The only way to get to heaven John 14:1-6
A woman accompanied her husband to the doctor’s office for his annual check-up and when it was all done the doctor asked her to step into the office alone for a minute. And as she did he closed the door and said, “Your husband is suffering from a very severe disorder and if you don’t do the following, I doubt he’ll live another year.”
And then he said, “Every morning you’re going to have to fix him a healthy breakfast and while he eats it, you’ll have to be extremely pleasant. For lunch, make him a very nutritious meal and then do the same for dinner. Don’t burden him with a lot of chores during the day and don’t discuss every little household problem with him because the stress can only make him worse. And what ever you do, don’t nag him. And if you do this for the next ten months, I believe your husband will regain his health completely.”
Well, as they got to the car her husband turned to her and said, “What did the doctor say?” And she said, “I’m sorry honey, he said you’re going to die.”
When a couple gets married there are many ways they have to celebrate the special events in their lives. For instance, he may take her out to dinner on their wedding anniversary or even on the anniversary of their first date or he may ignore these days completely. There’s no right or wrong. (At least in his mind.) And then at Christmas, either they may open their gifts on Christmas Eve or they might wait for Christmas day. And for those who do it on Christmas day may open their presents as soon as they wake up and then there are others who like to have a leisurely breakfast first and then take their time enjoying the experience.
And then at Easter, there are those who give their children enough chocolate to make them sick and then they expect them to chow down a great big meal while others just concentrate on buying all kinds of new clothes for Easter Sunday and then there are many who ignore the commercial side of Easter altogether and see Easter as a time to observe the Lord’s death and all that means to them.
And then there’s the issue of how we celebrate family member’s birthdays and while some like to throw a big party and give all kinds of gifts, there are others who just say happy birthday if they even remember it. The fact is, there is no right and wrong in any of these things. It’s how you’ve been raised or maybe even a reaction to how you’ve been raised.
In the passage we’re looking at today the disciples knew it was time to celebrate the Passover and they also knew there were certain things that had to be done to observe this particular feast while there was also some leeway at the end of the feast where they could enjoy a time of fellowship anyway they wanted to. For instance, I’m sure there were some of them who may have seen this as a time to celebrate the previous year and talk about what they hoped to do in the year to come while there might have been others who saw this as a time of devotion and prayer. In either case, the Passover was like a time of evaluation like we have at New Years when we reflect on the past and plan for the future.
And so we see in this passage that Jesus had arranged a place to have the feast and it was the disciples responsibility to go buy the lamb and get all the various types of food that were used to illustrate how the children of Israel had been delivered from Egypt because after all, that was what this feast was all about.
As I said, once the feast was observed there was no such thing as right and wrong as to what they were supposed to do afterwards and here we see where Jesus takes His time and teaches His disciples about what was going to happen, then tells them what to expect and prepares them for what was to come in terms of their home in heaven and all they had to look forward to. He also tells them that He was coming back to get them and they shouldn’t worry because He would be watching over them while He was gone.
This particular time with His disciples was so important that John actually devotes twenty per cent of his writing to this last evening of Jesus’ life.
And just before we get into this portion of the passage, I want you to see that there are seven misunderstandings that take place in these four chapters. That’s seven times when Jesus speaks and they don’t seem to understand what He’s talking about.
The first one is found in John 13:36 and 37 where Peter asks Jesus where He’s going and then promises to follow Him even if it costs him his life. And basically, I think Peter assumes that Jesus is about to fight to the death with the Roman army and he’s telling Him that he’s more than willing to stand and fight right beside Him. That’s quite a statement and knowing Peter I think we can safely assume that he meant it at the time but here we see Jesus telling Peter that when the time comes for him to stand the way he’s claiming he’s going to, he’s going to fold like a tent. And I’m sure that Peter said to himself, yeah, I’ll show you! But Peter didn’t know what Jesus was talking about.
And then in John 14:5 when Jesus tells the disciples that He’s going back where He came from and that He’s preparing a place for them we notice that Thomas says, we don’t even know where you’re going, so how can we know how to get there? And like Peter he was thinking in terms of this world and Jesus’ words didn’t make any sense whatsoever. Many think that Thomas thought Jesus was going to find a hiding place from the Jews and Romans and he says, if they can’t find you, then how are we supposed to?
