Jesus’ Assurance for His Anxious Disciples assurance. But instead, He offers comfort to His disciples and tells them of the John 14:1-14 future that He has planned for them. The anxiety level among Jesus’ disciples had just reached an all-time Decades had passed between this night when Jesus spoke and the time high. If we look to the verses that precede this passage, we see that Jesus had when John put His Gospel into its final form. John has had many years to just shared with them news that threatened the security they had found in Him in reflect on Jesus’ message. And he recognizes that while the words were the previous few years – “My children,” Jesus had said, “I will be with you only originally directed at him and his fellow disciples, they were also meant for a a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you wider audience. These words of Jesus also apply to you and me. And as I now: Where I am going, you cannot come” (John 13:34). The language Jesus studied these verses from John 14, it seemed that Jesus was telling us some very uses to address them is an indication of how unsettling these words must have important things. He tells us where we are going, how we get there and the life been. “My children . . . .” Imagine a parent telling a child that he or she is He intends for us in the meantime. leaving and that, where they are going, the child cannot come. The anxiety that I. First, where we are going. Jesus is talking to the disciples at a time child would feel is like the anxiety that the disciples felt when they heard these when they are facing a high degree of uncertainty. For at least three years, Jesus words from their Master. had shared His life with them. He had become the person in whom they placed Some doubt that John is recounting a real conversation here. They say their trust and their hope. Now He was telling them that things were about to that he is manufacturing Jesus’ words to advance his own arguments. But the change. He would no longer by available to them in the way that they had way in which the disciples respond is so true to human nature that it’s hard to experienced Him up to this point. imagine that John could have made this up. After Jesus drops that bombshell on Jesus even tells Peter that Peter does not know himself as well as he them, they are incapable of hearing anything else. Jesus goes on to say, “A new thinks he does. He may think that he can follow Jesus wherever He goes – even command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love if it means following Him to his own death. But Jesus says that he will not be one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love able to follow through. one another.” So, everything in the disciples’ world is being turned upside down. Peter’s response shows that he hadn’t heard a word Jesus had said Jesus understands this and, at the beginning of chapter 14, He turns a corner. He about loving one another. Everything had stopped for him when Jesus said, “I has been talking about the things that are about to change. Now He begins to will be with you only a little longer.” So Peter asks, “Lord, where are you talk about the things of which the disciples can be certain. “Do not let your going?” hearts be troubled,” He says. “Trust in God; trust also in me.” When we recognize the circumstances in which the words of chapter 14 Then He tells them, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were were spoken, we are amazed. Jesus is the one who is facing arrest and the not so, I would have told you.” “My Father’s house” is Jesus way of talking physical abuse and the humiliation that followed. Jesus is the one who is headed about heaven. Over the centuries, these verses have been sliced and diced to try for the suffering of the cross. He is the one who could have used comfort and to come up with a clear picture of what heaven is like. Many of us are familiar with the KJV that says, “In my Father’s house are many mansions .” Lots of

