John 14:1-14 (ESV)
I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life
14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
{Prayer}
I shared something with the Junior High and High School youth in one of the devotional thoughts I mailed them during this time of quarantine, this stay at home time because of the Corona Virus which I thought I would share with you this morning.
Nightly routines at our house with our kids includes many different things. They include the kids picking out books to be read. It includes Faith reading a book for her AR, her Accelerated Reader program at school. Sometimes it includes a story made up by Jessica about a silly flamingo named Jerry and a beautiful peacock named Poofy. After all the stories, we sing a few songs out of their hymnal and then we say our prayers. Sometimes it is the prayers Jessica and I learned when we were kids but then sometimes the kids want to add their own little prayers. Usually the prayers the kids add are simple and really generic. “Thank you Lord for our family, for Papa, Grandma and Grandpa, Mommy and Daddy, and the beautiful world, Amen.”
One night though, Faith said a prayer which shocked us and made us realize the importance of each day which God makes and blesses us with. Here is Faith’s prayer:
“Dear Lord, thank you for the Corona virus.
Thank you for allowing us to have more time to spend as a family.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
The Corona virus is not really something to be thankful for because people have gotten really sick from it, a lot of people have died from it, people have been laid off from work, schools were not able to meet in person and thus a lot of those memorable activities like prom and graduation have been canceled, postponed, or reorganized. There are a lot of negative things which have happened and disrupted the lives of millions of people because of this virus.
But yet … look at this time through the eyes of a 7-year-old, look at it through the eyes of my daughter. She is thankful for this virus because it means that she gets to spend more time with her family. Because of us staying home more, we have been able to go on walks and bike rides more frequently. We have been able to spend more time together as a family playing soccer, doing puzzles, and participating in ice bucket challenges. We have also been able to get a lot of projects done around the house with the help of the kids.
A lot of people have been able to shorten those long lists of projects. Buses, bathrooms, and basements have been remodeled. Doors and windows have been washed, shutters painted, and deep spring cleaning has been done. Yard work projects, especially around my house have been progressing at a speed never seen before. Some of those honey-do lists are actually getting shorter for once.
We aren’t the only one though who has a project to work on. Jesus tells us in the reading from John this morning that he has a building project as well. A project, just like most of ours, which involves hammers, nails, wood, and living spaces.
Here’s the scene: Jesus is with his disciples in the Upper Room on that Thursday night of holy week. Jesus and his disciples have already eaten the Passover meal. Jesus has already instituted the Lord’s Supper. Jesus has already gotten down on his hands and knees and did a deep washing of the disciple’s feet. Now Jesus and his disciples are reclining around the table and are having a deep conversation. Jesus first tells the disciples how one of them is going to betray him. Judas, without the other disciples knowing what is going on, gets ups and leaves the room. Jesus gives a new commandment that the disciples “should love one another, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34). Peter is told of his future denial, even though he doesn’t believe it.
And then Jesus says, “in my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would have I told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3). See, Jesus has a building project that he is working on. But before we go on, I want you to stop. I want you to stop and listen for a bit. You are probably thinking in your mind, Yeah Pastor, I know where you’re going with this. Jesus is going to heaven to prepare a place for us there, we’ve all heard this numerous times, especially at funerals.
Well, we need to understand something … at times in the Bible, the person speaking, Jesus in this case, is not talking directly to you and me but to the people of his time. So here, Jesus is talking to his disciples. Jesus is telling them that he is going to be leaving them so that he can go and prepare a place for them. Once he is done, he will come back to them.
Jesus isn’t heading to heaven … not yet. Before Jesus can head to heaven, he has to pick up the wood for his project. Jesus picks up and carries the wood to the top of a hill. There the wood is arranged just right. One guy picks up the nails, another guy a hammer. With each swing of the hammer, the nail is driven through the hands and feet of Jesus. Once Jesus is affixed to the wooden cross, it is erected so that all can see.
You see, Jesus leaves the disciples so that he could suffer for their sins. Jesus suffers not only the denial of Peter, the betrayal of Judas, but he suffers for the sins of the whole world. Beaten, battered, and bloody, Jesus suffers the wrath of God and hell itself. Through the crucifixion of Jesus … Jesus goes not only to prepare a place, but to finish the project as well. In his dying breath, Jesus says, “Tetelestia. It is finished” (John 19:30).
Jesus’ project of paying for the forgiveness of sins is done. It is done for his disciples, it is done for the Israelites of old, and it is done for his modern day disciples, it is done for you and me.
But was it really finished? A few weeks ago I said you can’t talk about the crucifixion of Jesus without also talking about the … resurrection right. Jesus dying was not good enough. Jesus’ victorious Easter resurrection is what ultimately seals the deal. After Jesus rose from the dead, he fulfilled what it was that he said to the disciples … Jesus goes back to his disciples and reveals himself. He shows them his hands and his side to prove that their forgiveness, that their salvation, that their promise of eternal life to come is real and is theirs.
What else is real? God’s eternal presence with his disciples. In three weeks we will celebrate the disciples receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, the eternal presence of God with each and every one of them and in essences, each and every one of us. Because of this presence of God, there is nothing to fear.
You know, after Jesus tells them some of the stuff that was going to happen there in that upper room, that one of the disciples was going to fall away, that Peter was going to deny knowing Jesus … Jesus must of sensed some uneasiness amongst the disciples. Jesus says to them, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1). Jesus is basically telling them “Stop! Stop being troubled, stop being concerned! I’ve got this.”
In other words, stop worrying about how you are going to make it through the changes the Corona virus is bringing upon us, stop worrying about your sickness, stop worrying about your finances, stop worrying about your hardships … I’ve got this!
But man, that’s easier said than done isn’t it? We all know that when you start a project, there is going to be some sort of mishap, some sort of a hiccup, an unexpected problem which is going to arise. These problems usually mean that the project is going to be more difficult than originally planned. This project is going to cost me even more money.
But you know what is so awesome? … With Jesus, there are no unknowns! There are no unknowns because Jesus has already accomplished it all. He has taken care of it. Like the Sunday School song says … He’s got the whole world in his hands.
You and I, we have the pleasure, the joy, the confidence to trust in our minds, believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus has accomplished all things and will work them together for good for those who believe (Romans 10:9, 8:28).
Jesus is still at it. Jesus is currently working on another project for his modern day believers, for you and me. Jesus continues adding on rooms to the house, to the Father’s house. As living stones, you and I, as we live out the gospel, as we live out the words of our crucified and risen Savior of loving one another just as Jesus has loved us … as others comes to believe in Jesus as their Savior … the number of rooms for Jesus to add on keeps getting bigger and bigger.
As Jesus builds, we continue to live out the words of Psalm 146. “I will praise the LORD as long as I live, I will sing praises to my God while I have my being” (v.1). For “the LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!” (v.10). Amen.
The peace of God, which truly surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, now and forever. Amen.