John 14:1-12 “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am. 4You know where I am going, and you know the way.”
5“Lord, we don’t know where you are going,” Thomas replied, “so how can we know the way?”
6Jesus said to him, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. 7If you know me, you would also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
8“Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that is enough for us.”
9“Have I been with you so long,” Jesus answered, “and you still do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I am telling you I am not speaking on my own, but the Father who remains in me is doing his works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. Or else believe because of the works themselves.
12“Amen, Amen, I tell you: The one who believes in me will do the works that I am doing. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our trouble, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the same comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3,4)
It is Thursday evening. The disciples are relaxing during the meal. It has been quite a week for them – the adoration showered on Jesus during his Sunday entrance into Jerusalem; the shock of watching Jesus overturn the money changers’ tables in the temple courtyard; the vitriol from the religious leaders as they tried to trap Jesus with their questions.
But those events are behind them. Now it is time to recline and relax at a quiet Passover meal with Jesus.
All eyes are on Jesus as he gets up from the meal, takes off his cloak and wraps a towel around his waist. He gets the foot-washing water. They can’t believe what they are seeing. Their Master is acting like a servant. He is washing all their dirty feet.
No one says anything. No one knows what to say.
“I’ve got something to say!” says Peter. “You’re not going to wash my feet, Jesus!”
Jesus replies softly, “Peter, if I don’t wash you, you will have no part of me.”
“Then wash all of me! My head, hands and feet!” Peter exclaims.
Jesus smiles, “Your feet will be enough, Peter.”
The disciples had been arguing earlier in the week about which of them was the greatest. But now Jesus teaches them about being true servants.
The disciples had been together following Jesus for three years. They are very close friends. So it staggers them to hear Jesus say, “One of you is going to betray me.”
The disciples stare at each other. They are shocked. They just sit there. No one knows what to say.
“I can’t just sit here!” Peter says. “I’ve got to say something!” He nudges the disciple that Jesus loved. “John, ask Jesus which of us is going to betray him.”
Judas gets up with a piece of bread in his hand and abruptly leaves the room. Everyone thinks Judas needs to buy something else for the meal.
Jesus tells the Eleven, “I’m only going to be with you a little longer. Where I’m going you can’t follow me now. But you will follow me later.”
No one understands. No one knows what to say. No one says anything.
“I’ve got something to say!” Peter says. “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!”
Jesus looks at Peter sadly and says, “Peter, you’re not going to lay down your life for me. Before morning, you’re going to deny me three times.”
Now, even Peter doesn’t know what to say!
The disciples are worried about the hatred of the religious leaders. They are confused about their Master washing their dirty feet. They are angry that one of them could betray Jesus. They are heartbroken that Jesus is leaving them. They are saddened that Peter – the strongest of them – could deny Jesus.
Anger, angst, sadness, worry, confusion – their hearts are troubled.
Anger, angst, sadness, worry, confusion – these are the emotions you are feeling right now. Your hearts are also troubled.
This week, during our time of private devotion and communion with our members, I asked them what troubles them? Very few people mentioned anything having to do with Covid-19. I think they understand that eventually all of this will pass.
Their troubles are much deeper and longer lasting. Someone talked about his health and not being able to get around like he used to. His wife said, with a sly smile on her face, that her trouble was patiently dealing with her husband not being able to get around like he used to. Others mentioned the deep-rooted family issues that have plagued their families for years – even decades. Others, with tears in their eyes, talked about issues that have affected them from childhood or issues in raising their children.
Sometimes, other people bring trouble upon us. Sometimes, we bring trouble upon ourselves. The rest of the time, the trouble is because we are sinful people living in a sinful world.
And when trouble comes – whether the trouble finds us or we find the trouble – what happens to our hearts? Our hearts are anxious, worried, sad, angry and confused. … Our hearts are troubled.
Jesus speaks to his troubled disciples of all ages, “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am. You know where I am going, and you know the way.”
