John 14:1-4 New American Standard Bible
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
14 “Do not let your heart be troubled; [a]believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many [b]rooms; if that were not so, [c]I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be. 4 And you know the way where I am going.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen Amen. Amen.
Followers of Christ are not covenanted by God, are not summoned by God to simply be timid or fair-weather believers.
They are realistic believers committed to truth, people who “think in believing and believe in thinking,” as Saint Augustine of Hippo had once expressed it.
They are therefore like experienced pilots who can fly in bad weather as easily as in good, by night as well as by day, and upside down as well as right side up.
Faith’s rainy days will come and go and dark nights of the soul may threaten to overwhelm, but safe flying is possible for those who have at least two things:
First: a solid grasp of the instruments (God’s revealed truth and promises)
Second, is a canny realism about the power of the storm and stresses of doubt.
On that fateful day, in the confines of that Upper Room, as our Lord looked at these men, He already knew what was going on in their minds and their hearts, how deeply disturbed and upset they were, and what was causing their turmoil.
He already knew the remedy for their anxieties as well.
Perhaps there are too many of us right now who are suffering from the same depths of affliction as these disciples–troubled hearts; fearful hearts; upset, disturbed, and agitated hearts because of the measure of our circumstances.
Our Lord already knew that these men were very afraid of what was coming.
They were afraid of death, afraid that they, with Him, were going to be arrested and then brutally executed, crucified by the Jews or by the Romans.
They knew of the opposition which had developed against them in Jerusalem.
They knew they were in the gravest of danger, and so, consequently, their hearts were deeply troubled and fearful as they had gathered here with Him.
But more than that physical danger to themselves, they were aware of Jesus’ words about leaving them.
This had struck a good measure terror into their hearts.
They were afraid that even though they might survive, they would have to go on living without Him, and that was becoming immeasurably unbearable to them.
They could bear to die with Him; they could not bear to live or die without Him.
So in that Upper Room, in those spaces where they just celebrated the Passover, as He gathers with them,
He says these words: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”
Once when I was experiencing a period of this kind of heart trouble
myself, I thought of these words, and then one day as I read and I pondered this text they suddenly came home to my troubled heart with tremendously new significance.
I saw something in that simple phrase “Do not let your hearts be troubled”
that I had never seen nor noticed before.
What suddenly impressed me were the first three words: “Do Not Let.”
As if in one moment of absolutely perfect harmony, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, looked directly at my heart and my heart looked back.
They meant that those disciples, and Christians and non Christians alike, could each do something direct, definitive and decisive about their “heart” problem.
They held in their hands the “Masters” key to their release from heart trouble.
It was 100% possible for them either to let it 100% happen or 100% not to let it happen.
Our Lord is saying this to all of us.
There is a way out of heart difficulty–this distress and fear concerning both life and death and life–and our Lord goes on to give the only answer to them.
The remedy for heart trouble is contained in the two phrases that follow:
“Trust in God; Trust also in Me.”
Trust in God who is still in control, who knows what He is doing, who is capable of exercising infinite wisdom, infinite power, and infinite love. And trust also in me,
Jesus said, who is the means by which all of that wisdom and all resources, and and all of the power of God is made available to you and available to me too.
That is the secret.
All their lives, Jesus’ disciples were taught to trust God.
Their childhoods had been filled with great stories of faithfulness. Jesus’ words from John 14 will stretch the disciples’ understanding past the breaking point.
He will equate himself with God.
They will struggle to understand.
Much of what happens will remain an impenetrable mystery to them until Jesus’ resurrection and the coming of his Spirit on Pentecost Day.
For them, and for us, these words take on great meaning:
“Let not our hearts be troubled.”
“Trust in God, and trust also in me.”
His point?
It’s like he’s saying,
“Peace Be Still.”
“Trust me! I’m God intimately up close and intimately personal for you!”
Jesus is the great reminder of God’s concern and great informer of our and for understanding of our dilemmas.
He is Emmanuel, God With Us!
He is Emmanuel, God Within Us!
He is God our Guide and God the Guardian of our Hearts – Up Close!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Righteous and holy God, my Abba Father, Author and Protector of my Faith, I praise you for your love and grace. Thank you for entering our world and drawing close to us in Jesus. Thank you for giving us Jesus so we can know your love and compassion more clearly. Today, let me put my trust in him as I pray in his mighty name. Amen.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thank you for what you teach us from the Upper Room, thank You for the reassurance of Your Living Words of Truth as we each face the unknown. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. I will come again.”
Help us to live and minister on this basis today and to demonstrate the quality of life that He lived.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen Amen. Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 