Home

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 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? 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. -- John 14:1-3

Heaven would be hell to me without Christ. —Thomas Goodwin

*****

John 14 opens on the final night before Christ's crucifixion as Jesus shares one last Passover meal with His disciples. The disciples, anticipating that Christ was about to establish an earthly kingdom, began to argue (again) over who should be the greatest in the kingdom. And Jesus responded to their show of pride by washing their feet, including the feet of His betrayer, Judas Iscariot (John 13). On this last night, Jesus also instituted the Lord's Supper that we observe in His remembrance to this day.

Meanwhile, the plans of the chief priests were finally beginning to take shape. They were seeking an opportunity to arrest Jesus privately and Judas agreed to help them, but for a price. This man Judas, this son of perdition who walked with Jesus for three years, this man who saw the wonderful character and nature of Christ, this man who had a front-row seat to witness the miracles of Christ, this man who was given the privilege of walking with God incarnate betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver. But in the end, Judas sold his own soul as well.

In the meantime, back in the upper room, Jesus was busy ministering to His disciples. Even though He knew those same disciples would soon abandon Him. And even though He knew the chief priests would soon come for Him like a pack of wolves. This is worth taking note. It is not typical for someone who is in great distress and pain to think of others. In fact, pain has a way of causing us to focus on self all the more. But that was not true of Christ. In His darkest hour He comforted others. And the same comfort and grace that He extended to the disciples, He extends to us as well.

The disciples did not really understand the trials that awaited them. But Christ comforted, strengthened, and prayed for them nevertheless. And I will say it again, that same comfort is extended to every believer. We do not know all of the trials that await us either. Even at this moment, many Christians are facing trials of every sort. It has been said that Christians are in one of three places: in a storm, coming out of a storm, or about to go into a storm. And Christ speaks the same words of comfort to us that He spoke to the disciples on that night -- Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

In the coming chapters of John's Gospel, Jesus will say many things to comfort and encourage believers with troubled hearts. But this week, I will focus on just one thought -- home. Jesus reassured every believer that He has gone to prepare a place for us in the Father's house, and that place is our real home.

Exile

There are over six billion people on the planet, and not everyone is fortunate enough to have a place to call home. If you're reading this, you are probably one of the fortunate ones. And, as the saying goes, "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home." At best, home is the place where we feel safe, comfortable, and at ease. It is also the place where we find rest. But even more than that, home is an idea, and in many ways, it is an unattainable idea.

We live east of Eden and mankind lives in exile from the Garden of God. We have been banished from His presence and the way is closed and guarded by an angel who wields a flaming sword (Genesis 3:24). Because of sin, mankind was evicted from the Garden, from the presence of God, from true rest and from our true home. It has been said that this collective memory of exile is stamped on every soul.

Because of this, even if we are fortunate enough to have a place to call home, we do not always feel completely at ease, nor do we feel completely at rest. In fact, home can be a place of turmoil and unrest. At best, there is always something that needs to be done, something out of place, or something in disrepair. Things are never ideal. At worst, home can be place of stress and strife between family members. It can be a place where we stare up at the ceiling during the night as we eat the bread of anxious turmoil. Life is always disjointed in some way. Whatever home we have, it is just the best we can do. It is our imperfect refuge from a troubled world. But even the best home this world has to offer will not save us from a troubled heart. Where do we find rest when the trouble is in our own soul?

It is into the troubled soul that Jesus speaks -- In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33). Furthermore, He promised to go and prepare a place for us, our true home that no one can take away.

I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same. -- C.S. Lewis

In reality, Christians are pilgrims and sojourners in this life, and this world is not our true home (1 Peter 2:11). The patriarchs rejoiced in their pilgrim status, and we are admonished to do the same. They looked beyond this world to a city whose builder and maker is God.

For he [Abraham] was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God...

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. -- Hebrews 11:10, 13-16

If that sounds like a trite cliché, it is because so few of us who profess Christ really believe it. We have invested everything we have and everything we are in this life. As a result, we have no true longing or anticipatory joy for heaven, our true home, and that is tragic. How is it that we often invest all of our hopes in the empty promises of this broken world when Christ has promised eternal joy?

Ironically, because we are guilty of seeing our fleeting time in this broken world as more important than eternity, our joys in this life are also diminished. C. S. Lewis said, "Aim for heaven, and you get earth thrown in. Aim for earth, and you get neither."

Two Cities

I'm always amazed when I drive on the freeway past a big city. The tall buildings and bright lights are always an impressive sight. But when I get off the freeway, the picture is very different. I see litter in the streets, crime, homelessness, broken people and broken lives; and this is the best that man can do.