Jesus tells us to stop being troubled. The Greek word for “trouble” has the picture of water that is churning or seething, as in a rough surf on Lake Michigan. The news of the betrayal, denial and departure of Jesus have caused the disciples’ hearts to churn with fear and apprehension.
This Covid-19 crisis is showing us as Americans to be increasingly anxious, depressed and isolated. People are more ready to report their neighbors’ activities, more addicted to their screens and more politically polarized than ever before. People are out of work, out of money and out of patience. They want to be out of isolation.
Our hearts are churning with fear and apprehension. Jesus tells us, “Stop letting your hearts be churned up.”
Jesus doesn’t simply pat his disciples on the head and say, “There, there, everything will be all right.” He tells why they have no reason to be troubled. He tells us to keep doing what we are doing. “Keep believing in God. Keep believing in me.”
What do we do when trouble comes on us? We pray for Jesus to remove our troubles. Yet, Scripture says that God uses trouble so he can comfort us and we can then comfort others in their trouble (2 Corinthians 1:3,4), so God can refine and purify us with troubles (Isaiah 48:10), so he can teach us patience and train us in perseverance (Romans 5:3-5), and so we are prepared for eternal glory (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Jesus doesn’t promise to remove our troubles. Instead, he promises to give us forgiveness to give to those who have brought trouble on us. He promises to give us forgiveness to apply to ourselves and offer to others that we have brought trouble upon.
Jesus doesn’t promise to remove our troubles from us. Rather, he promises to remove us from our troubles. He promises to remove our troubles eventually and eternally in heaven. “In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am.”
A little boy once asked his mother some questions about dying. He asked, “Mommy, what is it like to die? Does it hurt?” Mom replied, “Remember when you were little, you liked to crawl into your big brother’s bed? And around midnight big loving hands would carry you into your own bed. You would wake up in your own room. That’s what death is like. It is waking up in your own room.”
Jesus is our Room-preparer. When I was younger, I used to think that Jesus saying “I’m going to prepare a place for you” meant he was going to heaven to sweep the floors, fluff the pillows and leave a mint on the nightstand for me.
What Jesus means is, “I’m going to prepare a place for you … tonight and tomorrow.” Through Jesus’ betrayal, denial, conviction and crucifixion, Jesus prepared a room for all those in that upper room and all of you in your living rooms. He prepared a place for you through his innocent suffering and substitutionary death. Jesus prepared a place for you by being shut into the enclosed room of the tomb for three days and then bursting forth on Easter dawn. He prepared a room for you through his ascension to his Father’s right hand in heaven.
Whether Jesus is preparing a “room” for you like in the NIV or a whole “mansion” like in the KJV and EHV, the Greek word means “a permanent home.” You have a place of permanence waiting for you after the shifting and changing of earthly life.
What troubles you? Is it the heart-breaking news in our world or the heartaches within your own home? Is it past mistakes that haunt you or present financial struggles that scare you or future health problems that concern you?
Whatever it is, Jesus promises that, although, we cannot follow where he has gone, he has not abandoned us. He will come again to take us to be with him. Peter, the one who had to keep saying something that Thursday evening, says something about this eventual and eternal comfort. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3,4).
One day, we will fall asleep and wake up in our own room in the mansions of heaven. Jesus has gone to the cross and out of the grave and ascended to God’s right hand to prepare those rooms for us. Rooms and mansions and a paradise where troubles will never bother us again.
What happens when your plans fall through and your hearts are troubled? Keep believing in God. Continue believing in Jesus. We are living in uncertain times, but we have a God who is certainly in control. We may not know what the future holds, but we know who holds our future in his nail-scarred hands.
Don’t let things trouble your heart. God has taken care of your troubles of the past. He is with you in the troubles of your present. His abiding presence and forgiveness will be with you despite your troubles in the future. He will eventually and eternally remove your troubles in heaven. Amen.
Our momentary, light trouble produces for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond any comparison. (2 Corinthians 4:17) Amen.