Preamble

Good morning and a very warm welcome to Medway Community Church, we are going to continue our study this morning into the gospel of John and we find ourselves at the fourteenth chapter. A very familiar portion of scripture, and a text that is often read at funerals. And for good reason!

It contains promises that are profoundly comforting. Additionally it also contains verses that have been taught and learnt at Sunday School. However, despite its familiarity, don’t go to sleep on me, my prayer is that as we consider the passage that the Lord will open our eyes so that we might see it in a way that is fresh and new this morning.

The setting

Now just a reminder - and for those of you who haven’t been with us over the last couple of Sundays - this is the setting.

Jesus has lived life fully, and has spent the last 3 years in ministry, and we find him in the final week of his life. He will be crucified on Friday in the afternoon - He will be the sacrificial Lamb who takes away the sin of the world - at the very time that the Jews are killing sacrificial Lambs on the Passover that Friday. We find him at this section of John in the upper room on Thursday night - this is His last night with the disciples and these are his parting words - his closing remarks - his valedictory address to them. It is where he gives His final words to His men, His devoted followers, His disciples.

It has been an amazing week! On Monday he came into the city to a triumphal entry on the back of a donkey and the crowd had hailed him as the Messiah, but by Friday they are going to be baying for his blood and he is going to die on a cross, and as you know on Sunday he is going to rise from the dead, launching the great and glorious history of the gospel and salvation.

So we find him Thursday night less than 24 hours before his death, with his disciples. They have been with him for the past three years - 24/7 - They love Him, they believe in Him, BUT they are profoundly confused! -- profoundly confused!

Their entire sense of what was to happen has disappeared, vanished, faded into the ether. Crumbling before their very eyes. Their hopes and ambitions are collapsing and disintegrating around them.

Why?

Because the Lord continues to tell them that He is leaving. In fact the account of this last night fills up John Chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, and also encompasses the prayer in John 17. It will then come as no surprise that the pace of our study slows and, as opposed to the last couple of weeks where David and Andrew were given the daunting task of covering whole chapters at a time, we are going to drill down to these chapters in much more detail. Our focus for this morning will be just the first four verses of John 14.

In this lengthy evening, the disturbing reality of the whole evening is that Jesus is leaving! - He is leaving.

Now the disciples would be the first to say “We have forsaken everything to follow you” - In fact they have said that. “We have forsaken everything to follow you, and now you are going to abandon us”

The evening started, Chapter 13:1 and which Andrew shared last week.

¹ It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

He is about to leave, he knows it - not that the hour was coming - but rather that the hour was upon him - things were now in motion -  but he is pressed by this infinite love to comfort them in His leaving.

He repeatedly says that he is leaving.

Last week we read in 13:31 where “Now the Son of Man is glorified” - in v33 he says “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.”

I am leaving and you cannot come!

And then further down in verse 36, Simon Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?” and Jesus replies, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

In Chapter 14 he essentially says the same thing several times. In verse 12 he says “¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Down in verse 28, once again he says “I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”

And I am telling you these things before they happen, so that when they happen you will believe…. v29

The 800-pound gorilla in the room the entire time that night was that Jesus was leaving.

And then to add to the confusion of that, and the doubt and the fear… and the anxiety… Jesus tells them that among the 12 there was a traitor who was going to betray him into the hands of His enemies. Not only are these things going to happen, one of your very own is going to hand Him over.

He had told them that he was going to be arrested, beaten and murdered and it was all prophesied in the Old Testament, we read this in Isaiah 53.

He had even declared at the end of Chapter 13 to Peter their leader that Peter would turn out to betray him by denying Him three times.

All of these things contributed to the collapse of their hopes for a triumphant messiah.

Just a little while earlier they had been in the throes of arguing about which of them would have the most elevated place in the kingdom.

You see, because of their theology the entire time that they had been following Him, their expectation was that he would set up His kingdom, His rule, and that they would be in a place of prominence - the primary place of elevation. Hopefully several of them would be seated at his right and left hand - a position of high honour and favour. They were still arguing about this, on this very occasion. And now he was talking about leaving - I am leaving - I am leaving - I am going to the father, and you are not coming… and one of you is a betrayer and your leader is going to be a denier. And he also said that “you are all going to scatter”

They are shocked!

Their disappointment is compounded by the ugliness of their own attitudes. They had been fighting about prominence, and none of them had been prepared to stoop and wash the feet of the others, and so the Lord had to do that! That heaped shame on their heads.

This is a very difficult time. This is not how it was supposed to end.

They had given up everything to follow Jesus, they forsaken their livelihoods and lived like vagabonds - nomads - AND their expectation was that when this culminated, it would culminate in glory for the Lord and for them.

To make matters worse, they had picked up that Jesus himself was troubled. Chapter 13:21

²¹ After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”

Satan entered into Judas, and the Lord dismissed them into the night to go and do what it is that they planned to do.

He is alone - alone like no one has ever been alone before.

