The Gospel Centered Life - Comfort While We Wait

Introduction

It’s good to be with you this morning.

As you all know, this is a series on the gospel-centered life. Chris did a great job last week answering that most important question, “what is the gospel.” He made a great point in reminding us that we never graduate from the gospel. We never stop needing the gospel, even after it has done its work of transformation in our lives.

This morning, I want to push deeper into the reality that we don’t graduate from the gospel and that its truth should have an effect on our daily life. But in saying that, I recognize that it can be difficult to know how to apply that and what it should look like practically.

I hope that in our passage this morning, you will be able to see how practical the gospel is and how Jesus himself wants the gospel, the basic truths of the gospel, to effect our day to day life.

Open your Bibles to John 14 which is our passage this morning. Before we get to our passage though, I need to set the stage for you. We are helicoptering in to just 7 verses in what may be one of the most intense dialogue scenes in all of the gospels. In my opinion.

Our passage takes place in the upper room and is the beginning of what is known as the Upper Room Discourse. You are probably familiar with this scene. John’s gospel doesn’t record it but we know from the synoptic gospels that this is the time that Jesus institutes the Lord’s supper or communion just to give you context.

Immediately preceding our passage, we have the famous exchange between Jesus and Peter where Jesus is washing the disciple’s feet and Peter says to Jesus, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” And Jesus says, you don’t understand what I’m doing now, but later you will. Then Peter is like no way, you will NEVER wash my feet. Then Jesus says, If I do not wash you, you have no share with me. To which Peter abruptly back tracks and says ok then not just my feet but my hands and my head. All of me!

Jesus then goes on to declare that one of the 12 would betray him. This seems to blow the minds of the disciples and they look around at each other quote “uncertain of whom he spoke.”

You then have John, our writer, reclining on Jesus, and Peter, probably from across the table, is motioning to him like dude, ask him who he is talking about!

Then Jesus answers him and says, rather ominously, quote “It is he whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” He then dips the bread and hands it to Judas and sends him away with the command, “what you are going to do, do quickly.” Judas leaves and somehow the other 11 disciples don’t put two and two together. Seems hard to miss what just happened but I wasn’t there so who knows. Presumably, they are still looking around and whispering to each other trying to figure out who the betrayer is.

But that’s fine, Judas is now gone and we see in chapter 13 verse 30 that it’s night time.

And then, it’s best if we just pick up and start reading here, we come to this statement from Jesus and response from Peter.

Starting in chapter 13 verse 31 “John 13:31–38 “When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.’”

Can you feel the tension in this room? Do you sense the intensity?

It’s dark outside. Jesus just humbled Peter with the whole footwashing thing. Then Jesus says one of you will betray me. Judas leaves. The disciples are probably in some form of shock. Then Jesus says, in effect, alright guys, my time has come. I’m leaving and you cannot come with me.

Put yourself in Peter’s shoes. How do you feel in light of all of this? What is going on? Don’t you think its with tears in his eyes that he says next, Lord, where are you going? What do you mean I can’t come? I’ve followed you for years at this point! I’m ready to die for you! I would do anything for you! And you’re telling me I cannot come?? Why?!

And how does Jesus respond? In effect, will you, Peter? Will you die for me? Unequivocally I say to you, the sun won’t even come up again before you have denied me three times.

What is it like to be Peter in this moment? What can this possibly feel like? What shock and despair would you feel right now? What is it like to be one of the other 10 disciples? Peter was like Jesus’ main guy. In the inner circle. If this is true of Peter, it must be true of them too. This must be a place of utter despondency.

And it is with that context that we come to our passage. Follow along as I read John 14:1–7.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

These are incredible words. To his despondent, baffled, terrified disciples Jesus says, don’t be troubled! I am going to prepare a place for you and then I’m going to come back and you will be with me.

What should their response be to this? What should our response be to this? Shouldn’t they and likewise we, be eagerly anticipating that day when he returns? Shouldn’t the gospel-centered life be one of eager anticipation for his return? And shouldn’t the reality that he will come back be a central truth of the gospel-centered life, that we are waiting for what he has promised to do for us, not that we are relying on what we have promised to do for him, even if we are willing to die for him?

Propositional Statement

This morning, we will see two amazing realities about Jesus so that we would live in eager anticipation of his return.

Two amazing realities about Jesus so that we would live in eager anticipation of his return.

Jesus Prepares a Place for Us (vv. 1-3)

The first amazing reality is that Jesus prepares a place for us and we see that in verses 1-3.

