John 14:1-4 “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.”
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people who are God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Amen. (1 Peter 2:9)
Jesus tells us, “Do not let your heart be troubled.” I asked our homebound members what troubles them. Here are some of the things they listed. They are lonely, often with no family around. They have health problems – they are hard of hearing, have difficulty breathing, are afraid of going senile, or are living with constant pain.
They have to get used to slowing down; not being able to do much anymore; not being able to go to church; and not being able to leave the house without help.
They are troubled that their children aren’t believers and haven’t baptized their grandchildren.
They miss their house. They miss their spouse. And one that hit home to me – one homebound member said she misses riding her bike.
Our older saints definitely have troubles. I also asked our younger saints - our 8th grade Catechism students - what troubles them. Here are some of the serious and not so serious things they listed.
They answered: My schedule. Missing the bus. Struggles with my family. When the bathroom at home is full.
What my peers think of me. Feeling like I don’t fit in. If I leave the faith someday. Standing by tall people.
Bad grades. Not learning important stuff in school like how to pay taxes. Not being able to find a job after school. People. Mr. M. (That’s their 8th grade teacher.)
My grandma, who isn’t talking to me. Losing a loved one. Not knowing what my future holds. Moving. Waking up early just to come to school. Anxiety. Pastor Zarling being short.
Jesus knows his disciples of all ages will have troubles. You may share some of the same troubles as the teenagers or the senior citizens. Or you may have your own unique troubles that are somewhere in between those two age groups. Whatever your troubles are, Jesus is teaching us not to allow our troubles to trouble our hearts.
The setting of our sermon text is Thursday evening. Jesus has entered Jerusalem with a Palm Sunday procession. On Monday, Jesus chased the money changers, sacrificial animals, and animal merchants out of the temple courtyard. Then Monday and Tuesday, Jesus taught in the recently vacated temple courtyard. It seems that Jesus took Wednesday off.
On Thursday evening, Jesus is in the Upper Room with his disciples. He washes their feet. The Passover Meal is just about ready to be eaten. But before they sit down to eat, Jesus teaches his disciples covering five chapters in John’s Gospel. Part of that teaching are these words: “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 is like a young mother dropping off her four-year-old daughter for the first day of Preschool. The little girl is apprehensive, scared, clingy. She has tears welling up in her eyes.
Mom is comforting her daughter by showing her how nice the Preschool teacher is, all her friends she knows from church who are in her class, and all the toys she gets to play with during the day. Mom reassures her daughter that she’ll be back at the end of the day to pick her up and bring her home.
Jesus is also like an older dad who is saying goodbye to his sixteen-year-old son. The dad is in the Marines and is going to war. He’s telling his son that he’s going to be the man of the house now. The son is trying to man up, but he’s still apprehensive, scared, clingy. He has tears welling up in his eyes. The Dad reassures his son that when the war is won, he’ll be home.
Jesus is reassuring his disciples - his spiritual children – that he is going away for a while. He is about to die, to leave this world, and go to his Father in heaven. As he speaks, Judas is on his way to get the temple guard to arrest Jesus. By Friday evening, the disciples will be terrified and grieving, thinking Jesus is gone forever.
Jesus comforts their troubled hearts by reminding them that though he is going away, he’ll come back on the Last Day to take them home with him.
Jesus is reminding his disciples – his spiritual children – that he is going off to war. He is going into battle against the ancient serpent of the Devil. He is waging war on sin. It will be a fight to the death – his death. He will be struck in his heel by the serpent’s fangs. He will have the sins of humanity on his godly shoulders. He will fight death … and die. He will look like a criminal. He will appear like a victim. He will seem like a loser.
But looks are deceiving. Through his death, Jesus defeats death. By allowing himself to be bitten by the serpent, he will crush the serpent’s head. By allowing sin to kill him, he will pay for humanity’s sins, once and for all. He is not a criminal. He is the Holy One of God. He is not a victim. He is the Victor. He is not a loser. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
So, like any loving parent, Jesus reassures his apprehensive, clingy children. He speaks to them as simply as you speak to a child. “I am going away, but don’t be afraid,” he says. “Trust in God. Trust also in me. I am going to get things ready for you. Then I will be back. You will be with me again.”
The disciples didn’t get it. They are like a little child being apart from her parents; like a teenager separated by war from his father; like us during troubling times. But during the terrifying days to come, they would have the memory of Jesus’ words to comfort them. We, too, have Jesus’ words to comfort us. Jesus has promised his troubled disciples of all ages that he will come back. And we know that Jesus always keeps his promises.
We are troubled, present-day disciples. 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.” 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 has caused the disciples’ hearts to churn with fear and apprehension.
When 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 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.”
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 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 aches and pains? Jesus promises that one day you will have an imperishable, glorious, spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:43, 44).
Is it loneliness or fear of what your peers think of you? Jesus brings us into a family of baptized believers who will strengthen and encourage you.
Is it 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).
Pray that Jesus calms your trouble heart. Jesus may or may not calm your troubled heart by removing your troubles. But he does promise that he will remove you from your troubles. So, believe that, and do not let your heart be troubled. Amen.
At one time you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. At one time you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy. Amen. (1 Peter 2:10)