By Ref. Ron Purkey
Guest Columnist

Read: John 14:1-14

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.“ John 14:1-2

By Rev. Ron Purkey

Why were the disciples’ hearts troubled? Christ had told them he was leaving them (John 13:33), that one of them was a traitor and that Peter would fail him (John 13:36-38). This undoubtedly disturbed them all, for they looked to Peter as their leader. Jesus himself had revealed his own inward burden (John 13:21), although certainly his troubled spirit was in no way like their troubled hearts. In this chapter, Christ sought to comfort the Twelve and quiet their troubled hearts. He gave them three reasons why he had to leave them and go to the Father.

First, to prepare a place for them (John 14:1-6). Christ speaks of heaven as a real place, not merely as a state of mind. He pictures heaven as a loving home where God the Father dwells. “Mansions” actually means “abiding places,” speaking of the permanency of our heavenly home. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Jesus “the carpenter” (Mark 6:3) is building a heavenly home for all who have trusted him for forgiveness. And he will return to receive his own to himself. The Apostle Paul later amplified this promise in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. “Absent from the body, present with the Lord.” Had Christ remained on earth, he could not have prepared the heavenly home for his own.

Second, to reveal the Father to them (John 14:7-11). Philip seemed to have trouble with his eyes: he wanted to see. Almost his first words in John 1:46 are “Come and see!” He saw the great crowd in John 6 and decided that Christ could not feed them (John 6:7). The Greeks who came to Philip said, “We would see Jesus” (John 12:21). Jesus made it clear that seeing him is seeing God the Father. “From now on you know him,” he promises in John 14:7. It is by faith we see God the Father as we come to know Christ better.

Third, to grant them the privilege of prayer (John 14:12-14). While he was with the disciples, Christ supplied their needs (see John 16:22-24); now that he was returning to heaven, he gives them the privilege of prayer. He promises to answer prayer that the Father might be glorified. To pray “in his name” means to pray for his glory, asking for whatever he himself would desire. The “greater works” spoken of in John 14:12 refer to the wonderful miracles and blessings the disciples experienced as recorded in the Book of Acts (see Mark 16:20; Hebrews 2:4). The works he does through us today are “greater” in the sense that we are mere human vessels, while Christ was God incarnate ministering on earth.

As you read this chapter, see how tenderly Christ seeks to comfort his perplexed disciples. “I go to prepare a place for you.” These comforting words are for us today, so claim them by faith.

Read Ron Purkey’s Bible study outlines for free at rcpbibleoutlines.com. Purkey has been an ordained Baptist minister for 50 years.