The main command, the main imperative for us in this passage is found in verse 1. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”

This isn’t a call to saving faith, as some have interpreted this verse to be. This was spoken to eleven disciples of Jesus after the only unbeliever, Judas, has already left the room. The remaining disciples are true believers in Jesus, however imperfectly as we will see. This is a call to press on. To continue believing in Jesus through all that is about to happen. And how can they and we continue to believe? What is our hope? That Jesus is God and will do what he says he will.

This is the command, given to the disciples in light of the context we just went through. That was the backward looking context.

Just as he knew Peter would deny him, so he knows I will deny him. And you will deny him. Sure, maybe not as explicitly as Peter did. But when we sin against him. When we’re angry with each other. When we don’t forgive each other. When we don’t love each other, as he commanded us to do. Are we not denying him, perhaps not in word but definitely in action?

Remember, this comfort from Jesus is immediately after telling Peter that he would deny him three times before the next day even began. And after Peter said he was willing to die for Jesus. Jesus in effect says, don’t rely on what you are willing to do for me. Rely on what I am promising to do for you.

This is love so amazing, so divine.

This is the command for them and this is the command for us. Let not your hearts be troubled. Do not be troubled about anything in this life. You will fall and you will fail, but you aren’t relying on your own merit. You are believing and trusting in God, who is Jesus.

This is a divinity claim by Jesus. In saying believe in God, believe also in me and then calling God his father, he equates himself with God and claims to be God. This is important to the claim because if he just said, I go to God’s house to prepare a place for you, the question could be asked, what gives you the right to do that? How are you even able to do that? How do we know you will come back or are even able to come back?

It is because Jesus is God that he can say “my Father’s house” and his claim can be credible.

And here is something super interesting. The disciples almost certainly would have seen this language as illustrative of marriage. Let’s take a quick detour and discuss Jewish marriage in the first century.

Marriage for first century Jews was very different than marriage in our culture today. It was a much more formal process and had many more elements than our 21st century ceremonies do today, even as formal as marriage in the Christian church may seem.

In the first century, marriages were arranged. It was the Father of the groom that would typically select a bride for his son.

Once the two were chosen for each other, they would separately go through a ritual cleansing by being immersed in water called a “mikvah (mik-vuh).”

The next phase of the process was called “Erusin (eh-roo-seen)” which was the betrothal phase. At the beginning of the betrothal phase, the groom pays a “bride price” and the two of them sign a binding contract, which is essentially a marriage certificate.

We are all familiar with this phase because this was the stage that Mary and Joseph were at when Mary became pregnant with Jesus. Recall Matthew 1:18–19 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.”

During the betrothal period (Erusin), the bride and groom separate. The bride prepares herself for marriage and the groom goes away to prepare a home for himself and his new bride. They have not consummated the marriage at this point and will not consummate it until after the groom has finished preparing their new home, although they are legally married because they would need a certificate of divorce in order to break it off, as we see Joseph originally wanted to do when he found out Mary was pregnant.

Where does the groom go to prepare a home? Does he go purchase land and build a new home? Does he buy a used home? No, much of the time, he returns to his father’s house and essentially builds an add-on to his existing home. For those of you familiar with real estate terms, he builds a J-ADU or Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit.

A J-ADU is essentially an extension of a main house which is common today. It’s also referred to as mother-in-law suite or casita and it is essentially an add-on dwelling to the main house. It’s distinct from an ADU and called a Junior ADU because it shares at least one wall with the main house and there is usually a door between the two.

This is the same concept of how a Jewish groom would build an add-on to his father’s house in preparation for his bride. When she comes to live with her groom, she also joins the entirety of the groom’s family in this connected home.

This betrothal period typically lasts about a year, but there isn’t an exact date that the bride knows when the groom will return to get her. In fact, once the groom is done preparing their home, it is the Father of the groom who decides that his son can go and return to his wife and bring her back to the place he has prepared.

This next phase is called “Nissuin (nih-soo-een)” which is the final and actual marriage. The groom returns to his bride, consummates the marriage, there is a huge celebration, and he then takes her back to the J-ADU that he has prepared in his Father’s house.

Now what does all this ancient marriage stuff have to do with our passage tonight?

We all know that marriage is one of the most common illustrations used to describe the relationship between Jesus and his people in the New Testament.

In John 3, John the Baptist describes himself as a friend of the bridegroom in reference to Jesus.

In Matthew 9, Jesus calls himself the bridegroom when he says “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

In Matthew 25 we have the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, again with Jesus symbolized as the bridegroom and also symbolizing the need for the bride of Christ, the Church, to be ready for the return of Christ.

And of course in Revelation, we have the marriage supper of the lamb in Revelation 19 and in Revelation 21 the New Jerusalem coming down as a bride adorned for her husband.

