Reflections on Sunday’s Sermon

Prayer

As you begin your study this week, spend a few moments praising Jesus for being “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Thank the Lord for the wondrous promises contained in our passage this week and ask Him to bring comfort to your heart as you study His Word. As you pray, make the following words your own before the Lord (prayer taken from Prone to Wander: Prayers of Confession and Celebration by Barbara Duguid and Wayne Duguid Houk).

“Heavenly Father, Many of us come before you today with troubled hearts and minds. We are fearful about our relationships, our health, our finances, our families, our futures, and many other things. We have a hard time believing in you in a way that would bring comfort to our hearts. Instead we greatly doubt your love and concern for us, and sometimes even your very existence. We are not calmed by the thought that you have prepared a place for us in heaven. Father, forgive our unbelief. Jesus, thank you for your fearless faith. Thank you that for the joy that was set before you, you persevered through far greater pain and suffering than anything we will ever suffer — in fact, through greater pain and suffering than we can even imagine. Thank you that you will come back and take us to be with you forever, wiping away all our tears and comforting at last our grieving and broken hearts. Holy Spirit, help us to believe in Christ. Help us to believe that in his death we died, and that in his resurrection we are raised to new life. Give us the joy and peace that should flow from that reality, as we continue to face the broken world in which we live, especially as we face the last enemy, death itself. Help us to live in the light of our full forgiveness, and to die with great confidence in the sufficiency of your grace to us in Jesus Christ. In his name, we pray, amen.”

Scripture

John 14:1-6 - (English Standard Version)

1 “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.”

Handling the Word

Our passage this week continues to build upon all that Jesus had been saying to His disciples in the final hours of His earthly ministry. How does John 14:1-6 specifically build upon what Jesus just finished saying in 13:36-38?

In our passage this week Jesus speaks about heaven, or in His words, “My Father’s House.” Read through the following passages and write down what you discover about heaven:

Understanding and Applying

Jesus begins by telling his disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled” (v. 1). Based upon all that happened in chapter 13, why would their hearts be troubled? The word “troubled” might also be translated as “turmoil.” Write down and share with your group any events happening in your life right now that may be in turmoil.

According to the second statement in John 14:1, what was Jesus’ answer to helping with the disciples’ trouble, or turmoil? How would this answer have truly helped them, and us, in the most difficult of times? Why may it have been easier for the disciples to believe in God (the Father) at this point than it was to believe in Jesus?

Jesus tells his disciples in v. 2 that “in my Father’s house are many rooms.” Why would this be a particular comfort to the disciples at this time?

At the end of v. 2, Jesus tells his disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you.” How exactly did Jesus prepare a place for his disciples (and us) to come into His Father’s House? Read the following scriptures for some insight into what Jesus was saying:
I fear that as most of us have read John 14:1-4, we have focused more on “mansions” than we have on Jesus. Do you believe that this may or may not be a true statement? Please count in verses 3-4, the number of times Jesus says “I” or “me” or “myself”. How many did you count? What does this tell us about the real point Jesus is trying to communicate in these verses?

In verse 6, Jesus makes at least four truth claims in verse 6. What are those four claims? We’ll get to the fact that Jesus is the Way in a moment—but first, what does it mean that Jesus is the Truth? Jesus is Truth about what or who?

Jesus also claims that He is the Life. What does Jesus mean by this statement? Read the follow verses and write down what they say about Jesus and life:
Jesus’ claim that He is the Way may be connected to the last claim that “no one comes to the Father except through me” (v. 6). Is this concept, that Jesus is the only way to God, a popular one in our society? What is the common thought in our Western Culture of how people get to God? Why is it crucial for us as followers of Jesus to clearly understand that He is the only way?

Jesus’ statement that “no one comes to the Father except through me” absolutely debunks the ideology of universalism, which is the idea that all people will eventually get to heaven regardless of their religion or creed. Why do you think universalism is such a widely held thought in our world? Read the following verses and write down what the Bible has to say about this concept:
What glorious truths about Jesus, His grace, or the gospel in these verses lead you to worship Him? As you finish your study, spend a few minutes worshipping Him for the truths you listed.

“We have often read chapter 14…but we cannot read it too often. It is sweet as honey and the honeycomb…It is full of comfort, a very river of delight…Every word in this chapter is rich, and full of meaning. Perhaps they understand it best who cannot read it quickly, but are obliged to spell over every word of it, and so are like those who feast upon marrow and fatness.” —C.H. Spurgeon