Passion Week of Christ (Part 10)
Deliverance For Troubled Hearts - John 13:36-14:7

John 13:36-38: "Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus
replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow
later." {37} Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay
down my life for you." {38} Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay
down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows,
you will disown me three times!"

The disciples had reason to be troubled. Several things had just happened
that would disturb any person:
·     Divisiveness had set in among them
·     Desertion and betrayal by one of them was now known
·     Separation from the Lord had been the topic of discussion
·     Denying Jesus had just been talked about

    The scene needs to be clearly viewed, even felt in order to grasp
the impact of what Jesus was about to say.     The disciples were
greatly troubled and needed to be settled down and given some sense of
peace.

Jesus didn’t rebuke Peter for asking Him where He was going, but His
reply was somewhat cryptic. One day Peter would "follow" Jesus to the
cross and then he would follow Him to heaven. (Tradition tells us that
Peter was crucified, though he asked to be crucified head-downward
because he did not feel worthy to die as his Master died).

Just as Peter was beginning to feel like a hero, Jesus announced that he
himself would soon become a casualty. The message not only shocked Peter,
but it also stunned the rest of the disciples.

If brave Peter denied the Lord, what hope was there for the rest of them?
It was then that Jesus gave His message to calm their troubled hearts.

While the crucifixion and ascension will be devastating losses for the
disciples, their faith can be sustained in the midst of this present
suffering by the assurance of three glorious realities:
1. The enduring presence of the Holy Spirit
2. Jesus’ return
3. the hope of a heavenly home.

Upper Room Discourse
John 14:1-4: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust
also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I
would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And 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. 4You know the way to the place
where I am going."

This is one of those "good news/bad news" scenarios. What lies ahead is
difficult. But Jesus’ promises are simply out of this world!

According to Jesus, heaven is a real place!
· It is not a product of religious imagination or the result of a
psyched-up mentality, looking for "pie in the sky by and by."
· Heaven is the place where God dwells and where Jesus sits today at the
right hand of the Father.
· Heaven is described as a kingdom (2 Peter 1:11), an inheritance (1
Peter 1:4), a country (Heb. 11:16), a city (Heb. 11:16), and a home (John
14:2).

The word Father is used fifty-three times in John 13-17.
· Heaven is "My Father’s house," according to the Son of God.
· It is "home" for God’s children!

Some years ago, a London newspaper held a contest to determine the best
definition of "home."
· The winning entry was, "Home is the place where you are treated the
best and complain the most."
· The poet Robert Frost said that home is the place that, when you arrive
there, they have to take you in. A good definition!

The Greek word mone is translated "mansions" in John 14:2 and "abode" in
John 14:23. It simply means "rooms, abiding places." Jesus Christ is now
preparing places for all true believers, and each place will be
beautiful.

John 14:3 is a clear promise of our Lord’s return for His people:
· some will go to heaven through the valley of the shadow of death
· those who are alive when Jesus returns will never see death; they will
be changed to be like Christ and will go to heaven
· Since heaven is the Father’s house, it must be a place of love and joy.

· When the Apostle John tried to describe heaven, he almost ran out of
symbols and comparisons! (Rev. 21-22)
· Finally, he listed the things that would not be there: death, sorrow,
crying, pain, night, etc.

The Lord made it clear that He was going to the Father, and that He was
the only way to the Father.

Heaven is a real place, a loving place, and an exclusive place. Not
everybody is going to heaven, but rather only those who have trusted
Jesus Christ through baptism for remission of sins.

How would this assurance of going to heaven help to calm the disciples’
troubled hearts?
1. Dr. James M. Gray put it beautifully in a song he wrote years ago:
"Who could mind the journey, when the road leads home?"
2. The assurance of a heavenly home at the end of life’s road enables us
to bear joyfully with the obstacles and battles along the way.
3. It was this assurance that even encouraged our Lord, "who for the joy
that was set before Him endured the cross" (Heb. 12:2).
4. Paul had this truth in mind when he wrote, "For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).

JESUS IS THE WAY!
JOHN 14:5-7: "Thomas said to him, "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. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If
you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do
know him and have seen him."

Jesus does not simply teach the way or point the way; He is the way. In
fact, "the Way" was one of the early names for the Christian faith (Acts
9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22).

· Our Lord’s statement, "No man cometh unto the Father but by Me," wipes
away any other proposed way to heaven—good works, religious ceremonies,
costly gifts, etc.
· There is only one way, and that way is Jesus Christ.

Let there be no mistake; while Christianity is open to all people,
heaven is not! Some call it narrow-minded, others call it
intolerant...call it what you like as long as you call it truth from the lips of
Jesus.

Jesus, who proved His divinity through the resurrection, makes an
unprecedented, exclusive claim that we dare not ignore.
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Closes with detailed readings from C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters...

Last modified: April 18, 2006