After 3 years, Jesus is wrapping up His public ministry and heading toward Jerusalem with his disciples. As He enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey, the crowds gathered there for the Passover festival, went down to the road to meet Him and placed palm branches in front of Him.
They were shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the King of Israel!”
Jesus was very much aware that this was the last week before He would suffer the most agonizing death as the once and for all sacrificial Passover Lamb, for the sins of the whole world. He was determined to do God’s will and was focused on preparing His disciples for what was to come. He told them that He would be with them only a little while longer, and that they could not come with Him.
Seeing their despondency, Jesus took His last hours with the disciples to encourage them with many promises to calm their anxious and fearful hearts. Today we are only going to speak about three of them, which He gave His disciples at the Last Supper at the end of the Passion week.
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.
2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am.
4 You know the way to the place where I am going.
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:1-5 NIV)
Jesus promised His disciples:
1. Home in Heaven
Though it should have been the disciples comforting Jesus in his last hours on the earth, Jesus is taking the time to comfort them and to prepare them for what’s to come.
Through verse 1, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled…”, he is saying that in order for you to make it through these difficult times, you need to place your trust and confidence in the right place. Even though they heard what He was saying, they did not understand.
Somehow we can tell ourselves and others to put our “trust in the Lord” when things are going well,
…but it is another thing to actually trust in the Lord when you are facing crises or doubtful circumstances and do not see any light at the end of your tunnel.
Jesus continued to encourage them in verses 2-3:
2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am (John 14:2-3 NIV).
Jesus wasn’t going away to some unknown location. He was headed for a specific destination where He would be preparing a home for them.
It was a place in His Father's house, a place of rest and permanence with God Almighty.
The essence of His assurance to them is that although he is returning to His Father’s house, He will come back for them and bring them home so they wouldn’t have to fear their future. He reiterates this point in verse 18:
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come back to you.”
At this point, the disciples were not concerned with the security of having an eternal home or what would happen in the future. They were upset over Jesus leaving them now. They were focused on what would happen to them once He’s gone, how they would find their way and who would be going to lead them to this home.
Jesus makes an exclusive statement in verse 6:
“I am the way, the truth and the life - no one comes to the Father except through me.”
There are plenty of situations and events going on around us that can be very unsettling and exposing the fragile nature of life on this earth. But in the midst of turmoil and emotional upheaval Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled.” The point is - this is not our home.
We are all longing for and trusting the Lord for our future home in heaven, but are we trusting the Lord for what we need for life today? How many are eagerly waiting to meet God in heaven but do not invite Him into their daily lives and agenda?
“We are in an age which requires us to live in greater dependence and deeper level of trust than any other time that we can remember. ”
Jesus’ second promise was:
2. His Presence
Jesus said,
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.
17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.
18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans - I will come to you (John 14:16-18 NLT).
Jesus would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit, the 3rd member of the Trinity. He also said that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and will be your advocate.
Look at what the Amplified version says:
But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall - will remind you of, bring to your remembrance - everything I have told you (John 14:26 AMP).
Why was it better that Jesus would leave and send the Holy Spirit?
Even though Jesus would no longer be with them physically, wherever the disciples were, they would be very conscious of Christ’s abiding presence through the Holy Spirit.
“I will send someone who is infinitely wiser, stronger and greater than you. He will come and He will live in you. ”
The Holy Spirit will draw you close to God, He will strengthen you, help you fight temptation and He will help you understand the Scriptures. He will convict you and give you the power to change. He will pray for you and everything He tells you will be the truth (John 16:33). You will know Him and He will live inside of you. He will assure you of God’s love for you and the security of your eternal home in heaven (Rom. 8:15-16; Eph. 4:30).
This is the same for us today. The Holy Spirit is present with us, to help, comfort, teach, counsel, support, strengthen and empower us (Gal. 5:25), so that we can experience God in a deeper way and experience His transforming power.
The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual insight, illuminates our minds and guides us into all truth.
The Holy Spirit abundantly pours the love of God in our hearts (Rom 5:5), gives each of us spiritual gifts and empowers us for the good works God has called us to do.
So if you are a follower of Christ, He promises you a home in heaven. He promises you His abiding presence through the Holy Spirit. And because of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we not only have eternal life, but we also have:
3. His Peace
In verse 27 Jesus said:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27 NIV).
Often when we think of peace, it is associated with the absence of anything troublesome - like conflict, sickness, persecution, wars, and natural catastrophes. There will always be conflicts - in your workplace, in marriage, within families or with friends and even in the church.
This is to be expected because we live in a fallen world and we all have a sin nature. But people, whether Christian or non Christian, are seeking for peace in this world in order to have peace of mind.
Jesus was not talking about this type of peace. In the OT the word for peace is Shalom. The Jews used this expression when greeting one another. This word was a wish for completeness, contentment, satisfaction, a wish that you would experience all that is good and pleasant and a blessed life that comes from God.
The peace that Jesus is talking about is a supernatural peace that comes from God and is reserved for His children. This peace is not based on the absence of negative events in your life, but quite the opposite.
Real peace is based on the presence of God in your life in the midst of conflict with others, pandemics, wars and rumors of wars.
In John 16 Jesus said:
32 But the time is coming - indeed it’s here now - when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.
33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world (John 16:32-33 NLT).
Jesus promised them His own peace; the same peace that He had with His Father while facing staggering difficulties, dangers, as well as spiritual opposition from Satan himself. He promised His peace to them, even knowing that in the next few hours, He will be facing the darkest time in his human life, facing His crucifixion on Golgotha.
Jesus offers us this same peace as a gift. When sin entered the human race, it separated us from God. We all became guilty before a holy and righteous Judge. And there would be no peace between us and Him until the debt for sin had been fully paid for to satisfy His perfect justice.
When Christ took our sin upon Himself, He experienced God’s wrath against sin in our place on that cross and gave His life to pay for our debt of sin in full.
The moment we believe, the moment we accept Christ’s payment for our sin, we have peace with God forever.
19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross (Colossians 1:19-20 NLT).
When Jesus came to this earth, He came to do the will of His Father in everything He said and did, and He lived with the end in mind. The result of Jesus’ obedience to every single thing the Father asked Him to do, is why we now have these three promises, which enable us to journey with Jesus on this earth.
We need to be aware of what is happening around us, but remember what Jesus said:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled - because your problems will not hinder the promises of God from being fulfilled.”
