Scripture Introduction
For the disciples, quality time with Jesus in the Upper Room has not been pleasant. First, the Lord embarrasses them by taking the form of a slave and washing their feet (an act far beneath his dignity, especially since they felt so acutely that it was beneath theirs). Then their trusted treasurer is revealed as a traitor – Judas – with whom they shared meals and served God. (Some of you know how it hurts when a friend turns his back on you – the rejection, the loss, the confusion, the self-doubt.) Third, Jesus informs them that he is leaving, and where he is going they cannot come. And finally, Peter, the bold leader of the bunch, is rebuked as a fickle denier of the faith. John 13 is a somber – even sad – hour in the life of these first followers.
Maybe a few moments pass before Jesus again speaks; or possibly he allows the difficult reality to sink into their souls for longer. One thing is certain – the disquiet (even the despair?) settles like a stinking smoke in the room. But the great physician knows his patients, and he comforts their souls with a healing balm.
[Read John 14.1-11. Pray.]
Introduction
Recently, the Smithsonian magazine described our time as the “Age of Anxiety.” Someone else said it is the “Cardiac Age,” a time of troubled hearts, where people are anxious about retirement funds, worried about elections, fearful of nuclear terrorists, and concerned about issues all over the globe: population, hunger, the lack of clean drinking water, and the possibility of a pandemic.
Worry has been defined as “a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” What a picturesque and accurate description! Worry, or a troubled heart, may seem a small matter, but its corrosive effects wreak great damage. “A small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.”
George Muller, famous for building and maintaining orphanages through determined prayer rather than by telling people of their needs, said, “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”
Notice the connection Muller made between faith and overcoming anxiety (or worry). “…the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”
In our text, Jesus sees in the faces of his friends their troubled hearts. And they have reason to be anxious. The future is frightening; the problems they face are immense; their own abilities are less formidable than they had hoped or imagined.
A year earlier, these men were in a living parable about this very matter. One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and slept as they sailed. A sudden windstorm came down on the lake; the boat was filling with water and they were in danger. They woke Jesus: “Master, we are perishing.” Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves, and said to them, “Where is your faith?” “Where is your faith? Bring it out and put it to use. You say you believe; now apply your faith to real life.”
That was a very physical example. Now the trouble is more of a spiritual nature, but the solution is the same – faith is called for in the midst of difficulty.
Chapter 14 begins with a command: “Let not your hearts be troubled.” But notice something unique: it is a passive imperative. (I usually do not dwell on points of grammar, but I really think this will help you.) An active imperative is a command you directly obey: “Alice, do not hit Bobby.” But a passive imperative is trickier: “Bobby, do not be hit by Alice.” It is the same command, but now given to Bobby. How does he obey? Hide in the closet? Stay out of her room? Threaten to hit her back? Can he really prevent himself from being hit? It is not so obvious how, is it?
Jesus does not say, “Peter, do not trouble John’s heart.” He says, “Peter, do not let your heart be troubled (by outward circumstances is implied). How do we obey that command? The answer is by believing – by believing in God and in Jesus as he is revealed in the gospel.
Belief is hard in the face of trouble, so Jesus gives his men four reasons to believe. Four comforts for the anxious heart. Four truths to encourage, and calm, and captivate your soul. Muller was correct: “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.” He learned that from Jesus. Let’s see if we can also.
1. The “Different” Truth We Are to Believe in Difficult Circumstances (to the Calming of our Hearts) is that Jesus Prepares Heaven for His People (John 14.1-3)
“Yes,” Jesus is saying, “Yes, I am leaving; and where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterward. Now I must leave, but only to prepare a place. I’m not leaving you permanently; I am going ahead to make a welcome and a room.” And notice, please, what wonderful words describe this place.
First, it is the house of the Father. We had a wonderful time visiting Washington DC last week. I was astonished by the grandeur and magnificence of the craftsmanship and artistry of those who painted and sculpted and designed and built the buildings in our Capitol. It is a fitting tribute to the vision of a free country which so many have lived and died for. We should be proud. Still, however, we were so excited to return home. Home is a special place, no matter how meager it may be. We may think the scene a little sappy in The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy taps her ruby red slippers together and says, “There’s no place like home,” but that touches a deep chord in our souls. It is significant that Adam and Eve were cast out of the one home they knew upon their sin. With them, all humanity looks for that true home, that place of security and comfort and safety. It is the place where God the Father lives; that is the heart’s true home.
Second, observe that there are many rooms in the Father’s house. This body is a tent, a temporary structure; a room reserved in the Father’s house lasts unto eternity. And there are many of these, one for every believer, especially prepared by the King’s own Son. The child of God with yet the weakest faith need not fear there being no place in the inn. Christ has taken that pain; now there are rooms in the mansion of God for every follower.
And, third, see that Jesus himself will be there. The one to whom we sing, “Jesus, lover of my soul”; the one who lived and died to make us holy and happy forever; the one who took the Father’s wrath and buried beyond the sight of his eyes; the one who loves you so much that he gave his life as a ransom for sin – this one will personally welcome you home.
Our hearts are not troubled when we believe the truth about Jesus’ preparation of heaven.
J. C. Ryle: “Let these words sink down into our minds. To the worldly and careless they may seem nothing at all. To all who feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of God they are full of unspeakable comfort. If we hope to be in heaven it is pleasant to know what heaven is like.”
