Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled!

"Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" John 14:27.

During Christ's last meal with His disciples, just before retiring to Gethsemane where he would be betrayed and taken into custody before His crucifixion, Jesus had much to share with His disciples. He had just revealed that one of them would betray Him, then He said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him."

And He continued, "I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Peter asked Him, "Lord, where are You going?"

Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward."

Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake."

Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times" John 13:31-38.

The disciples where anxious. Jesus had just revealed to them that one of them would betray Him, He would be leaving them, and that Peter would deny Him. In addition, Jesus for some weeks had been telling His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and be killed, and that He would be raised from the dead after the third day (Matthew 16:21-23).

In spite of all this bad news, Christ's words to His disciples were full of hope. Jesus knew that His time was short and that His disciples would be assailed by the enemy. The enemy's craft is most successful against those who are depressed by difficulties. Therefore Jesus pointed His disciples away from "The things which are seen," to "the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" 2 Corinthians. 4:18.

Jesus pointed His Disciples to eternal realities. He said to them, "Set your troubled hearts at rest. Trust in God always; trust also in Me. There are many dwelling places in my Fathers house… I am going there on purpose 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, so that where I am you may be also; and my way there is known to you."

Thomas said to Jesus, "Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

Jesus replied, "I am the way, I am the truth and I am life; no one comes to the Father except by Me. If you knew Me you would know My Father too. From now on you know Him; you have seen Him."

Philip said to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father."

Jesus answered, "Have I been all this time with you, Philip, and you still do not know me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father… Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? I am not myself the source of the words I speak to you; it is the Father who dwells in me doing His own work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or else accept the evidence of the deeds themselves" John 14:1-12, NEB.

Jesus and the Father are One, and He invites us into that relationship. In His prayer to His Father before the crucifixion, He said, "I pray… for those also who … put their faith in Me; may they all be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so also may they be in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You gave Me I have given to them, that they may be one, as we are One; I in them and You in Me, may they be perfectly one. Then the world will learn that You sent Me, and that You love them as You love Me" John 17:20-23, NEB.

"Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." God the Father and Jesus Christ love you!