(John 14:1-31)
I believe God graciously granted my request, but just late enough to remind me, once again, that preaching (like all Christian living) is divinely enabled. As our Lord puts it in chapter 15, “apart from me, you can accomplish nothing” (verse 5). We can understand this one chapter in John’s Gospel only as we understand the context in which it is found. Chapters 13-17 contain the “Upper Room Discourse” and High Priestly Prayer of our Lord for His disciples. The matters dealt with here are not found in the Synoptic Gospels, but only in John. The events which occur and the words spoken by our Lord take place in a small window of time when our Lord is finally able to enjoy a private moment with His disciples. Jesus has already dismissed Judas, and he is now in the process of betraying the Master (see 13:27; 18:1-3). In his absence, Jesus can speak freely with His true disciples.
The disciples are confused, perplexed, and greatly troubled by what Jesus has just told them: “Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, and just as I said to the Jewish authorities, ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ now I tell you the same” (13:33). Jesus had given them some shocking news. One of the 12 would betray Him, and besides this He informs them that He is leaving to go somewhere else, without them. Peter questions Jesus further about this, and seeks to assure Him of his loyalty, but Jesus silences him by telling him that he will deny Him three times before the cock crows (13:38).
The words recorded in chapter 14 (indeed, in 13-17) are intended to minister to the troubled spirits of the disciples—but not to give them immediate comfort. Have you ever noticed that virtually every advertisement for pain relievers claims the same thing—fast relief? I have yet to find any advertisement which says: “Our product will not give you quick relief. If you purchase it and take the recommended dosage, nothing will happen for some time. …” The “relief” which our text offers is not “fast” relief. The Upper Room Discourse is not a “play by play” account of the events that took place in the Upper Room, as the disciples experienced and perceived them at the time. The Upper Room Discourse is a reconstruction of these events, recorded years later, after the death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord. These words were written by John after the Holy Spirit’s coming at Pentecost, who enabled the disciples to recall and understand what they had seen and heard in their last hours with the Lord (see 16:12-16).
The immediate effect of our Lord’s words to His disciples was confusion and sadness. I would like to suggest that this was exactly what our Lord intended them to produce—for the moment. Suppose the disciples really did grasp what Jesus was about to do. Suppose, for example, that the disciples understood that Judas was about to betray our Lord and to hand Him over to the Jewish authorities, so that they could carry out a mock trial and crucify the Son of God on the cross of Calvary. I think I know what Peter would have done—he would have used his sword on Judas, rather than the high priest’s slave. I believe the disciples would have attempted to prevent what was about to happen, had they known what that was. But the confusion our Lord’s words produced threw them off balance. The result was that when Jesus was arrested, they fled. They did not die trying to defend the Savior, and in part this was because they were utterly confused by what was happening. Jesus’ words were not intended to produce instant “relief,” but eternal joy. The confusion and sadness that the Upper Room Discourse created in the disciples enabled Jesus to die just as He knew He must, just as it had been planned, purposed, and promised long before. The disciples were surely not “in control” at this point in time, but, as always, the Master was.
While our Lord’s words in the Upper Room are intended to comfort and encourage His disciples later on, they are also words that apply to Christians today as well. Whose spirit does not find comfort in these words: “Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me. There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you …”? Let us turn, then, to this assuring, comforting text to find peace for our souls in these troubled times.
News” Is Really “Good News”
(14:1-3)
1 “Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you. I am going away to make ready a place for you. 3 And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too.”
The disciples are told what will give their troubled hearts relief: faith—faith in God the Father and in God the Son. I have read the words of verse 1 many times before, but have not really understood them. I suspect I am not alone in this, because there is considerable discussion in the commentaries about how we should take the word “believe.”23 As I now understand this passage, I would paraphrase our Lord’s words in verse 1 in this way:
“Don’t be distressed that I am going away, and that you cannot come with me right now. You believe in God, don’t you? Can you see Him? Does He have a physical body that you can see and touch? No. I am going away, and you will not be able to see Me as you have for these past three years. I challenge you, therefore, to believe in Me in the same way that you believe in God the Father, as your unseen Lord. I will be just as real in My absence as I have ever been while dwelling among you.”
I don’t think that I’m overreaching the text here. I believe that the word “also” in verse 1 is intended to link the way the disciples believe in the Father with the way they must also believe in the Son. The disciples are in danger of a temptation as old as the Garden of Eden.
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