The Gospel According to John: 14:1-14

Series Introduction:

The theme verse for our series is John 20:31

John 20:31 – “…these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”

The “these” John is referring to are the seven recorded SIGNS/miracles and the seven recoded “I Am” STATEMENTS of Jesus. John focused on those 14 key SIGNS and STATEMENTS in order to show us that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the World because He’s God’s only begotten Son. God had John write these things so that we would believe and put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ so that by the grace of God we would be FREED from the penalty of our sin and given life to the FULL here on earth and life FOREVER in heaven.

Recap/review/summary:

Sign 1: Water into wine (John 2)

Sign 2: Royal officer’s won healed (John 2)

Sing 3: Lame man healed on Sabbath (John 5)

Sign 4: Feeding the 5 thousand (John 6)

Sign 5: Man born blind given sight (John 9)

Sign 6: Lazarus raised from the dead (John 11)

Sign 7: *(John 20)

I Am Statement 1: The Bread of Life (John 6)

I Am Statement 2: The Light of the World (John 8 & John 9)

I Am Statement 3: The Door (John 10)

I Am Statement 4: The Good Shepherd (John 10)

I Am Statement 5: The Resurrection and the Life (John 11)

I Am Statement 6: *(John 14)

I Am Statement 7: *(John 15)

John 14:1-14 (NASB)

1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 “And you know the way where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do 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 but through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” 8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. 13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

The focus verse for today: John 14:6

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Jesus is the cure for Disorientation.

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way,

One thing that causes us so many problem is that we struggle with disorientation.

Disorientation: (Dictionary.com)

Loss of one's sense of direction, position, or relationship with one's surroundings.

A temporary or permanent state of confusion regarding place, time, or personal identity.

When you don’t haven a good sense of direction in life, when you are confused about who you are and what your purpose is, other difficulties and struggles manifest themselves.

Disorientation leads to:

Anxiety, Worry, Fear, Doubt, Depression, Discouragement, and Low Self-Esteem

See the disorientation in Chapter 13 through our text today:

John 13:6–7 (NASB)

6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.”

John 13:21–22 (NASB)

21 When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” 22 The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking.

John 13:28 (NASB)

28 Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him.

John 13:36–37 (NASB)

36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” 37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.”

(v. 1) “Do not let your heart be troubled...”

(v. 5) “Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”

(v. 8) Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Jesus is the cure for disorientation…

(v. 1-6a) 1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 “And you know the way where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way,

And don’t miss this, the cure for disorientation is not discovering yourself or learning more things about yourself. The cure is Jesus. It is about getting to know Him...

(v. 7) “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

(v. 9) 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

What was the problem? Was it that Phillip didn’t know himself well enough? No! It was because he was with Jesus all this didn’t and didn’t know Jesus well enough. The idea that the cure for what ills you is going to be found in you is one of Satan’s greatest deceptions.

Jesus is the cure for Deception.

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth,

Another issue we have is that we fall prey to deception.

Notice the deception...

Satan was deceptively at work...

John 13:2 (NASB)

2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,

John 13:26–27 (NASB)

26 Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

Satan is the father of lies...

John 8:44 (ESV)

...He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

We even deceive ourselves…

John 13:37–38 (NASB)

37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.

Jesus is the cure for deception...

(v. 1-2) “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you...

John 8:31–32 (ESV)

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

(v. 11-12) 11 “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

(25 times in the Gospel of John alone, Jesus prefaces His words with “Truly, truly”)

(v. 6) “ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth...”

Jesus is the cure for Death.

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life...

John 13:8–11 (NASB)

8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

All sin is ultimately betraying God. And the blame is ours, individually.

James 1:14–15 (ESV)

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Romans 6:23 (NASB)

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(v. 3) “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Are you struggling with disorientation? Are you falling prey to deception? Maybe you’re here today and have realized that you are spiritually dead and need new life in Christ Jesus. Ask God to give you what you need…

(v. 13-14) 13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

Let’s pray...

Memory Verse of the Week:

Philemon 6 (NASB)

6 and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake.

Discussion Questions: (John 14:1-14)

Why do you think the disciples were troubled? (v. 1) How does trusting in God affect our emotions?

How does knowing Jesus is preparing a place for you affect your outlook? (v. 2)

Why do you think Jesus told the disciples He was going to come again? (v. 3)

In what ways is Jesus the way, the truth and the life? (v. 4-6)

What did Jesus mean when he said, “...no one comes to the Father but through Me”? (v. 6) In what ways does this truth motivate you to share Jesus with others?

In what ways does the oneness of God affect how you see Jesus? (v. 7-9)

In what ways did the oneness of God influence what Jesus did? (v. 10-11)

In what ways should our relationship with Jesus affect what we do? (v. 12)

Why does God answer our prayers? (v. 13-14) How should we pray as a result?

What else were you taught about God in this passage?

What else did the text teach you about yourself?

Did anything else in these verses stick out to you?

How do you believe God is leading you to respond to His word?