Do not be Troubled

John 14:1–13 ESV

“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.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 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 authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Imagine for a moment that you were one of the disciples you are sitting there having a nice meal with Jesus when suddenly he tells you I’m leaving and you cannot come with me You have to stay behind and ill meet up with you later. In fact this is my last night with you. Can you imagine the fear the anguish that Jesus was leaving. So Jesus tells them in verse one Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God believe also in me. He then gives us 4 reasons we should not be troubled but rather trust in Jesus.

Room for all

John 14:2 ESV

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?

Many have take this verse and claimed Jesus is building us mansions in heaven and ours just aint ready yet. However let us endeavor to be students of the word and ask ourselves what does Jesus mean when he says the phrase my father’s house.

Luke 2:49 ESV

And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

John 2:15–16 ESV

And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

My fathers house is the temple of God - physical building where God’s spirit resided on earth.

John 2:19–21 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

Jesus calls his body the temple of God -Jesus claims his own body is God’s house his dwelling place

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Paul later says we also are the temple of God.

Thus when we consider all of these we find that the fathers house is not so much a place or building but rather a phrase describing the presence of God.

Thus Jesus is saying Everyone can have the presence of God in their lives No one needs go without. God wants all of us if we will have him.

It doesn't matter who you are what you've done how much you make what talents you have or how well people like you God wants you and he says there is room for you in his presence. Believe that God wants you in his presences not occasionally or sometimes but that he wants you to live to dwell in his presence that is why he chooses to speak of his presence as a house it is where you live where you dwell. Here he says come dwell in my house that is in my presence. In essence the God of the universe is saying I want you to come live with me.

Jesus Prepares your Home

John 14:2–6 ESV

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.

Prepare a place for you. If the fathers house is not speaking of mansions and physical rooms then what is it Jesus needed to prepare.

Again I do not believe that Jesus has spent the last 2000 years building subdivisions in heaven. He spoke Galaxies into existence and all of creation in 6 days. Subdivisions don’t seem all that complicated in comparison.

So what did he prepare.

First he had to prepare the way. He had to die as payment for our sins that we might be washed white as snow and be able to stand in the presence of a holy God. Notice what he says

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

There may be many routes one can take to the Mexican restaurant but only one way to heaven. His name is Jesus. He alone is the way. You cannot reside in the presence of God unless you first go through the way of Jesus and his sacrificial death on the cross. Trust Jesus and his work on the cross to provide forgiveness of sin and to make a way for us to have a relationship with the Father.

Jesus will Take us Home

John 14:3 ESV

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 our Guide.

Not only is he the way but we know he is the shepherd.

John 10:14 ESV

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

Jesus does not leave us to figure out how to follow him.

Instead he guides us just like a shepherd leading us along the way of salvation.

John 14:8–11 ESV

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 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 authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Phillip asks to see the father

Jesus responds look at me you have seen the father in me.

I am in the father and the father is in me.

We are one and the same

I am speaking the words of God if you will not believe me believe the works that show I am God.

Power of nature, disease, and illness, demons obey, even death is overcome.

This same Jesus who did all these things says I will take you to the presence of God.

He leaves nothing up to chance.

Trust that God will guide you into a deeper relationship with God. He will help you abide in the presence of God drawing you ever closer to himself.

We will Dwell with Jesus

John 14:3 ESV

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 coming back

Again Jesus says this separation is temporary I will be back.

Notice though that he does not say he will take us to heaven instead it is the presence of God that is mentioned.

That is not to say that we will not go to heaven as a result of salvation but rather that what is stressed here is not the location but rather the whom the presence of God. Heaven would not be heaven without God. Indeed the very thing that makes it heaven is the presence of God.

Jesus then is promising us that he will bring us to himself and where he is we will be also. Forever more to be in the presence of God never again to be separated.

We will dwell with Jesus and like Adam in the Garden we will get to walk and talk with God. Our lives will be filled with his glory and magnificence and we will praise him forevermore. Will you choose to trust that God wants to dwell with you and you with him forevermore?

Invitation

Are you troubled this morning, do the cares and burdens of this world weigh upon you. Is your spirit troubled by the pain and anguish of those around you. Maybe you are distressed by the state of God’s church or the vast number of the lost around you whatever your troubles will you decide today to trust in Jesus. To trust that he desires for you to dwell with him forever and he has made a way for this through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Will you trust that he is also going to guide you along the way of salvation guiding you all the way back to himself as a shepherd cares for his sheep so will God care for you. Will you trust that upon accepting Jesus as Lord of our lives we begin to experience the thrill of God’s eternal presence in our lives. Never again are we left alone, for God is with us. Will you trust him this morning?