A Message of Hope and Assurance
Notes
Transcript
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.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
This passage from the 14th chapter of John’s Gospel is a familiar one to many, it is a message of hope and assurance. I hope that all gathered here today to share in this service celebrating the life of Mary, will hear the reassuring message of Jesus Christ … the Messiah … the Savior. These words were first given to a small group of Jesus’ closest followers, but there is a message in these words for us all.
At the beginning of this passage, we see Jesus repeating words of encouragement - “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” This word troubled is the same word that was used to describe how Jesus felt at the tomb of Lazarus and as he anticipated his betrayal and crucifixion. Jesus experienced feelings of loss and grief just like we do. He encourages his followers to not be discouraged, even in times of loss and grief. There is hope and encouragement for us when we trust fully in God to be at the center of our lives. It is the faith and trust that we have in Christ that is the basis for the encouragement we see in verse 1.
Jesus encourages his followers by assuring them that he is preparing a place for them, but I want us to understand what he is saying here. In the Jewish culture, this thought would mean something very particular to them.
John 13–21: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (1) Encouragement (14:1–11)
In Jesus’ day, many dwelling units were combined to form an extended household. It was customary for sons to add to their father’s house once married, so that the entire estate grew into a large compound (called insula) centered around a communal courtyard. The image used by Jesus may also have conjured up notions of luxurious Greco-Roman villas, replete with numerous terraces and buildings, situated among shady gardens with an abundance of trees and flowing water. (Köstenberger 2002, 137; 2004, 426) “Here, rather than elaborating on the characteristics of the Father’s house, Jesus is content to stress that there is plenty of room” (Köstenberger 2004, 427).
Jesus was about to return to his Father, God, when he spoke these words to his followers. He was returning to the abiding presence of his Father, the place he left in order to come to earth to be the redeeming sacrifice for each of us that we might be reconciled in personal relationship to God. It is for this reason that we shouldn’t see Jesus’ departure as a cause for sorrow, but for comfort and trust. He was going away to prepare for them the universal and permanent possibility of abiding communion with God the Father.
This is about relationship more than it is about a place. It is about God’s desire that through his Son’s sacrifice that we would be restored to relationship - with God and also in the association of Christ with his church.
The disciples are confused, and at this point still do not fully understand what Jesus is saying to them, focusing on this question of how can we know how to get where Jesus is going when they do not know the location. However, the route that Jesus is referring to was something different, something new. He doesn’t talk about the way of the cross or anything like that. Instead, the focus is on how his death and resurrection reveal the truth about God and how it made possible our way for salvation. The focus is about God the Father, not about us in any way.
We see this clearly in verse 6, when Jesus says:
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
FINISH COMMENTARY ON VERSE 6
I know days like today are not easy, but we know as followers of Jesus that we have hope in the resurrection and that he will return to establish his kingdom once and for all. Eternal life isn't just something that happens to us after this earthly life, up in some heavenly realm, It is something that begins in love for one another as Christ has shown us to love. We can be assured as Christ is the way, the truth and the life that there is a dwelling place for those that follow his new commandment of love for one another as Christ has loved us.
· Amen