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The Fourth Sunday After Easter
Jesus Prepares the Way
May 10, 2009

TEXT:  NKJ John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "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. 3 "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. 4 "And where I go you know, and the way you know." 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 " If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." 8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
 
THE SETTING OF THE TEXT
 
Jesus—reclining in the upper room—finishing His conversation with the 11—just finished telling the 11 to love one another—as He loved them while with them—the disciples didn’t understand—now He comforts them with the words of the text—with this background in place—can we truly understand verse 1
 
TEXT:  NKJ John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
 
More accurately translated “Stop letting your heart be troubled”—stop doing something you are already doing—there was no reason for the 11 to be troubled—if they properly understood Jesus’ departure
 
God sent Jesus to this earth on a mission—the mission was now almost complete—and Jesus was about to return to the Father—Jesus’ message was simple—believe in God—believe in Me—Jesus is God
 
NKJ John 10:30 "I and My Father are one."
 
NKJ Matthew 16:15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
 
Properly understood—Jesus is the Son of God—He has to return to the Father—this calls for rejoicing—not sorrow
 
THE MANSIONS IN HEAVEN
TEXT:  NKJ John 14:2 "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. 3 "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.
 
Right now God has His children—us—on earth—and God—the Holy Spirit dwells within us—our Christian bodies are temples
 
NKJ Ephesians 2:17 And He [Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were afar off [Gentiles] and to those who were near [the Jews, God’s people]. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
 
And from another of Paul’s letters—we find that our citizenship is in heaven
 
NKJ Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
 
We are pilgrims—far from our heavenly home—yet so near—perhaps a few breaths away—the Old Testament words of David in the Psalms show us that this heavenly home has been known by believers for a long time
 
NKJ Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
 
What then does Jesus mean “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.”?
 
There is a place in heaven for each of the believers—the word translated as mansions means literally—permanent abiding places—and it doesn’t get any more permanent than for eternity—Jesus goes to prepare a place for us—prepare the way for us to follow—then Jesus will return to take us to heaven—He goes to prepare the Way—and send the unbelievers to eternal condemnation in hell—we call that Judgment Day
 
WHAT IS THE WAY?
TEXT:  NKJ John 14:4 "And where I go you know, and the way you know." 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 " If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."
 
The mere presence of Jesus—the victor over death—being in heaven with the Father—prepares the way for us—Jesus is our Redeemer—no one comes to the Father except through Him—Jesus stands before God—and God sees us through Christ—without Christ—none of us are worthy of salvation
 
Jesus is the only victor over the Law—the only man to defeat death—and thus He prepared the Way—note that He doesn’t say “I show you the way” like a second Moses—but “I Am the Way”—He doesn’t say “I have the truth” like a second Elijah—but “I Am the Truth”—He doesn’t say “I lead you to life” as one of the Apostles—but “I Am the Life”—there’s only one way to heaven—and that is through our Savior—Jesus Christ—one verse to explain the way to salvation is in Paul’s letter to the Romans
 
NKJ Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
 
 
 
JESUS REBUKES THE ELEVEN
 
TEXT:  NKJ John 14:8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
 
Was Philip thinking of the glory of the Lord shown to Moses on the mountain?
 
NKJ Exodus 33:17 So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name." 18 And he [ Moses] said, "Please, show me Your glory." 19 Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." 20 But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live." 21 And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 "So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. 23 "Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."
 
God said you cannot look upon My face and live—Philip apparently has faith in that Jesus the Christ could show the Father—but Philip lacks the faith to see that Jesus and the Father are one—God the Father sent Jesus—Jesus is God
 
Philip wants to look at the Father with his physical eyes—and this would be of absolutely no benefit—Philip was with Jesus when He addressed this same question with the Jews
 
NKJ John 8:19 Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."
 
How can Jesus be in the Father?  How can the Father dwell in Jesus?  This is similar to the Holy Spirit dwelling in us
 
NKJ 1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
 
The works—the Miracles that these men had seen—healings—sending out of devils and spirits—raising from the dead—calming storms—walking on water—how could any of them doubt?  These were things only God could do—Jesus and the Father are One—we and God are one in that the Holy Spirit dwells within us—the lesson to the disciples was have faith and don’t doubt—and the lesson to us today is have faith, don’t doubt—God’s grace is sufficient for us!
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!