Our passage this morning contains marriage symbolism as well.

In the same way that the father of the Jewish groom would select the bride for his son, so God the Father has selected a bride for his son in us, the church, as Paul illustrates in Ephesians 1:3–4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

In the same way that a bride and groom had to go through the ceremonial cleansing by immersion in water, the mikvah, so Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and so believers are also baptized after conversion.

In the same way that at the beginning of the Erusin or betrothal period, the groom pays a bride price, so Jesus had to pay a price for his bride in the shedding of his blood and in his death.

In the same way that the groom would go away to prepare a place for his bride while the bride readied herself for the completion of the marriage, so Jesus has ascended to heaven, back to his Father’s house, to prepare a place for his bride and so his church is to remain, waiting expectantly for his return.

Finally, in the same way that the father of the groom would be the one who would determine when the groom could go and bring his wife back to the home he had prepared for her, so God the Father is the one who determines when Jesus will return to gather his bride to himself, as Jesus says in Matthew 24:36 referring to his eventual return, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

I take the time to describe all of this for you because we have to put ourselves into the shoes of the original audience so we can understand how Jesus’ words would have hit them in this moment. We have to understand the ways Jesus has been talking about himself to them prior to this dialogue.

We also need to know what these first century Jews would have been awaiting based on their understanding of Scripture. God describes what they are waiting for in Hosea 2:19–20 when he says “And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.”

Marriage has been a continuous theme both in Old Testament prophecy and in the gospels. I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that the disciples would have made this connection in the way Jesus is speaking now that we’ve stepped into their shoes.

Jesus doesn’t promise to go and prepare us our own believer’s city where we can live in new life near and around God but not necessarily with God. No, he promises to go and build a J-ADU onto God’s house, made especially for us.

It’s so common for people to speak of heaven as our own private mansion where we will live in splendor and luxury. But when we think about having our own house, with everything we could ever want or desire in the same neighborhood as God’s house, it doesn’t sound nearly as enticing as being invited to the Father’s mansion with our own J-ADU prepared especially for us by our groom, Jesus. To share a wall and share a door to the Father’s house.

As John MacArthur illustrated, we will share a patio with God. What a thought.

This is how we obey the command to not be troubled. We remember that Jesus is God and because he is God he has the right and the authority as the chosen groom to go back to God’s house, after paying the bride price, to prepare a place for his bride, which is us, the church.

If Jesus goes to prepare a place for us, and that is our hope, how can we live in a troubled state of mind? If Jesus can think of us like this in the moment of his own greatest distress, how can we allow our hearts to be troubled? It is through him and in him that we are able to be untroubled.

What about your heart this morning? Is it troubled? Do the circumstances of life seem too great to bear? Does the weight of your sin seem too great to bear? Remember, your divine savior has gone to prepare a place for you. Specifically for you. He says many rooms. Fix your mind on the kingdom to come and on the one who is uniquely able to prepare it for you. That’s what the gospel centered life should look like.

He prepares this place independent of our own works or merit or ability to earn it. Just as he knew Peter would deny him even that night, so he knows that we will fall short. And yet still, he goes to prepare a place for us.

Jesus Patiently Shows Us The Way (vv. 4-7)

So we see the first amazing reality about Jesus in this passage, that he goes to prepare a place for us. But we wouldn’t understand fully the way that this is possible if he had stopped there.

Thankfully, we have Thomas who asks the question we may have been thinking and it is in the answer to that question that we see our second amazing reality, which is that Jesus patiently shows us the way.

Jesus patiently shows us the way which we see in verses 4 to 7.

In verse 4, Jesus tells the disciples that they know the way. Thomas, clearly confused, asks in verse 5 “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

John gives more attention to Thomas than any other gospel writer. Thomas earns himself the nickname, doubting Thomas when he makes this statement in John 20:25 when the other disciples told him they had seen the resurrected Christ, “But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Many have interpreted this statement from Thomas in John 20 to be a statement of unbelief. Many will also look at our passage here in John 14 and point out that Thomas just didn’t get it because he didn’t believe. But this isn’t true.

It is true that Thomas is a pessimist, but he wasn’t an unbeliever. Remember the last time we saw Thomas in the gospel of John, he wanted to go with Jesus as he went to Lazarus and he says in John 11:16 “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Thomas, just like Peter, was ready and willing to die for Jesus.

And it is here that we see a distinction between doubt and unbelief. Thomas doubts, but his doubt is not unbelief. Look at how patiently Jesus answers Thomas and how patiently he answers all who doubt.

