Jesus tells us not to fear. How does that work?

Life is full of fears - aging, death, and a world in turmoil. But Easter declares that Jesus has conquered the greatest fear of all, giving us hope beyond the grave, says Jeff Lucas

There have been a few events in life that I dreaded. Losing my hair was one of them. I used to have a fairly extensive mop, ridiculously corralled in the 1980s by a perm. My fringe stuck out so far that I could have found part-time employment as a bus shelter. Transitioning from that to a marooned peninsula (I used to have Texas, now it’s more like the Isle of Wight) has not been a joy. 

Visits to the dentist don’t fill me with ecstasy either. It’s hard not to be afraid when encountering a grinning chap who is eager to insert a pound of stainless steel (including a pneumatic drill) between one’s molars. 

But there’s one item in my future that I would definitely like to avoid – that is dying. I’d prefer Jesus returned in my lifetime, thus cancelling my appointment with our local funeral director. The human tendency to be afraid of death is very real, which is why most undertakers don’t locate themselves in high streets or shopping centres. Denial seems to be the default response.

As Woody Allen put it: “I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”

To state the obvious, there’s a