1 people’s images of heaven are based on that translation. But the original that one of them – Thomas – would pipe us and say, “Lord, we don’t know language here indicates that Jesus is not so much talking about the luxury of the where you are going, so how can we know the way?” accommodations as about the fact that there is room for every one of His That question prompted some of the best known and most debated disciples to join Him there. words from Jesus. In verse 6, Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the Remember, Jesus’ disciples are confused and frightened at this point. life. No one come to the Father except through me.” Jesus clearly tells us how They aren’t concerned about the furniture or the square footage of heaven. They we get to the “Father’s house” where we can enjoy His presence along with our are worried about the separation that Jesus has been talking about. The words in brothers and sisters. But His response was not what Thomas and the other verse three assure them that the separation will not be permanent. “If I go and disciples expected. Clearly Thomas was looking for directions to a particular prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you place. If this conversation had happened today, he might have said, “Jesus, can also may be where I am.” you give me that address so that I can put in my GPS?” I think we tend to think of heaven in terms of comfort and reward. And Rather than offering a set of directions, however, Jesus offers Himself. certainly that is a part of the picture the Bible gives us. But here, in this final This is one of the primary things that makes the way of Jesus different from the conversation between Jesus and His disciples, the emphasis is on the way of religion in general. Most religion is about following a set of instructions relationship that Jesus has with His followers. Heaven is to be with Jesus in the that promise to lead us to God. The instruction can take the form of a legal code presence of God. He is the One who makes heaven what it is. But it isn’t only – a set of laws that a person is to follow that will bring them to God. Or the about our relationship with Him. There is room in the Father’s house for instructions can take the form of practices that promise to enable a person to everyone . So, heaven is also to be together with those who know Him. transcend the physical world and enter the spiritual. The path varies from That means that we do not have to be afraid of separation from those religion to religion, but they all have this in common. As a religion, Christianity we love. Yes, Jesus was about to go where His disciples could not follow. But has often fallen into the same pattern. that was a temporary situation. In fact, if they could see what He saw, they Jesus’ primary point here is not that Christianity is better than every would know that His purpose in going where He was going was to make other religion. He is saying that the way to God is through a Person – it is possible a situation in which they would never be separated again. through Him as the One who alone has bridged the chasm that separated us from And because that is true of our relationship with Him, Jesus implies God. If not for Jesus, we would not have a way to God. One great follower of that the separations we experience when we lose those we love are also Jesus by the name of Thomas a Kempis said it this way: “Without the way there temporary. Ultimately, where we are going is a place where we will be together is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no forever with Jesus in the presence of God. That was the assurance that Jesus living.” wanted to share with His disciples. Jesus is inviting the disciples to recognize this about Him. On one II. The disciples’ response to Jesus’ words is understandable. They had level, they truly do know Jesus. And in their relationship with Jesus, they have heard Jesus talk about “going where they could not come” and about their seen the Father. But they do not recognize this yet. As highly as they think of “knowing the way to the place where Jesus was going.” So it’s not surprising

2 Jesus, they don’t yet grasp that in Jesus God has made Himself known. We III. The way to the Father’s house is only through Jesus and through cannot get to God on our own. But in Jesus, God has opened the way. what He has done for us. But Jesus was not only interested in talking to His Do you remember back in John 4 what the Samaritan townspeople said disciples about heaven. The life that Jesus offers is more than a destination. to the woman who had brought them to Jesus? They said, “We no longer The “Way” Jesus talks about here is something in which we live. Jesus was not believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we trying to establish a group of followers whose only interest would be in the next know that this man really is the Savior of the world” (v. 42). That’s especially life. The way that Jesus offers is one that is true. When we see Him, we see significant when we remember that these were Samaritan people and that Jesus everything we need to know about living the kind of life to which He calls us. was Jewish. The Samaritans had their own religious system. They had their There have always been – and there will always be – people who own temple. They had their own view of Scripture. Jesus was not part of their present themselves as those who have been given special insight into the truth system. And yet, when they heard Jesus, they recognized that there was about God and His plan. Every few years, it seems like some preacher or something about Him that went beyond any religious system. It wasn’t about teacher comes along who claims to have figured out exactly when Jesus is going arguing over who had the most accurate way to God. It wasn’t about the to return. Typically, they claim to have discovered some pattern or teaching in differences in their approaches to worship. Jesus was the way. He was the the Bible that everyone else has missed over the last two thousand years. And Savior of the world. there always seem to be people who are ready to buy into their theory. In the very first chapter of John, John the Baptist introduces Jesus to a I do believe that Jesus is going to return someday. That is the great couple of the very disciples to whom Jesus was now speaking these final words promise and hope of the Bible. But the response to that hope is not to spend our – and John said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” time trying to figure out the exact date. Our response should be to commit (v. 29). No system can deal with the central issue that keeps us separated from ourselves to living out the truth that Jesus made clear in His teaching and His God. The sacrifices of the Old Testament temporarily covered the sinful acts of example. the worshipers. But there was a deeper problem. No matter how many animals And when we do, we find that this “Way” is one that is fully alive. We were sacrificed on the temple’s altars, the hearts of the people remained far from all know people who are living in the past. When we do that, we can’t be fully God. But the prophets looked forward to a day when God said, “I will sprinkle alive right now. And, as we’ve said, there are people who are caught up almost clean water on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your entirely in the future. The truth is that the only place we can be truly alive is in impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new the present. The only day we can live as followers of Jesus is today. Jesus, the spirit in you” (Ezekiel 36:25-26). This was not something that religion had been Way, redeems our past and gives hope for our future – but He empowers us for able to accomplish. In fact, religion had only revealed just how sinful people the present. He works powerfully through those who have placed their trust in really were. But Jesus is the Way by which our sin is taken away. Because of Him. what He did for us on the cross, we can be forgiven and cleansed when we place Jesus so wanted His disciples to understand this that He says some our trust in Him. amazing things at the end of this passage. “I tell you the truth,” He says,

