural verse in the Chapter 14 of the book of John where Jesus made a comment about Satan.

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here” (John 14:30-31).

According to the pastor, Jesus was comfortably speaking to His disciples, but as soon as He saw the ruler of this world, Satan, coming He felt threatened and so He quickly fled with His disciples.

Dwelling on Jesus’ statement, “Rise, let us go from here”, the pastor mockingly taught his congregation that the Lord, per the statement, showed that He was afraid of Satan.

By this teaching, the pastor insinuated that Satan was superior or powerful than Jesus Christ. This is doctrinally unfortunate, dishonest and baseless.

Travel with me as I attempt to explain the verse. But let us start from John Chapter 13 where Jesus has supper with His disciples, washes their feet and talks to them about His betrayal and death. These reportedly took place in the upper room of Mount Zion.

Then, in John Chapter 14, the Lord continues to talk to them, consoling  them that they should not be troubled in their hearts because of His departure, and promising them the coming of the Holy Spirit to be with them.

Shortly after talking to them about going to the Father, Jesus states, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here” (John 14:30-31).

Here, Jesus sees Satan coming obviously in readiness to attack Him, but the Lord is not perturbed or frightened about this at all, because, as He put it, “He has no claim on me” (no foothold on me, no toehold on me, no hold over me, no power over me, nothing in me).

Jesus, then, asserts His desire to do as His Father has commanded Him to willingly offer His life for all. This, He does for the world to know that He loves the Father.

Having said all these things, Jesus who is ready to do the will of the Father, commands His disciple to, “rise, let us go from here”, that is, they should leave the upper room where they had the supper to carry out the Father’s assignment.

Now, you can see that the erring pastor did not diligently study the verse under discussion and the entire Chapter for him to understand the pretext and the context.

Therefore, the pastor’s claim that Jesus fled out of fear shows that he  misunderstands the context. Again, Jesus’ statement, “Rise, let us go from here,” aligns with His mission to obey the Father’s will, not an expression of fear.

Moreover, it is important for us to know that Satan is also referred to as the devil. Now, remember that before Jesus started His public ministry, He had encountered Satan as recorded in the book of Matthew.

It is written that the devil tempted Jesus after He had ended His 40 days and nights fasting. That was a dramatic encounter between Jesus and the devil (Matthew 4:1-11).

In the passage, there was no indication that Jesus was afraid of Satan during their encounter. Rather, it was Jesus Christ who exercised authority and power over the devil as He commanded him, saying “Be gone, Satan!”

And Satan had no choice but to obey the Lord. “Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him” (Matthew 4:11).

If Jesus was not afraid to command the devil to leave Him, how could He be afraid of him when He saw him coming?

And through His ministry, Jesus demonstrated that Satan’s power was no match for His divine authority and power, thereby providing hope and liberation for all who are bound.

Thus, disciples of Christ have the grace to resist the devil to desist or flee from them when they submit to God (James 4:7). Again, they are given power “to tread….over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you” (Luke 10:19).

All these refute the pastor’s teaching that Jesus was afraid of Satan when He walked the earth to preach the gospel of the kingdom.

It is necessary that believers including pastors examine every teaching in the light of the Scriptures to avoid being deceived and led astray.

By James Quansah