“In My Father’s house,” Jesus said, “there are many rooms. I am going to prepare a place for you. I’m coming back to take you so that you may be where I am.”
I Can Trust Him to Come for Me
Jesus’ promise, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also, refers to what is called “The Rapture of the Church.” Here are verses for more information: (1 Cor. 15:51-54; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 3:10).
The disciples were probably confused again when Jesus reveals that He is going to take His people beginning with the apostles off this earth to be with Him in the place that He is preparing for them! According to Dr. McGee, this is the first time this mentioned, but it is not the last time (see 1 Cor. 15:51-54; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). The Lord Himself would descend from heaven with a shout. His voice will be like a trumpet and like the sound of an archangel. He is coming to call His own. The dead in Christ will rise first, and then those believers who are still alive will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord in that place that He has prepared.
I Can Trust Him to Guide Me
4 And you know the way to where I am going.”5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (vs. 4-6)
Thomas is asking directions. So Jesus says, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life” What did he mean? Suppose we’re in a strange city and we ask for directions. I know its quite a stretch for most guys. Then if that’s not hard enough, the person we asks tells us to take the first to the right, then the third to the left, go across the square, past the church, take the second on the right by the old oak tree, and the road you want is the fifth on the left. You’ll take off scratching your head and be lost before you get halfway there.
But let’s suppose that person says, “Come with me. I’ll take you there.” Then that person becomes the way to us and we can’t get lost. That is what Jesus has done for us— Jesus guides us, like the good shepherd, so we won’t get lost. He has prepared the way for us into heaven because He is The Way. He is the gate. He will guide me at death, but he also guide me through life.
You may be in the middle of something right now. Can you see the end from the beginning? No, God can but we can’t. That’s why we have to trust His leadership and guidance over our lives. That’s why trust must take us to a higher level of perspective than reason can.
Have you ever hit high turbulence while on an airplane flight? I remember one flight in particular we had flown into a thunderstorm and the currents began to toss the plane all over the place. Most of the people in the plane were pretty frightened. There were a lot of gasps and even some screams. The pilot came on the intercom and in a calm voice said, “Hello, this is your captain, we are encountering some turbulence.” That was not news to anybody there. Then he told us that he was in the process of flying the plane higher above the storm. The turbulence did not immediately stop. But within ten minutes everything settled down and the flight smoothed out. We had to trust that pilot during that time of disturbance.
As it turned out he knew exactly what he was doing and got us to our destination safe and sound. The flight was much better once we rose above the storm.
Are you in a storm today? As a Christian will you let Jesus Guide you? Will you trust the pilot to know what he is doing? Will you allow him to take you above the turbulent level of your own understanding into the calm above the storm?
It was not really necessary for our pilot to come on the intercom and assure us of his intentions. He could have gotten us above the storm without telling us anything. But I was really glad he did. It really felt good to know that he was still there in control and that he had a plan for my safety. It should not have been necessary for Jesus to assure these disciples of his openness with them. But he graciously assures them.
I Can Trust Him to Be My God
7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” 8Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do. (vs. 7-11)
Jesus is God; He is one with the father. To see Jesus in the pages of scripture, his love, compassion, forgiveness is to see God. What does this mean? To me it means he is in control. What happens happens for a reason. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus it would have been easy to forget that God was in control. It may have looked very much like the Roman government or the Jewish leaders were the ones in control. And it may have even seemed that Satan was successfully thwarting the plan of God. Don’t forget that the disciples’ idea of the Messiah was that he would create a politic kingdom in Jerusalem, overthrowing the Roman government. The death of the Messiah didn’t fit into their idea.
But Jesus explained to them that it was all a part of God’s plan. Satan may have thought it was his idea to crucify Jesus, but he was really just playing right into God’s hands. Jesus explained that he had to leave them, but it was for good reason. It was only if he left that he could prepare heaven for them. In fact, it was only by his death and resurrection that they could even get to heaven in the first place. Another reason that he is going, as he explained later on, was so that he could send the Holy Spirit.
We look at what is about to happen from hindsight. We have the advantage of knowing what is going to happen! Have you ever noticed when you look at a movie or a picture on TV for the first time you may be nervous because you don’t know what is going to happen to the main characters of the story? Will they escape the danger that confronts them? Will they get through the situation unharmed? But when you look at the movie the second time and know how things turned out you can relax. You know how the situation was resolved.
We know the whole story of the end days of Jesus, the trial, the crucifixion, the resurrection. We know how everything turned out. But the disciples were living through it then. They didn’t know how things were going to turn out. They didn’t know anything about a resurrection and all of that. They were going through the experience unaided by hindsight.
The same is true for your life right now, you are in the middle of something and it is scary, it is uncertain it may even seem hopeless. We may even question, “Where is God in all this?” We may wonder how anything good could possibly come of our situation. But God is in control, his word is still the same to you, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, trust in me”
When we face troubling times we often feel overwhelmed by fear, doubts, grief, and conflict. Our outer resources may evaporate and our inner strength may prove inadequate. Though faced with possible or certain failure, we have assurances in Jesus’ words to remain calm and hopeful:
- God is trustworthy, and he has sent Christ, who is also trustworthy, to us. No one else deserves our trust.
- God has a gracious welcome and plenty of space in His “house.”
- Jesus is returning for His church.
- Jesus spoke the truth. His description of the future was realistic. He has never been proven wrong. We can rely on both Jesus’ teaching and his promises.
- Jesus did exactly what he said he would do, return to the disciples after the Resurrection. In so doing, he guaranteed our entrance into God’s presence and our place in God’s house.
- Jesus is always with us, and someday we will be face to face with him. Whatever the future holds, Jesus promised to be our companion. We know who Jesus is and how much he loves us
Darrell
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Sources:
John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – John 12-21, (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2008), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 101.
J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1983), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “Chapter 14”.
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