"’Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him’" (John 14:1-7, New International Version).
“Do not let your hearts be troubled…” -- God wants us to have peace in our hearts. He does not want our hearts to be filled with fear, anxiety, doubts, sorrow, or disappointment.
In Isaiah 41:10, we read: “So do not fear…” God told Abraham, “Do not be afraid…” He told the Israelites, “Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them (their enemies)” (Deut. 20:3). “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged" (Deut. 31:8, NIV).
Peter wrote, “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened" (Peter 3:14, NIV).
Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…” (Matt. 6:25, also verses 31 & 34.) He also said in John 20:27, “Stop doubting…”
But with all the problems and difficulties that we face today, how can we safeguard our hearts from fears, worries, disappointments, etc.?
Jesus Christ said, “Trust in God…”
And who is this God that we should trust?
We read in Isaiah 41:10, “… for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
He is not just the God of the ancient Israelites. He is “your” God. He is also our God. And according to Deuteronomy 20:4, He “…is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory." In Deuteronomy 31:8, we read: “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
In the New Testament, the Son of God encouraged His followers: “…your heavenly Father knows… (all your needs)” (Matt 6:32.) Added Peter, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
Peter also wrote in 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” In the King James Version, it reads: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts…” And how can we sanctify the Lord God in our hearts? One commentary states:
“We sanctify the Lord God in our hearts when we with sincerity and fervency adore him, when our thoughts of him are awful and reverend, when we rely upon his power, trust to his faithfulness, submit to his wisdom, imitate his holiness, and give him the glory due to his most illustrious perfections.” (from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
Jesus Christ also said, “…trust also in me.” Am sure He was familiar of Jeremiah 17:5: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man…” and also of Psalm 146:3-6: “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them--the LORD, who remains faithful forever. “
If He was just a mere human being, He would not encourage His followers to trust Him. He is not only a man. He is also God.
“In my Father’s house are many rooms…” -- In God’s Kingdom, there is enough place – whether it’s a place of authority, a place to stay, a place to rejoice, a place of worship, or a place to be with God, or whatever – for every believer. No squatter there. No one will feel neglected.
“I am going there to prepare a place for you” -- No matter how comfortable or convenient where we are right now, it’s not the place that is meant for us. A much better place is being prepared for us. It’s not here in our world. It’s “there” – where the Glorious God dwells. And the Son of God Himself prepares it. We can be sure His preparation is perfect.
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me…” -- After the preparation of the glorious place, He will not just wait there for the sons of the kingdom. He “will come and take…” them to be with Him. He will see to it that you are going tol occupy the place He prepares for you. He will come back to take you there – to be with Him. Notice what is glorious about the place. It’s not just that there will be no more pain or dying. What’s wonderful about it – you will be with the Great and Magnificent God. He said, “…be with me.”
“…That you also may be where I am” -- Our Savior wants us to be with Him. In fact, that was His prayer to the Father: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world” (John 17:24). Even in our lifetime, He wants to be with us. We just read earlier from the Old Testament, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” In the New Testament, Jesus promised: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matt. 28:20).
“You know the way to the place where I am going" -- According to Jesus, his followers “know the way to the place…” where He is going. In this particular case, He did not say they need to wander, to learn, or to search for the way. They know it. But though He had said they know it, Thomas reasoned and asked: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Just like Thomas, we also asked: How can we know the way?
How can we know the way to health, happiness and prosperity? the way to harmony in the family, in the church, in the neighborhood, or in the world?
How about the way to increase the attendance, income, or baptism in the church?
Can we know the way to harmonize the teachings of different theologians?
Just how can we know the way to righteousness, peace and truth?
But are we really listening to God’s Word?
Let’s hear again what Jesus said: “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” Note carefully what He said: “In my Father’s house… I am going there…”
Of course, it’s nice to have good health, to enjoy material wealth and harmonious relationship with others. It’s also encouraging to have more baptisms/income in the church. And who would not like that all Christians would believe and practice the same things?
Let’s consider Isaiah 55:8-9, "’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.‘”
Our Savior is bringing us, however, in a far more desirable and satisfying destination. To the glorious place: “my Father’s house” – to God’s Kingdom -- to rejoice in the very Presence of God. If along the way, we are able to enjoy, for example, physical abundance or whatever, then let’s praise God for it.
But Paul was more concerned of something great: “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom…” (2 Tim. 4:18.) Jesus encouraged also His followers, when He told them in Luke 12:32, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
Peter added: “It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, TO BRING YOU TO GOD...” (1 Peter 3:17-18.)
Now, do we know where Jesus is going? In His prayer, we read John 17:11 in The Contemporary English version: “Holy Father, I am no longer in the world. I am coming to you, but my followers are still in the world. So keep them safe by the power of the name that you have given me…” He was going to the Father – wherein in His presence there is fullness of joy and pleasures for evermore, as we read in Psalm 16:11.
Now, if what is uppermost in our mind is also to be in the place where the Son wants us to be, how can we know the way?
John 14:6 reads, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
If we know Him, we know the way. For He is “the way.” We do not come to the Father through religion, doctrines, church, seminary, good works, or by any other means – but through Jesus Christ. He said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Watchman Nee wrote:
“The word of Jesus is, ‘I am the way.’ This way may also mean the method. What He here tries to convey to us is that He is the way by which we come to God as well as the method by which we to reach God. Having Him, we have the way; and possessing Him, we possess the method… We need to see that the Lord Jesus, and not any other method, is the only way by which we come to God initially at the time of salvation and at any subsequent time.”
Further, he wrote: “…He alone is the way, the method. The way is not outside of Him, for He himself is the way. If all we get is merely a method, we will soon discover its ineffectiveness. God has not given us a method; He gives His own Son to us.”
Nee also wrote: “Let us understand that to believe in the Lord himself, and to believe a formula, are actually two different motions” (CHRIST: The Sum of All Spiritual Things).
If we really want to come to God the Father, or to the knowledge of the truth, or to have an abundant life, then, we need to become familiar with the Son, not with just with any method, strategy, guideline, or formula. He also said in verse 7, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.”
What is important is to become more and more acquainted with the only Way – the Divine Way. Peter wrote, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
We also read in the writings of Paul: “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the SURPASSING GREATNESS OF KNOWING CHRIST JESUS MY LORD, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ… I want to know Christ…” (Phil 3:8, 10.)
And really knowing Him intimately we will be able to trust Him. David declared in the first part of Psalm 9:10, “Those who know your name will trust in you…”
Finally, Jesus said: “From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Are those words referring to us? Right now, are we really intimately familiar with Him? Do we see or regard Him as the Way? – not just the way to the truth and the life, but the only way to God – the One who can provide us not only with peace, security and sufficiency, but also the guarantee that we’ll be in His Kingdom to rejoice in His Presence for all eternity!
PRAYER: Our Almighty and Merciful Father, we thank You and praise You for giving us the Way – Your Son and our Savior Jesus Christ, so we can approach You and experience the overwhelming joy in Your Presence. May You open also the eyes of others that they may see, admire, exalt and follow Your Way. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