And then in John 14:8 Philip asks Jesus a simple question when he says, show us the Father and that will be enough. And what sounds like a simple question actually appears somewhat absurd when you realize that no one has ever seen the Father and then second we notice that when Jesus responds He says, when you’ve seen Me you’ve seen the Father. And I’m sure that Philip thought to himself, I’m sorry I asked the question because the answer not only didn’t make any sense to him but he was probably more confused than ever about who was standing right in front of him.
And then in John 14:22 when Jesus said He would manifest Himself to those who heard and kept His word it says, then the other Judas asked Him how they could see Him when everyone else wouldn’t. And not only did he not understand that Jesus would come back to them personally after the resurrection but they also misunderstood His ability to reveal Himself to believers today.
It would be like you or I talking to a non-believer today and saying, “Well the Lord told me I wasn’t to do the very thing I wanted to do.” To another Christian that might make perfect sense but to a non-Christian we would appear to be hearing voices from the grave. And to the believers of Jesus day the things Jesus was talking about didn’t make sense to the disciples because the things that were about to happen had never happened before.
And then in John 16:17 the disciples were discussing with one another what Jesus meant when He said, “In a little while you won’t see Me and then in a little while you’ll see Me again.” And of course they were confused about how He was going to do the things He would do simply because they didn’t understand what was about to happen in terms of His death and resurrection. And again, it was the same as the previous illustration. They had nothing in their past experience that they could relate to.
And then in John 16:29 the disciples said to Him, “Now we understand you because you’re no longer speaking in proverbs.” And the problem was, they didn’t know when He was speaking in proverbs or when He wasn’t. And when they thought they understood what He was saying when He was talking about things that were about to happen the fact is they couldn’t possibly have understood what He was really talking about because they had nothing they could relate it to.
And all these things show us that the disciples were in a state of confusion when it came to hearing about what was going to happen but not really understanding any of it until it came to pass. So, the fact that they had a lot of questions shouldn’t really bother us because we can see that if any of us were in the same situation we’d be also be confused but at the same time I think we have to be amazed at the very faith the disciples showed both in the person of Jesus as well as in what He had to say.
And so we begin with this passage in John 14 and the first thing we see is:
I The promise of heaven
And in verse 1 Jesus begins by telling them, “Let not your heart be troubled.” And the natural reaction we might have in reading this is to ask ourselves, what on earth could they be troubled about? I mean, nothing happened yet. They just had a big feast and according to the other writers they were sitting around discussing their favorite subject, which was, which of them would be the greatest once the kingdom began.
If they knew that Judas was going to betray Him and that the Romans would come and arrest Jesus then we could understand why they’d be afraid but none of this was evident yet. So, what was He talking about?
Well, I think you have to see that Jesus had just washed everybody’s feet and that would have been a very humbling experience for all of them because He said that what He did for them He expected them to do for one another. And what you have to understand is that He said by doing this for one another they would be serving Him. Did you get that? They were not told to wash His feet but the feet of each other because by doing these things for each other they would actually be doing it for Him.
There are people who’ll say, “I’d do anything for Jesus” and yet they’re not really all that concerned with serving those who are around them and they’re completely missing what He said. He said, the only way to serve Me is by serving those who are right beside you. And listen, this would have been really upsetting to this crowd because remember what they had been arguing about? It was; who was the greatest among them. All they wanted was for everyone to serve them. So, Jesus was telling them, ‘don’t let your heart be troubled’ or another way of saying this would be, I don’t want you all to be upset but listen, you all have a bad attitude. And they did and they all knew it.
And then second, He warned them that there was one in their midst who was going to betray Him. And don’t forget that they were in this upper room and the only people present were just He and the twelve disciples. And as a group they had been together for the last three and a half years. And I have no doubt that they had really become close friends because they had been through both victory and rejection together and as hard as it is to imagine I think these men were like brothers in the faith and so this warning would be very upsetting for all of them.