2. The “Different” Truth We Are to Believe in Difficult Circumstances (to the Calming of our Hearts) is that Jesus Provides the Way to Heaven for His People (John 14.4-6)
Have you had the experience of searching frantically for your keys or glasses or cell-phone, only to find that they were in your pocket or purse all along? Isn’t that similar to what happens to Thomas here?
The Lord looks at these dear friends and faithful disciples and sees the fear and concern in their faces. So he says, as it were, “Do not be discouraged and doubtful, as if I had taught you nothing of eternal life and the way to heaven. Your worry about my leaving is draining your better thoughts. Yes, I must go, but you know the way to where I am going.”
It is like the parent encouraging their toddler to attempt the first jump into the pool: “You saw me jump in the water; you know the inner tube will keep you afloat. Think of how much fun it is to splash in the water when I help you do it, and jump!”
But Thomas – often called, “Doubting Thomas” – expresses the feelings which probably every man had: “We do not know where you are going, how could we know the way?” This is not he mocking unbelief of a hardened skeptic; it is the sincere concern of a gracious soul threatened by “sorrows [which] like sea billows roll.”
But Jesus (it seems with particular tenderness) says, “I am the way…. I’m not simply a lawgiver like Moses, or a King like David, or a priest like Aaron. I am the door which was once barred, the ladder which was broken, the road which was impassible. I am the one who brings you near; through me you have access to God. “I am the way.”
But more: he is the truth. Wise men make many religions and think many deep thoughts. But they are destined to grope in the darkness; only in Christ is there the pure brightness of truth. Oh how harsh the bright light seems when we are used to the darkness; but it always provides clarity. Jesus often says what I do not want to hear; never does he speak falsely. “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
He is the source of the eternal life for which we so desperately long. On Wednesday I spoke with the Yellow Pages representative about the church’s advertising. In the course of the conversation the man said, “Well I was raised a Methodist, but I haven’t been to church in, God, 15 years. But I still live my life the correct way.”
I thought his comment was so interesting. I did not ask how he hoped to find his way back home to the Heavenly Father, but he told me. He said (in essence), “I know what is correct; I know how to get there; and I am doing it on my own. I am the way, the truth, and the life.” But Jesus disagrees: no one comes to the Father except through me.
Why should we trust Jesus’ word, Jesus’ way, Jesus’ life? Because he came from the Father, and has returned there, opening and new and living way. God’s pure and perfect holiness bars the way home to defiled sinners. Someone else must build a bridge, raise a ladder, open the door. Christ Jesus is he.
Let us beware of supposing that earnestness of desire will provide a way to heaven, or that sincerity of purpose can wipe away our sins. We sincerely wanted to go to Washington, and we proved our earnestness by packing our luggage and filling the car with gasoline. But the way had to be known before the desire and purpose could be fulfilled.
The way to the Father’s house is through faith in his Son. He has made the way so that we need not fear the path.
3. The “Different” Truth We Are to Believe in Difficult Circumstances (to the Calming of our Hearts) is that Jesus Reveals the Father to His People (John 14.7-11a)
It seems Philip desires some final sign, some vision, some appearance (maybe like the burning bush) to convince him that Jesus speaks for God. (I have certainly felt the same.) Jesus’ answer is that he is the final sign, he is the great vision, he is the perfect diving appearing! Here is one of Jesus’ most bold claims to divinity: “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father; I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”
The Bible is asking us to think about Christ’s words and works. No one ever spoke as this man. No one ever loved as this man. No one ever knew your heart as this man. God has come near; God is living among mortal men. Immanuel – God is with us. When worries threaten the soul, remember that Jesus revealed the Father’s love for his people and provision for their eternal happiness. If God so loved the world, then what can trouble do to us? Believe and let not your heart be troubled.
4. The “Different” Truth We Are to Believe in Difficult Circumstances (to the Calming of our Hearts) is that Jesus Proved Himself by His Miracles (John 14.11b)
I would have thought this would be the most powerful reason to believe and comfort for my soul. But the wording here seems to make this the least powerful one, the one Jesus offers as a special condescension to the weakness of his disciples. It is as if Jesus says, “You men have been with me for three years. You know me and you have heard by words. Think, remember, reflect. The Spirit working in your heart and mind will convince you that I am God the Son and that you can trust me to the calming of your hearts. But if that is not enough, you have seen the signs, the miracles, the mighty works. You know that I am both Lord and Messiah.”
Put your faith in Jesus, and let not your hearts be troubled.
5. Conclusion
The TV show Cheers had a theme song with these words: “Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got. Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot…. Sometimes you want to go / where everybody knows / your name / and they're always glad you came…. / You wanna be where everybody knows / Your name.”
I think that is what is called “common ground,” a non-Christian expressing the longing for home that the Bible says is a proof of our being made for glory and for God. That show asked, is there anywhere where people accept me as I am, with all my eccentricities, messiness, failings, weaknesses, and sinfulness? Does not your heart long for someone to know you exactly as you are, and rejoice in you? Not mere toleration or even acceptance. Those are helpful, but my heart wants someone who sings with delight at the very sight of me. Is it too much to hope for that from God? The prophet Zephaniah did not consider it too much to imagine.
Zephaniah 3.17: “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
I heard this quote in a sermon I listened to this week: “The only people who ever get better are those who know that if they never get better, God will still love them.”
I desperately want to get better. But if it is so that God will love me, the certainty of failure will paralyze or betray me. Only when I look to Jesus, and see that he has made and new and living way to God, and that now the Father exults over me with loud singing, do I find the faith that changes my heart.
1John 3.2-3: “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
You think about that, amen.
