Where We're Going And How We Get There
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Despite the love just shown, Jesus shares some troubling news
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,
Not something you want to hear from your master!
Jesus has been all about being with his disciples and uniting them with the Father
26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
And now he’s telling them that they can’t Follow
Meaning they aren’t Jesus’ servants.
Meaning they won’t have honor from the Father.
Meaning they just aren’t good enough to follow Jesus.
Peter’s Question
Peter’s Question
36 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.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
Peter sounds like a lost child!
Forget eventually - I want to follow you now
I’ll even lay down my life for you!
That’s when Jesus gives Peter the gut-punch
38 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.
How can Peter follow Jesus when he’s about to disown him?
How do you think Peter felt after those denials?
“I’m not good enough to follow Jesus.”
Connect: Feeling Abandoned - Not Good Enough
Connect: Feeling Abandoned - Not Good Enough
We struggle with the same feeling
Jesus has laid down a path for us - be like him!
How many of us feel like we could never measure up?
Illustration: How old are you?
About the same age Jesus was when he died
feel so inadequate
I loose my temper
I make mistakes with my family
I waste time
I act selfishly
And when Jesus was my age he was hanging on the cross
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If he’s the way, then I can’t follow it.
If he’s the truth, the only truth I see is how shallow I am.
If he’s the life, then I’m not living it.
So how can I follow him and see the Father? How can any of us hope to see the Father?
Trust Jesus
Trust Jesus
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
Trust Jesus
Not ourselves
He does reprimand Peter and tell him to shape up
Stop trusting in yourself because you’re not trustworthy - Jesus is
Trust That He’s Prepared a Place
Trust That He’s Prepared a Place
2 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? 3 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. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
I have to explain to my oldest that when I leave for the day to go to work, it’s not because I don’t want to spend all day playing and hanging out with her. But she still gets clingy. She’ll reach out and grab my hand, try the sad puppy-dog eyes. so I have to explain to her that I’m not leaving her. I work at home, I’m just on the other side of that door! And I’m working because I want to take care of her.
Jesus is leaving so that he can take care of us. And you can really see how much Jesus loves you and wants to take care of you by the place he’s preparing.
What’s the Place?
What’s the Place?
Is it a mansion? NKJV
It’s why we sing Mansion Over the Hilltop
Not a good translation
Greek just means room or place
Latin mansiones means the same
But English mansion we think of a palace
We put the emphasis on place
Jesus emphasizes who’s at the place
3 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.
Jesus is going to take us to himself so that we can be where he is.
In the day that Jesus comes back from having prepared that place:
20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
And he’s not coming back by himself.
23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Jesus is promising more than a mansion - it’s being with God. That’s what the Father’s house is - the place where God is. And that’s a lot better than any mansion we could dream of.
This is Shaq’s house - a mansion. In 2011 Shaq got divorced and began to live there all alone. In an interview he said that wandering from the gym to the bedrooms with “nobody” around made him feel “lost” and that “the silence starts to get to you” when you’re always alone in such a huge space.
Would you rather be at McDonald’s with your favorite people, or Disney World all by yourself? The happiest place on earth is pretty miserable when you’re alone.
By the way, that’s what we’re asking for when we sing Mansion Over the Hilltop
I want a mansion made of Gold
I want a robe and a crown
I’m going to walk streets of gold
And there’s not a single mention of God or being there with anybody else.
If our idea of heaven is just a mansion without God, then we’re actually dreaming of hell.
That’s How Much God Wants To Be With You
That’s How Much God Wants To Be With You
God’s idea of heaven? It’s being with you.
He’s prepared a place - to be with you
He wants you to know that just as close as he and Jesus are - he wants to be with you
Jesus says that he’s preparing the many rooms in his Father’s house, and it sounds like he’s getting it ready for us to move in - but look at verse 23 again. God is getting ready to move in with you.
So trust Jesus.
Trust that he’s not abandoned you.
Jesus has invited you, is getting everything ready for you, and is excited for you to be with him just as he is with the Father.
Where are we going? We’re going to be with God.
But how do we get there?
How To Get There
How To Get There
That’s Thomas’ question.
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus is the way to the Father
He’s shown the true way
He’s shown the life that needs to be lived
That way and life is one of service, sacrifice, and trust in God
It’s a way that leads all of us to the cross where we die to ourselves, and in some cases, die for the Lord
And once again we’re confronted by our initial question
Am I good enough to make it?
We want to follow, and we know we should
But we end up being more like Peter than we’d care to admit
38 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.
Denying Jesus isn’t just accepting that he’s real
It’s denying the relationship
24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,
And that’s what we do!
So how can we expect Jesus to have a place prepared for us?
The Way Is A Person
The Way Is A Person
Throughout this section, despite the upcoming failures of the disciples, Jesus has been giving them hope
36 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.”
7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
How can we come to know the Father? How will we be able to follow afterwards?
It’s because Jesus is the way
The way isn’t just a way of thinking or a lifestyle
The way is a person - a person who is dying to be with you
And you’re going to see the Father because Jesus is taking you home
3 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.
No, you’re not good enough
So thank God the Jesus is
And even after all of our denials, Jesus is still coming back to get us
That’s how the gospel ends!
Peter’s gone back to his old life of fishing
But Jesus comes back to him
Three denials - Three “Do you love me?”
And when Jesus comes for you, you don’t have to worry about being good enough anymore
18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
You couldn’t follow me then - but you can now
Only because Jesus has come back for him
Only because Jesus is continually guiding and shaping us
He’s taking you by the hand and guiding you home to the place he’s prepared for you with him and the Father
Conclusion
Conclusion