It is just a reminder that, upon closer inspection, the City of Man has an impressive veneer, but underneath it is badly broken and increasingly dark. In stark contrast, the City of God grows increasingly bright and glorious because of the person and work of Christ. It reminds me that Christ has gone to prepare a place for us, the true Shining City on a hill. A place where God, the fountainhead of all joy, will dwell in the midst of His people in unbroken fellowship forever.

In Christ, we find rest for our souls and we find our true home. Paradise lost becomes Paradise found. The angel puts away his flaming sword, and the veil in the temple is torn in two. What we lost in the first Adam is abundantly restored in Christ, the last Adam. Christ has gone to prepare a place for His people, there will be no more sorrow or death, and He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. The exile will be over and we will be home at last. Knowing that my eternal future is secure in Christ gives me unspeakable joy in this life, and great comfort when my heart is troubled and the storm rages...

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found;

Dressed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand,

All other ground is sinking sand.

*****

Holy Ground

I was so taken with J.C. Ryle's introduction to John 13, I'm going to post it in its entirety. The only thing I will add are a few contextual reminders.

As we have already noted, John 1-12 is largely an account of Christ's three-years of public ministry. When we reach chapter 13, there is yet another shift in John's narrative in that the next four chapters (13-17) take place on the final night before the Crucifixion. We will see how Jesus selflessly ministered to His disciples even as He agonized over what awaited Him; that He would soon drink the cup of God's wrath and atone for the sins of many.

His hour had finally come, and He would willingly take up His cross for the the joy that was set before Him. All of history was aligned to bring about this moment. Judas had made a deal to betray Christ, The chief priests finally had a way to arrest Jesus privately, there was a rapid shift in public opinion -- and all of this was according to the predetermined sovereign will of God.

*****

The passage we have now read begins one of the most interesting portions of John's Gospel. For five consecutive chapters we find the Evangelist recording matters which are not mentioned by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We can never be thankful enough that the Holy Ghost has caused them to be written for our learning! In every age the contents of these chapters have been justly regarded as one of the most precious parts of the Bible. They have been the meat and drink, the strength and comfort of all true-hearted Christians. Let us ever approach them with peculiar reverence. The place whereon we stand is holy ground.

We learn, for one thing, from these verses, what patient and continuing love there is in Christ's heart towards His people. It is written that "having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." Knowing perfectly well that they were about to forsake Him shamefully in a very few hours, in full view of their approaching display of weakness and infirmity, our blessed Master did not cease to have loving thoughts of His disciples. He was not weary of them: He loved them to the last.

The love of Christ to sinners is the very essence and marrow of the Gospel. That He should love us at all, and care for our souls,—that He should love us before we love Him, or even know anything about Him,—that He should love us so much as to come into the world to save us, take our nature on Him, bear our sins, and die for us on the cross,—all this is wonderful indeed! It is a kind of love to which there is nothing like among men. The narrow selfishness of human nature cannot fully comprehend it. It is one of those things which even the angels of God "desire to look into." It is a truth which Christian preachers and teachers should proclaim incessantly, and never be weary of proclaiming.

But the love of Christ to saints is no less wonderful, in its way, than His love to sinners, though far less considered. That He should bear with all their countless infirmities from grace to glory,—that He should never be tired of their endless inconsistencies and petty provocations,—that He should go on forgiving and forgetting incessantly, and never be provoked to cast them off and give them up,—all this is marvelous indeed! No mother watching over the waywardness of her feeble babe, in the days of its infancy, has her patience so thoroughly tried, as the patience of Christ is tried by Christians. Yet His longsuffering is infinite. His compassions are a well that is never exhausted. His love is "a love that passeth knowledge."

Let no man be afraid of beginning with Christ, if he desires to be saved. The chief of sinners may come to Him with boldness, and trust Him for pardon with confidence. This loving Savior is One who delights to "receive sinners." (Luke 15:2.) Let no man be afraid of going on with Christ after he has once come to Him and believed. Let him not fancy that Christ will cast him off because of failures, and dismiss him into his former hopelessness on account of infirmities. Such thoughts are entirely unwarranted by anything in the Scriptures. Jesus will never reject any servant because of feeble service and weak performance. Those whom He receives He always keeps. Those whom He loves at first He loves at last. His promise shall never be broken, and it is for saints as well as sinners: "Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37.)

We learn, for another thing, from these verses, what deep corruption may sometimes be found in the heart of a great professor of religion. It is written that "the devil put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Christ."

