Stan Moody:
In John 14, Jesus speaks these words to his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (v. 1).
If it were not for the 3 things that follow, it might just as well have been a familiar false teaching
about how God wants you wealthy and healthy so you will not have a troubled heart.
First, “You trust in God; trust also in me.” Second, “I go to prepare a place for you” (v. 2). Third,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life” (v. 6). Those 3 things are intended to seal the deal to being
able to still the troubled heart when the mind is out of control. Jesus gives them a new pivotal
plan – they are to love each other in His absence (13:34). “By this, all men will know that you
are my disciples, if you love one another.” Love becomes the distinguishing feature of believers
in Jesus Christ then and now.
Mind Over Heart: Belief Only About Jesus:
Judas has just left the room to get ready to betray Jesus. In him, we find a guy who believed
about Jesus but did not believe in Jesus. In fact, Judas’s belief about Jesus was so strong that he
got tired of waiting for Him to assume His role as conquering Messiah. He later hanged himself
when he found out that Jesus was, instead, demonstrating the true love of God as a suffering servant.
He missed that last sermon.
The Apostle Paul’s remedy for the troubled heart is to fix our eyes not on what is seen or rational
but on what is unseen (2 Cor 4:8). That is not about walking through the minefields of life with a
big smile on your face when you are dying inside. It is about mending broken hearts and lives.
When our minds are churning, can our hearts stay steady and focused? Within minutes of this
speech, Jesus will be grieving with drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, while His
disciples drop off to sleep. Judas couldn’t get beyond the mind stuff. When his mind took over,
his heart turned cold.
A Promise from the Maker of Promises:
Those words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled”, are words that have a qualifier that nobody
but Jesus can offer. Jesus is the speaker but also the how and the why of those words. John 14:1
is not a law; it is a promise from the only person who can make that promise. Jesus comes as
God crossing over to the tangible in recorded human history.
Jesus was imminently facing the other side of a Roman cross. On the other side was His Father.
It makes the phrase “Follow Me” more meaningful, doesn’t it? If Jesus is the way; if He is the
path to the Father, we can meet Him on the other side of the cross. Jesus invites us to follow Him
into the crucified, risen life. “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free!” (Jn 8:32).
How, then, must we live? Christianity is not some oddball philosophy or ideology. It is not even
a religion. It is not a “thing” but is embodied in the One who opted to walk in our moccasins yet
lived a sinless life. Being not just a prophet but being the “truth” shows us the difference
between believing about Jesus and believing in Jesus