We might have a hard time relating to this but imagine if you will what it would be like for someone here to stand up and say that they knew that there was a member of this church who was intending to kill the Pastor before the week was over. Now, I know that sounds awfully crude even to use this as an illustration but that was exactly what was happening here. Jesus was telling them that one of the twelve who had just taken part in the Passover celebration with the rest of them was going to hand Him over to the Romans government. So, He was saying, let not your heart be troubled or don’t be upset but one of you is planning to have Me killed.
And then third, add to all this that Jesus went on to say that He was going away and they couldn’t go with Him and at this point Peter would get all rattled and declare his loyalty only to have Jesus tell him that he would deny Him three times. And so, no wonder He said, “Let not your heart be troubled” because from their perspective they had every reason in the world to be troubled. After all, He just said they all had a bad attitude, one of them was going to have Him killed and Peter would run away like a little girl.
And then Jesus goes on to encourage them by telling them they need to get their eyes off this world and to focus on two things. The first one is who He is and the second one is where they are ultimately going.
Now, look at the last half of verse 1 again where He says, “Ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” We have a tendency to read right past this message but what He was saying was, in the same way you believe in God the Father I want you to believe in God the Son. In the same way you believe in the creator and sustainer of life I want you to understand that that is who is standing right in front of you.
I think that at this point His disciples would be falling apart emotionally because the very thought of Jesus not only leaving them but actually dying would have been terrifying. They had thought He was the king of the Jews who would overthrow Rome and bring them all to a position of power and influence. And I think the disciples were thinking an awful lot like Judas who wanted and expected a kingdom here and now. We see an example of this when John’s mother asked Jesus to give them the chief positions in His kingdom. We know that she wasn’t talking about a heavenly kingdom but she was thinking about an earthly Jewish kingdom. And when it says that the disciples were constantly bickering over who was to be in charge we know that they weren’t thinking about heaven but they were intending to somehow overcome Rome’s power over Israel. So, when Jesus said He was going to leave them, we need to remember that they had been identified with Him publicly, so they knew that there was always the chance that the crowds would do to them whatever they would do to Him.
And so, in the midst of their sorrows and worries Jesus comforts them. They couldn’t feel His pain but He could certainly feel theirs. And here was His comfort, in the last half of the verse He said, “Ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” He was saying, just as you believe in God even though you can’t see Him, I want you to believe in Me even though you won’t be able to see Me.
Now listen, they were already saved so He wasn’t asking them to believe in Him in terms of salvation but He was telling them to keep on trusting Him even though they wouldn’t be able to see Him. As I said, they had already believed in the Father who was invisible and now He was asking them to do the same with Him.
And then He gave them a reason to believe when He said, “In My Father’s house, there are many mansions.” This has been a passage that’s been interpreted about as many different ways as there are people. After all, we all have different tastes and expectations and when we’re told we’re going to have mansions to live in, some of us might think of the great palaces of history while there are many people in this world would be more than happy with a single room or even a really good tent. Let’s face it, it’s all relative to how you started.
There are an awful lot of different interpretations of what this verse means. There are those who have said this verse refers to palatial homes that have more rooms and conveniences than we could ever imagine and that we’ll spend all of eternity both enjoying where we live and then going to visit one another for fellowship.
And then I’ve heard others say that this verse describes a large condo style mansion where we’ll all have our own room or rooms where we can either privately or corporately enjoy all the wonders of heaven.
And then I’ve heard others say that heaven is a place where each of us will have different sizes and styles of houses depending on our own unique personality. So, I could be walking down the streets of heaven and I might see a certain person’s home and I would know who it belongs to simply because it’s an extension of who they are.
And then I’ve also heard story’s like this one: “An eighty year old man who had been saved since he was a child had died and when he was carried to the pearly gates he was greeted by Peter. Peter not only welcomed him profusely but then he said, “I’ll take you down the golden streets to your eternal home. And as Peter and this man walked down the golden streets the man was absolutely amazed as he saw the glorious mansions on every side and the more he saw the more excited he got as he thought about his home. And when they finally approached his house he saw what appeared to be a teeny little shack.