This Judas, we must always remember, was one of the twelve Apostles. He had been chosen by Christ Himself, at the same time with Peter, James, John, and their companions. For three years he had walked in Christ's society, had seen His miracles, had heard His preaching, had experienced many proofs of His loving-kindness. He had even preached himself and wrought miracles in Christ's name; and when our Lord sent out His disciples two and two, Judas Iscariot no doubt must have been one of some couple that was sent. Yet here we see this very man possessed by the devil, and rushing headlong to destruction.

On all the coasts of England there is not such a beacon to warn sailors of danger as Judas Iscariot is to warn Christians. He shows us what length a man may go in religious profession, and yet turn out a rotten hypocrite at last, and prove never to have been converted. He shows us the uselessness of the highest privileges, unless we have a heart to value them and turn them to good account. Privileges alone without grace save nobody, and will only make hell deeper. He shows us the uselessness of mere head-knowledge. To know things with our brains, and be able to talk and preach and speak to others, is no proof that our own feet are in the way of peace. These are terrible lessons: but they are true.

Let us never be surprised if we see hypocrisy and false profession among Christians in modern days. There is nothing new in it, nothing peculiar, nothing that did not happen even among Christ's own immediate followers, and under Christ's own eyes. Bad money is a strong proof that there is good coin somewhere. Hypocrisy is a strong indirect evidence that there is such a thing as true religion.

Above all, let us pray daily that our own Christianity may at any rate be genuine, sincere, real and true. Our faith may be feeble, our hope dim, our knowledge small, our failures frequent, our faults many. But at all events let us be real, and true. Let us be able to say with poor, weak, erring Peter, "Thou, Lord, who knowest all things, knowest that I love Thee." (John 21:17.) -- J.C. Ryle

The Faint Echo of Heaven

The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust in them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through was a longing. … For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.

-- C.S. Lewis

Review: The Big Picture 2 (John 1-12)

(Note: This week, after reading 12 chapters in John, we are going to do another review. Because we have already reviewed chapters 1-6, one might expect that we would only review chapters 7-12. However, this week we are actually going to review chapters 1-12 with a quick flyover. As I have mentioned before, part of what I hope to accomplish during this study is to get the "Big Picture". Once we have a picture of the forest, we will be better able to appreciate the trees. Although this is a review, we will also cover some new ground as well.)

As we have already noted, the opening prologue of John starts in eternity past and it hearkens back to the first chapter of Genesis with the phrase, "In the beginning…" Then we quickly move from eternity past to the Incarnation.

After John's prologue, chapters 1-12 is an overview of Christ's three years of public ministry. The first miracle Jesus performed was turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana (John 2:11). This verse alone should put to rest all of the apocryphal stories from the Gnostic Gospels that claim Jesus performed miracles as a child. The Bible is largely silent about Christ's childhood.

Although there is nothing in John's Gospel about the childhood of Christ, there is a brief vignette in Luke's Gospel about Jesus at the age of 12, and it is the only Biblical account we have of Christ's childhood. It is also significant that we find Him in the Temple.

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress." And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. -- Luke 2:41-52

Roughly eighteen-years later, we find Christ in the temple once again, this time not as a child, but as Israel's Messiah who had come to cleanse the temple (Malachi 3:1). Jesus, God incarnate, came and tabernacled among us, this time not in a tent, or a temple, but in the flesh (John 1:14). But more on that in a moment.

It is interesting to note that the only other prophet to transform water was Moses -- and he transformed water into blood as a sign of judgment. In contrast, Christ transformed water into wine as a sign of grace.

For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. -- John 1:16-17

The Law came through Moses. Although the Law is good, it is unable to save and brings death. But grace and truth came through Christ. Christ affirms the righteous standard of the Law (Matthew 5:17-18), and with the truth of the Law and its demands, He also brings saving grace and the forgiveness that we desperately need (Romans 3:20, Galatians 3:10-14).

Seven Signs

Although these were not the only miracles performed by Christ, there are seven signs highlighted in John's Gospel:

• Water to wine (John 2:1-12)
• Healed Nobleman's son (John 4:46-54)
• Healed a paralytic on the Sabbath (John 5:1-17)
• Fed 5,000 (John 6:1-14)
• Walked on Water and calmed the storm (John 6:15-21)
• Healed a blind man on the Sabbath (John 9:1-41)
• Raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:17-45)

Notice there seems to be an escalation in the miracles recorded by John, with the most dramatic miracle being the very public act of Raising Lazarus from the dead.

