Jesus Comforts His Followers
John 14
1Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me.
2There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were
not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3After I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be
where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. So how
can we know the way?”
6Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to
the Father is through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father,
too. But now you do know him, and you have seen him.”
8Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”
9Jesus answered, “I have been with you a long time now. Do you still not
know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say,
‘Show us the Father’? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father
is in me? The words I say to you don’t come from me, but the Father lives in me
and does his own work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the
Father is in me. Or believe because of the miracles I have done. 12I tell you the
truth, whoever believes in me will do the same things that I do. Those who
believe will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
13And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you so that the Father’s
glory will be shown through the Son. 14If you ask me for anything in my name, I
will do it.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
15“If you love me, you will obey my commands. 16I will ask the Father, and
he will give you another Helper to be with you forever—17the Spirit of truth.
The world cannot accept him, because it does not see him or know him. But you
know him, because he lives with you and he will be in you.
18“I will not leave you all alone like orphans; I will come back to you. 19In a
little while the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I
live, you will live, too. 20On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and
that you are in me and I am in you. 21Those who know my commands and obey
them are the ones who love me, and my Father will love those who love me. I
will love them and will show myself to them.”
22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you plan to show
yourself to us and not to the rest of the world?”
23Jesus answered, “If people love me, they will obey my teaching. My Father
will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24Those
who do not love me do not obey my teaching. This teaching that you hear is not
really mine; it is from my Father, who sent me.
25“I have told you all these things while I am with you. 26But the Helper will
teach you everything and will cause you to remember all that I told you. This
Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name.
27“I leave you peace; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world
does. So don’t let your hearts be troubled or afraid. 28You heard me say to you, ‘I
am going, but I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you should be happy
that I am going back to the Father, because he is greater than I am. 29I have told
you this now, before it happens, so that when it happens, you will believe. 30I will
not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has
no power over me, 31but the world must know that I love the Father, so I do
exactly what the Father told me to do.
“Come now, let us go.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version
SITUATION
Jesus knew that the disciples were troubled at the thought of his departure. He reassured them by teaching about the Holy Spirit, who would help them.
OBSERVATION
Death did not need to be a terror to the disciples because Jesus was preparing a place for them.
INSPIRATION
What do we do with these worries? Take your anxieties to the cross literally. Next time you're worried about your health or house or finances or flights, take a mental trip up the hill. Spend a few moments looking again at the pieces of passion.
Run your thumb over the tip of the spear. Balance a spike in the palm of your hand. Read the wooden sign written in your own language. And as you do, touch the velvet dirt, moist with the blood of God.
Blood he bled for you. The spear he took for you. The nails he felt for you. The sign he left for you. He did all of this for you.
Knowing this, knowing all he did for you there, don't you think he'll look out for you here?
Or as Paul wrote, "He did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all. So with jesus, God will surely give us all things" (Romans 8:32).
Do yourself a favor; take your anxious moments to the cross. Leave them there with your bad moments, your mad moments, and your anxious moments. And may I suggest one more? Your final moment.
Barring the return of Christ first, you and I will have one. A final moment. A final breath. A final widening of the eyes and beating of the heart. In a split second you'll leave what you know and enter what you don't,
That's what bothers us.
Death is the great unknown. We're always a bit skittish about the unknown.
Sara certainly was. Denalyn and I thought it was a great idea. We would kidnap the girls from school and take them on a weekend trip. We made reservations at a hotel and cleared the trip with their teachers but kept it a secret from our girls. When we showed up at Sara's fourth grade classroom on Friday afternoon, we thought she'd be thrilled. She wasn't. She was afraid. She didn't want to leave!
As we left, I assured her nothing was wrong. We had come to take her to a fun place. Didn't work. By the time we got to the car, she was crying. She was confused. She didn't like the interruption.
Nor do we. God promises to come at an unexpected hour and take us from the gray world we know to a golden world we don't. But since we don't, we aren't sure we want to go. We even get upset at the thought of his coming.
For that reason God wants us to do what Sara finally did-trust her father. "Don't let your hearts be troubled," he urged. "I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am" (John 14:1, 3).
By the way, in a short time Sara relaxed and enjoyed the trip. In fact, she didn't want to come back. You won't want to either.
Troubled about your final moments? Leave them at the foot of the cross.
Leave them there with your bad moments, mad moments, and anxious moments.
About this time someone is thinking, "You know, Max, if I leave all those moments at the cross, I won't have any moments left but good ones."
Well, what do you know? I guess you won't. (From He Chose the Nails by Max Lucado)
APPLICATION
Make a list of everything you're worrying about-health, finances, family, job, and so on. Ask God to help you see all of them in light of eternity. Thank him that he's looking out for you.
EXPLORATION
Eternity-John 10:25-30; 17:1-3; 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5; 1 John 5:11-13.
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