Trust

Beloved,

have you ever had one of those days when everything goes wrong?

It doesn’t make any difference how hard you try,

it just seems that everything backfires on you?

The harder you try, the worse it gets.

I’m convinced that all of us have had days like that.

ILL.

I heard a story that illustrates this point very well.

It’s about a lady at the airport who bought

a Snickers candy bar to eat while she was waiting for her plane.

In the crowded waiting area she saw an empty seat

at the end of a row.

She walked very fast to get it,

she quickly propped her over sized hand bag against

the end of the row, sat down, and placed her purse and

several small items on the table between her and a rather

large man seated there, and then turned back to straighten

her over sized hand bag.

With everything finally in order, she was now ready to eat her

Snickers candy bar.

But to her surprise, as she started to reach for it,

she saw the man in the next seat unwrapping her Snickers candy bar,

and she watched in utter amazement as he broke off a section and ate it.

She thought to herself, "Well, my goodness, I’ve never seen such audacity."

She stared at him, and he looked at her, but no words were exchanged.

She was so furious at what he had done that she decided that if he was going

to be that bold about it, she could be bold, too. So she reached over to him,

broke off a piece and ate it herself. Then he broke off another piece and ate it.

It became almost a duel between the two of them to see who would get the most.

Quickly the candy bar was consumed, and she sat there just steaming

that someone would be so rude and so presumptuous as to eat half of her candy bar.

Well, after a few minutes of silence, the man got up and left and then came back with another

Snickers candy bar. He unwrapped it, broke off a piece and started eating.

She thought to herself, "Well, since he ate half of mine, I’m going to eat half of his."

So she reached over and broke off another piece and ate it.

Once again,the same scenario was repeated until the whole candy bar was gone.

She sat there thinking, "This is the most ridiculous thing that has happened to me in my whole life."

She continued to stare at him, and he looked at her, with neither one saying a word.

Just then, over the intercom came the announcement that her plane was ready for boarding.

So she opened her purse to get her boarding pass and, to her utter embarrassment,

there was her Snickers candy bar.

She had eaten half of 2 of his candy bars, and her candy bar was still in her purse!!!

APPL.

Beloved,

there are times, when things really start to go wrong.

Your whole world seems to be crumbling around you and you wonder what is going on.

B.

That’s probably about the way the apostles are feeling as we come to the 14th chapter of John.

Their week had begun gloriously with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem,

and people waving palm branches & shouting, "Hosanna!!!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!!! Blessed is the King of Israel!"

Even the Pharisees & the chief priests who had been plotting against Jesus had cried out in despair,

Saying,"See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after Him!" (John 12:19)

But Jesus had not come to establish an earthly kingdom, & He refused the crown.

Disappointed & dissatisfied in their dreams of a Jewish kingdom with Jesus as their miracle working king,

the unpredictable crowd began to change. And soon the priests were once again seeking

someone to betray Jesus

into their hands.

C.

So as the 14th chapter of John opens,

we see Jesus & His apostles

in the upper room where they

have eaten the Passover meal together.

Jesus knew exactly what the next few hours would bring.

He knew Judas would betray Him.

He knew about the illegal trials

of the night,

& how troubled the apostles would be.

He knew of the cross & the borrowed tomb.

And He tried to prepare the apostles

for all that.

So He begins to comfort them.

APPL.

Is there anyone out there

that is listening to this podcast

who needs comfort here this morning?

I know that there are.

We lose loved ones.

People lose jobs.

Some have physical problems.

Others are lonely & depressed.

We experience all kinds of troubles.

PROP.

But Jesus says that part of the solution