In addition to these miraculous signs, Jesus made some weighty claims that pointed us back to the Old Testament as well. John's Gospel demonstrates how the powerful imagery of the Old Testament foreshadowed Christ. So far we have seen that Jesus is:

• God and Creator (John 1:1-3, 14)
• The true Lamb of God (John 1:29)
• Jacobs ladder (Gen 28:12, John 1:51)
• The true temple (John 2:19-21)
• Salvation in the wilderness (Num 21:7-9, John 3:14)
• The Light of Truth (Psalm 119:105, Prov 6:23, John 1:4-9, 3:19, John 8:12)
• Living Water (Jeremiah 2:12-13, John 4:10, John 7:37-39)
• The true Bread from Heaven (John 6:33-35)
• The Good Shepherd (Psalm 23, John 10:1-16)

Jesus also made several "I AM" statements, thus affirming His divinity (there will be more I AM statements to come in later chapters).

• I AM the bread of life (John 6:35)
• I AM the light of the world (John 8:12)
• Before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58)
• I AM the door of the sheep (John 10:7)
• I AM the Good Shepherd (John 10:11)
• I AM the resurrection and the life (John 11:25)

Through the Veil

Getting back to the temple, although some scholar's will disagree on this point, a plain reading of Scripture indicates that Christ cleansed the temple twice, once at the beginning of His public ministry, and once at the end of His ministry; the same week of His crucifixion. If that is the case (and I believe it is), this would indicate that Christ book-ended His public ministry by the cleansing of the temple at the beginning and at the end of His public ministry, indicating completion. Furthermore, with His death, the veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51), indicating that the days of temple sacrifice were over -- the true lamb and the true temple had come. The veil that separated man from the holiest place in the temple, the very presence of God in the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26:33, Leviticus 16:2), was torn in two at the death of Christ.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, -- Hebrews 10:19-20

Because of the death and resurrection of Christ, we have been clothed in His righteousness and made priests with full access to God. Consequently, God's presence is no longer to be found in a temple made with hands, but rather, He dwells in each believer by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. The people of God are now His temple and dwelling place.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. -- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. -- 1 Peter 2:4-5

I Have Come To This Hour

"Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. -- John 12:27

As chapter 12 begins, we have turned a corner in John's narrative. It is six days before the Passover, and six days before the crucifixion of Christ. What Moses foretold, and what the Passover Lamb foreshadowed, is about to be fulfilled.

No doubt the air was electric. There was something different about this Passover and everyone knew it. Jesus had been ministering and preaching for three years, and His confrontations with the religious authorities had come to a boiling point. They tried to kill or arrest Jesus on many occasions, but Christ had always eluded them, skillfully picking and choosing his public confrontations, then dropping from sight, because His hour had not yet come.

The Pharisees, having lost every confrontation, grew tired of being exposed by Christ, and they were jealous of His popularity. They continued to conspire behind the scenes to privately arrest Jesus and put Him to death. Because of this open hostility, the region was abuzz with people wondering if Jesus would even show up in Jerusalem for the Passover.

They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?" Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him. -- John 11:56-57

Meanwhile, in the evening, Jesus lodged in Bethany, a small town less than two miles from Jerusalem. This was the same small town that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus called home. It was during His stay in Bethany when Mary anointed Jesus with an alabaster flask of perfume. This was done in preparation for His for burial. His hour had finally come, and Jesus knew what awaited Him in Jerusalem.

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." -- Matthew 20:17-19

Although Mary (who loved to sit at the feet of Jesus) seemed to understand that Christ was going to Jerusalem to lay down His life, His disciples failed to comprehend what was about to take place. They still had the misguided notion that Jesus was about to establish an earthly kingdom, even though Christ repeatedly told them that He was going to Jerusalem to die.

*****

Upon the arrival of Palm Sunday, the Pharisees would no longer need to wonder concerning the whereabouts of Christ. They would find Him entering Jerusalem on a donkey's colt, surrounded by a massive crowd of people waving palm branches and shouting "Hosanna!". Jesus had officially presented Himself to the nation as their King and Messiah, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. -- Zechariah 9:9

According to ancient customs, when a king rode into town on a donkey, it was to signify that he came in peace, not to make war. And Jesus had come to make peace between God and man. Some scholars estimate, that Jesus drew a crowd of more than 200,000 people. Whatever the size of the crowd, the religious leaders were greatly troubled by this scene.

So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him." -- John 12:19

The Pharisees would need to wait for a more opportune time to arrest Jesus because they feared the crowd (and for good reason). But the mob is fickle, and the cheers would not last. Much of the crowd had the same misguided notion that the disciples had. They also thought that Jesus had come to throw off the yoke of Rome and usher in a new golden age for the nation of Israel. They failed to understand their deepest need, and they failed to understand that Jesus came to accomplish something far greater than establishing an earthly kingdom. Once they realized that Jesus did not come to meet their earthly expectations, just like Judas, the mob would turn on Him, and the Pharisees would finally have the opportunity they were looking for.