They show absolutely no interest at all in His suffering. No one offers a word of comfort to Him. No one comes alongside Him and expresses their love for Him. They seem completely indifferent to what He says is going to happen in His own suffering.

They are self-absorbed, they are confused, they are frightened, and their messianic hopes are in tatters.

They show no real love to him – BUT he loves them infinitely and to the end.

So while they offer no comfort to Him in anticipation of His suffering, He offers immense comfort to them - and it runs through all these chapters… And then in the final prayer He prays that the Father will bring to pass everything that he has promised, not only for them, but by extension to us, those that believe in Him.

Do you think you would have responded any differently? We all too often look back at history with 20:20 vision and think that we would have behaved differently. We would have not. 

Or certainly I would have not - BUT you might say, Alister what about Grietjie… Grietjie is the most kind and caring person we know - I mean she is a saint - she is married to Lawrence - surely she would have behaved differently… or what about Nathan over here… I mean with that beard he looks like he could be a disciple…

The reality is that not one of us would have been any different

Jesus has to comfort them, because they are not interested in comforting Him. That is the gracious, compassionate, merciful and loving heart of God.

The comfort comes first here in 14:1-4 (now that the background is set)

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

¹ “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ 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. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

There is no doubt to me that this must have been the lowest point in his life bar the cross itself. Paul in Philippians 2 says “He came all the way down to death, even death on a cross.” - BUT other than the cross, was there any other lower point than this - The God who deserves all praise and the God of all comfort in human form - on the brink of all this suffering, and had no one to understand, no one to care, no one to offer comfort, no one to help bear his suffering! What utter humiliation.

He is offered no comfort, no mercy from his most intimate of friends.

Jesus was fully aware of what was to come - he was fully aware of the pain he was about to suffer - he was completely aware of the burden of sin that was to be placed on his shoulders - BUT instead of being occupied with what was before him, he is completely consumed with their sorrow.

It is the sorrow in their hearts that prompts him out of love to say everything that he says in these chapters. It is these first four verses that lay a foundation of comfort for them and for us - later in the chapter he will give them the “comforter”, the Holy Spirit, who will dwell in them.

The theme then of this passage is “comfort” - “Comfort is to be found by trusting me - trusting me”

Now what I would like to do this morning is to break it down into 3 parts - 3 little sections this morning… I to help us recall and remember these I have called the three sections, the PLEA, the PLACE, and the PROMISE - 3Ps - alliteration

The PLEA

Our first point in v1 is the PLEA.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” that is the N.I.V.

The amplified version puts it like this “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God and trust in Him, believe also in Me.”

Other translations put it like this “LET not your heart be troubled.” - in other words STOP letting your heart be troubled!

Jesus isn't suggesting we should never feel troubled, or certainly that we should not begin to feel troubled, but rather that we are now to STOP. 

In Chapter 13:21 we saw that it was His heart too that was troubled.

He knows the hearts of the disciples, he knows the turmoil that they are going through, and he reaches through the malaise of emotions and concerns - and stops them in their tracks - he, of sorts, shakes them awake. STOP! NO more - NO Longer - Do not let your hearts be troubled!

In others words what he is telling the disciples is that although you cannot control the inevitability of the situation - although you are powerless to change the outcome of the events that have taken place and the events that are to come in the next 24 hours - You have a choice to make as to how you react!

You can continue to wallow around in fear and anxiety - which will sap you of your strength and your joy - OR you can choose to STOP - STOP and place your trust in Him.

What is the greatest cause of anxiety and your concern right now in your life?

Is it financial concerns? Despite your best efforts, there just isn't enough money to cover the basics

Is it a relationship? Your marriage or your relationship with your kids?

Is it your health? You are putting on a brave smile but the reality is that your body is failing you.

Your concern for tomorrow - for an uncertain future - this most common cause for a troubled heart, the uncertainty of what is to come - Many people die a thousand deaths fearing one - How will I survive, how will I get by?

Yesterday is yesterday, there is not much I can do to change what was in the past - not unless it comes back to haunt me - but it is tomorrow that gives me great concern.

Jesus’ PLEA to you and I this morning is very simple. STOP! NO MORE - NO LONGER.

“Easier said than done, Alister!” You don’t know what I have done - I have disappointed the Lord - I am walk faaar away from him at the moment - I am not reading his Word - I am not spending time with him in prayer. - Alister you don’t know the size of my problem - there is no solution.

You are right, I don’t know. BUT JESUS DOES! He knows you intimately, he knows the extent of the problem and his PLEA remains, STOP, do not let your heart be troubled.

Have you disappointed Him? What more than the disciples?

While Jesus is at the lowest point in his life (bar the cross), while the weight of the world's sin is starting to bear down on him - while his most intimate of companions are abandoning him - he has room in his infinite and compassionate heart to provide comfort for them, he certainly has capacity to comfort you. He cares for us until the end.

BUT how?

By trusting in him. The cure for the troubled heart is always trust in Jesus.

I am reminded of the chorus of that old hymn:

“Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey”

Isaiah 26:3

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

So the PLEA then is to trust Him, to believe in Him; and that is then followed by a promise. Jesus wants us to attach that belief to some specific promises.

