LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

The chapter starts on a comforting tone – evidently to a group of troubled hearts. Before we can ponder on those blessed words of our Master, it is worth considering the diverse manner of sorrows, the disciples carried at that moment:-

The announcement of Judas’ betrayal in the preceding chapter ‘perplexed’ everyone, and it came as a shocking revelation to all there except Judas (John 13:22). This perhaps shattered the confidence and the unity they had.

The heaviness we might have when one amongst us leaves us and sells his faith is a shaking one, which can question one’s faith and trust in Him who taught us what love is.

The Lord’s second revelation that again shook many feeble hearts was Peter’s denial. Even though he vehemently countered it by a declaration to go to prison and even death, it is quite understandable the troubled state of the other ten that if one of the Lord’s best three, could deny Him, where would they stand in the hour of trial!

Often our faith gets shaken when someone we esteem to be strong in faith seems to drift away from it, to the extent of even denial of that faith.

Luke briefly accounts this (Luke 22:23, 24), and interestingly it sprouts out just after the Lord reveals His betrayer – deriving a certain question in many minds, “if Judas is such and such, am I not far better?”

Apart from the fact that self-proclaimed righteousness breaks harmony, there lies a danger of comparison here, which leads to rivalry and a weak one or two being offended. It may not be a trouble for those who feel they are great, greater, or greatest, but it will cause disharmony and a weak believer to stumble.

Therefore, this was seemingly a trouble the Lord addressed in the opening verses of John 14. And it is not surprising that the Lord emphasized unity the most in His Priestly intercession following this discourse.

Out of all the troubles that bothered the eleven, this was perhaps the most painful. The questions posed by Thomas, Philip, and Judas (not Iscariot) in that very chapter bring out this pain on their faces.

And when the discourse continues to Chapter 16, the worries deepen as the Lord hints out to them the pain of suffering following His departure. They would have perhaps not imagined this would be His end, never such a painful death. A sense of hopelessness was evident here.

The Lord having sensed all these worries developed in the hearts of those poor souls in the Upper Room, comforts them beautifully:

It is only our strong belief in God that can sustain us when we go through all what the disciples went through – weak in faith, being left alone when all around them drift away, ultimately, deny their faith and sell their Master. Trusting in God is the fulcrum of Christian faith, which wonderfully balances our worries and cares against God’s unchanging promises.

Moreover, the Lord emphasized that they should believe in ‘Him’ as this chapter shows clearly that the Lord associates Himself to His Father in every way. When the entire nation rejected Him, the Lord desired that they know Him as the only way to the Father, and that they see the Father through Him! Indeed, the fundamentals of salvation demand that we believe Christ as the Lord, and our Christian life demands a continuing belief that whatever we ask in His name, He will do it, and the Father is glorified in this.

There is no dearth in His provisions. He has enough luxuries and in abundance – the disciples need not fight among themselves to determine who will win the race to get there first, there’s room for everyone.

A simple trust in the Lord’s abundant provisions is enough to meet all our needs and wipe out all our worries, just like His grace in abundance to wipe out all our sins.

The Lord was going – yes it emptied their hearts, but now He fills those empty hearts with an assurance that He is going to prepare a place for them.

His going and preparation included His suffering and His death before His resurrection and ascension. He went to that extent, the cruel cross and the grave to prepare a place for us in those heavenly mansions!

The Lord further explains how His departure is advantageous for us (John 16:7), for we would receive the Holy Spirit, who would guide, teach, remind, comfort us, and abide with us forever (Jn. 14:16, 26; 16:13)!

The Lord’s physical absence and tarrying is certainly worrisome to some of us, but be assured, His Holy Spirit is a guarantee in our hearts (2 Cor. 1:22), while the Lord Himself prepares a place for us, those many mansions!

Herein lies the essence of the finished work of Christ – He goes, He prepares, He comes, He receives, and He positions us where He is! He does not differentiate with us at all in those mansions. He receives all of us to Himself and will keep us where He is.

He has given us His comfort, His peace, and His Holy Spirit to our troubled hearts, for He knows us that we are feeble as frail. When He understands that our hearts are filled with sorrow, He urges us to ask in His name, that our joy may be full (John 16:6, 20, 24).

He has chosen us, and even if we might have denied him, He prays for us that our faith may not fail (Luke 22:32). He encourages us to be cheerful in this world of tribulation, for He has overcome the world (John 16:33). Let us wait upon His promises, as His perfect and finished work on the cross is leading us to those mansions!

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