3 “anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even I’ve been trying to figure out when I will need to step down as your greater things then these, because I am going to the Father” (v. 12). pastor. I’ve wanted to finish strong and to give the church the time they need to It’s easy to understand why the scholars have tried to tone those words work through the process. So, after talking with my doctors and with our district down over the years. They have tried to argue that Jesus couldn’t have really leadership, I told our church board this past Tuesday that I will be stepping meant what He said. When we look at the things Jesus did during His ministry down at the end of September. There are some things that we don’t know yet. here on earth, it’s difficult to imagine how anyone could do things greater than Dr. Mills, our district superintendent, will be meeting with our board in early feeding the multitudes with a few loaves and fish or walking on water or raising June to begin the process of identifying my successor. The most important thing a dead man to life. Jesus must have been exaggerating to make a point with any of us can do is to begin praying for God’s direction in this process. these disciples. This morning is an affirmation that God is already at work in all of this. But the key to this statement is in the final phrase – “because I am I did not pick the day to make this announcement. A combination of factors going to the Father.” Because Jesus is at home in the Father’s house, He is able determined this day – my appointment at Hopkins, the timing of my meetings to do more through His followers than was possible while He was still limited with Dr. Mills and with our church board this past week. This just “happened” by His human body. In the very next verse, Jesus says, “ I will do whatever you to be the day. And I did not choose the passage for this morning’s sermon. ask in my name.” So this isn’t about our surpassing Jesus. It is about the Since the beginning of January, I’ve been following the lectionary in my potential of the life that we can live as we allow His Life to flow through us. preaching. Whatever challenges we are facing, He has been there before us and He is fully But on this day, when it “happened” to be the right time to share this capable of bringing us through those places. We know where this Way is news with you the lectionary passage “happened” to be about the conversation leading. It is leading to our home with the Father who loves us more than we Jesus had with His disciples about their anxiety about changes that were going can imagine. to take place. And there are two affirmations I want you to leave with this That’s where Jesus words speak again to our experience. Whatever the morning. future holds, our Redeemer has been there. Even when no one else can say it, First, I am going to be fine. I’m not just whistling in the dark when I He can – “I’ve been there, and it’s going to be OK – and I will be with you.” I say that. Jesus tells me here that, whatever my future holds, He is already there am the way and the truth and the life. and that I don’t have to trouble myself about that. The Tuesday after Easter, I had a routine follow-up appointment at the The other thing I want you to leave with this morning is this – You are ALS Clinic up at Johns Hopkins. I have these appointments every five months going to be OK. This church is going to be OK. These verses show us that it’s or so. One of the things they do every time I’m there is to take some measures normal to feel some anxiety when we face a future that is unclear. But as that track the progression of the disease. I had been noticing some things about followers of Jesus, we respond differently to that anxiety. Jesus calls us to trust my condition for the previous few months and the numbers confirmed what I’d Him – “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in been feeling. me.”

4 I. Where We Are Going

A. “My Father’s house” refers to ______B. Jesus’ point is that there is ______for every one of His disciples to join him there C. So, heaven is . . . 1. To be with ______in the presence of the

______2. To be together forever with ______who Know Him

II. How We Get There

A. Rather than offering a set of ______, Jesus offers ______B. If not for Jesus, we would not have a ______to God 1. He is our ______(John 4:42) 2. He is the One who takes away our ______(John 1:29)

III. The Life Jesus Offers Is More Than a ______

A. The “Way” is something in which we ______1. It is a way that is ______2. It is a way that is fully ______

B. He works powerfully ______those who have placed their trust in Him – He will do “even ______things” through them

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