The PLACE

The first of these and the second point this morning is in v2. The PLACE.

Jesus has made it abundantly clear that he was going away, and now He is telling them WHY he is going away.

² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 

A well known verse and one that we would have learnt at Sunday School. This is the first promise - “In my Father’s house”

Well what is my Father’s house? Well we read about this in John Chapter 2, you will remember that Jesus went into the temple and there he made a whip out of cord and with it he drove out all the animals and turned over the money changers tables.

And he said “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”

In Chapter 14 he also refers to My Father’s House…

What is he referring to? What does he mean by this? Well he cannot mean the temple because he has already declared that the temple will be destroyed… He was very clear about this, there is not going to be one stone left on another. There are not going to be ANY dwelling places in that Father’s House.

So what is he talking about? Hebrews 9:23 (contains many comparisons between the new and the old)

²³ It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 

There are copies of heavenly things here on earth - the Father’s House, the temple, is a copy of the Father’s House which is heaven

So what Jesus is saying is that the copy of the Father’s House on earth had to be destroyed so that he could gather his people and take them into a place prepared for them

As a child I had a vision of heaven in my mind, and it was a beautiful place where there were many mansions (some translations say mansion, but a better translation is house)… and depending on what you had done on earth - this determined the size of your house in heaven - Andrew… weil Andrew would have a massive mansion, because he is up here leading worship and playing his guitar every Sunday - while I would have nice suburbian size house… and Stuart, well Stuart had wooden shack at the back

That is not the case! It is clear here that there is one house, the Father’s House and in this house there are many, many rooms - in other words there is room for all those who place their faith and trust in Jesus - and we all will be one family in the same house together.

I love going away at the end of the year, and as a family we all stay together in the same house - There is always family around, someone to talk to, someone to go fishing with, someone to go run with… of course after a couple of days that does wear off a bit

But when we are in heaven, there will be more than enough room, we will want for nothing, and we will be with Him forever, living in harmony - all as one family

The reason why he has to go away is because he is going to prepare a place

David had spoken about the Father’s House, “And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23)

The disciples were going to endure hardship, but their futures were secure - their tomorrows were going to very bright indeed

By letting us know that he is going to prepare a place, he has replaced the anxiety and fear with a much more powerful emotion - HOPE

But it is not a vain hope, but rather a hope that is sure and root in Jesus himself

The PROMISE

This takes us to our third and final point for this morning. And our second PROMISE.

“³ 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."

SO what is the promise… The promise that Jesus is making to the disciples, and in turn to us, is that JESUS HIMSELF BRINGS US HOME

He will return to gather us to Himself. He has promised us that not only can we belong to him, but that He himself will return to lead us home. He is the Maker of the House as well as the one who invites us to come. He stands at the door and knocks (Rev. 3: 20), and whoever will answer the door, He will come in to them and they will be together!

What is the point of Heaven? Is it the streets of Gold? Irrelevant! It is that Jesus will be there and we will be there with him!!!

Every so often, and when I am in the area, I take a drive past my parents home in Lewis Drive - a house that they lived in for some 40 years and a house that my father built with his hands. 

Much has changed, the new owners have built on, but the core of the house is still there… And everytime I drive by I get a little nostalgic… 

For those that have been fellowshipping at Medway for many years you may have been invite to a braai or a meal or maybe you were involved at a bible study in my parents home, you will probably remember the house with great affection as I do

Do I miss the house?… do I miss the brick and mortar… NO… I miss the fellowship that it represented… I miss the Saturday mornings sitting chatting with my mom and dad… the house is not about the house, but rather the people that were in the house and the relationships that it represents.

Heaven is not about Heaven! Heaven is about Jesus! Heaven is about being with the ONE who loved me and STILL LOVES me! AND WILL LOVE ME TO THE END!

Hear these words of Jesus, “THAT YOU ALSO MAY BE WHERE I AM (V. 3).”

Conclusion

What is the purpose of the Gospel of John? Well, we know what that is, because it is clearly stated in Chapter 20 and we have referred to it and read it many times…

³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

And what John is trying to impress on us here, in Chapter 14, is that ‘life’ is not only a promise of what is to come, but that it is also a promise for the here and now.

Regardless of your circumstances, regardless of what the future holds, regardless of the fear and anxiety that threatens to overwhelm you - JESUS knows - He cares for you - and his PLEA is to stop - No longer does he want you to fret about the uncertainties of the future.

In our Father's house, there is room enough for everyone - That is His promise. We are all invited to come and dwell with Him in a place where there is no more pain, no more sorrow, and no more death. Our future is assured! We are invited to place our trust in Him.

And one day - one day he will come and take us to be with him!

Let us place our trust in Jesus and allow Him to prepare a place for us in His Father's house. AND let us live each day in the knowledge that we are loved and cared for by a God who will never abandon us.

⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Do you know the way? Next week, doubting Thomas and the way.

Amen.