He could have rebuked him. Haven’t you been listening? I’ve said it so many times. I’ve made it so clear. You don’t even know where I’m going? I just said I am going to my Father’s house! But this isn’t what our patient savior does. Instead, he makes yet another divinity claim as he explains in further detail.

Jesus says in verse 6, John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

When Jesus says, “I am” he is explicitly claiming to be God. As Jews, the disciples knew “I am” to be a name of God. In John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” And he makes seven total “I am” statements that are recorded in the gospel of John.

Here are the seven “I am” statements. Jesus says I am…

The Bread of Life (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51)

The Light of the World (John 8:12, 9:5)

The Door (John 10:7)

The Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14)

The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)

The Way, The Truth, and The Life (John 14:6)

The True Vine (John 15:1, 5)

Back to our passage, what does Jesus say in verse 4? You know the way. To which Thomas says, um Jesus, no we don’t. And then Jesus says I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

The way to God in heaven is not a path. It is not a series of moral works. It is not by keeping a law. It is not by your good works outweighing your bad works. It’s not even by being willing to die for Jesus. The way to God is through a relationship with a person, after accepting that person’s sacrifice on your behalf, who is Jesus. And it’s just so profound how in saying I am the Way, he is stating that God is the way to God and I am God. You know the way to God because you know me and I am God.

This is why the deity of Christ is so vital to our ability to be comforted by his words here. Unless Jesus is God, he has no grounds to comfort us in this way. He has no grounds to claim that he is the way, and the truth, and the life.

Notice the parallels to this statement from Jesus and the way John opens his gospel in the first chapter. In John 1 John calls Jesus God. Jesus says he is the truth and the life as well as the way which John says in John 1:4 “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John also says in John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

This is not coincidental either as John the writer connects his many statements about Jesus in John 1 with Jesus’ own words here in John 14. Believe it or not this was not planned between Chris and I but it worked out perfectly to do these sermons in this order.

Notice also the exclusivity of the claim of Jesus. He is the Way and the Truth and the Life because God is all of these things and he is God. He then comes right out and says it in the second part of verse 6 when he says “No one comes to the Father except through me.”

This isn’t an arrogant or self-aggrandizing statement from Jesus. It is simply a fact. Because Jesus is himself God, he is the only one who can be the way to God because he is also truth and life, as God is.

This is just so incredible! The depth of the person of Jesus and what he did for us. The fact that he speaks this way on the eve of his own brutal torture and death. What a savior!

Jesus closes out his answer to Thomas with one last divinity claim. Knowing Jesus is knowing the Father. Seeing Jesus is seeing the Father. He has revealed the Father to his disciples in that they have seen him.

The divinity of Jesus gives credibility to his claim to be the only way to the Father. Because he is the only way to the Father and because we know him, we should not have troubled hearts. We know the Way to the Father, and that Way is a person with whom we have a personal relationship!

These are no empty words of comfort. These are the most comforting possible words because of the nature, character, and divinity of the one who spoke them.

So I ask you, is your heart troubled this morning? Rest assured that if you know Jesus, you know the Way to the Father! You can say with David in Psalm 56:3–4 “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”

His promise to prepare a place and to bring you to it can be trusted and believed because he is the only one who can make the promise with any credibility because of his divine nature.

The divinity of Jesus is the solid rock on which our faith and trust in his promises rests. He can be believed because he is the Great I Am, the embodiment of Truth and Life.

Conclusion

So, we’ve seen two amazing realities about Jesus that should cause us to wait eagerly for his return. That he goes to prepare a place for us and that he patiently shows us the way to that place.

Of course, the exclusivity of Jesus’ claim to be the only way to the Father is only good news if we really do know and trust him. This passage was written to believers as comfort. These words from Jesus were only spoken after the only unbeliever, Judas, had left the room. The encouragement to keep believing was for believers to continue to cling to Christ through all the trials of this life.

But the call to faith and repentance is still made even today to any who have not placed their faith in this exclusive savior. There is only one way to God, and its through his chosen Son. If you would enter the Father’s house you must enter by way of the divine groom who is the only one able to bring his bride to his Father’s house.

The only way you can be right with God and cleansed from your sin is by placing your faith in the crucified and risen lamb. By trusting in his perfect sacrifice to pay the price for your sins that you never could.

And for those who do believe, there is immense comfort in these verses to trust in the divine groom to prepare a place for us, his bride, chosen by the Father, and that he will return and bring us to himself. We can obey the command to not be troubled because we trust Jesus and we are able to trust Jesus because he is God and as the only one who is able to bring us to the Father, he does so through his perfect sacrifice and is pleased to do so.

Should not the gospel-centered life be one of eager anticipation for his return?

Let’s pray.