Well, he was shocked and he said to Peter, “What’s this all about? Why does everyone else have such beautiful homes and all I get is this little shack?” And Peter said, “Well, all the things you did for the Lord paid for materials to build your home and we did the best with what we had.”
A dwelling in the Old Testament era is nothing like what we think of today. When a father had a home and his son got married they build a second home attached to the father’s. And then when a second son got married they built another on to that and so on with their children and children’s children. And eventually they had a large compound that surrounded a central courtyard. And that’s the impression we have of what Jesus is talking about here. We are in a complete dwelling altogether in which our heavenly Father lives. But, at the same time I don’t think there’s any way we could possibly visualize what He has in store for us. One thing I am sure of, there won’t be any shacks there.
All the stories we hear about heaven are interesting and they may even motivate us to do more for the Lord but I don’t think there’s an awful lot of truth in any of them. You see, most of what we think of as our heavenly home is related to our homes here and Paul said, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
If we look at Jesus in His resurrected state as being what we will be like in eternity then we realize that our bodies will be different and therefore our needs or wants will certainly change as well. For instance, Jesus wasn’t bound by space in that He could enter a locked room without coming through the door and at the same time He could still eat and enjoy the physical side of life. On the other hand, He told us we would be perfect because sin and all it’s effects will be taken away. So, that’s certainly going to have an effect on the way we live.
There will be no sin, suffering or sorrow or pain and that’s why the scripture says, “All our tears will be wiped away.” There will be no temptation in our lives because the world, the flesh and the devil will all be gone. There will be no disunity, division or any kind of hated or animosity among us and we’ll enjoy peaceful fellowship like something we’ve never even dreamed of. And the goods news is, we’ll never doubt God again because we’ll know Him as He is. No wonder Paul tells us, “The eye has not seen nor has anyone even dreamed the things that God has in store for us.”
II Promise of His return
Ever since I’ve been saved there’s been a fascination with the subject of Jesus’ second coming. People have speculated about the date even though the scripture tells us not to. I remember back around 1980 there was some man who wrote a book saying that the Lord was going to come back that very year and he gave away hundreds of thousands of copies of this book.
Around that time there were always those who played tricks on their friends pretending that that the Lord had come and they were left behind. When I was in Word of Life Bible Institute there was a dorm of six guys and one of them was always difficult to get out of bed in the morning so the other five not only snuck away and went to class but they also arranged their clothes to look as though they had slipped right out of them. Let me tell you, when he finally got up he ran around like a crazy person looking for another believer because he thought that the rapture happened and he had been left behind.
Listen, this is important point to think about. When is Jesus coming? As far as we know, all the prophecies have been fulfilled and it could happen at any time. I like how Hebrews 10:37 tells us very clearly when Jesus is coming. It says, “A little while.” And I don’t think you can get any clearer than that.
So, knowing this, we don’t have to get all bent out of shape, we just have to serve Him while we wait. Through the years people have gotten all worked up about when He’s coming but the best advice I’ve ever heard was, that we should live as though He might come any moment but plan as though He might be another seven years. In either case, there is a sense of expectancy and also a sense of urgency because those who don’t believe and won’t trust Him will be left behind.
And for those of us who are ready we have a sense of excitement because when Jesus comes we will be perfect and because we will be perfect, we will experience perfect pleasure. Psalm 16:11 says, “In thy presence is fullness of joy; in Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.” This tells us that not only will there be pleasures but we’ll have the capacity to enjoy it because our nature will be purified. And I know that we can’t even imagine what this will be like but think of a man who was born blind and then not only got his sight back but was able to have his eyes opened at the very moment he could see the most beautiful sunset the world have ever known. I know this is a weak illustration but I don’t think we could possibly do justice to the concept of perfect pleasure.
But, just think with me for a minute, they tell us that the average person only uses four or five per cent of their brain and that Albert Einstein who was supposed to be the smartest human who ever lived used around eleven per cent of his. What if we all had the use of one hundred per cent of our brain’s ability? There would be no end to what we could know. And what if the same were true for our sense of smell, sight, touch and every other function of our bodies and mind? We would experience everything to the full.
And then we are told we’ll have perfect knowledge. In I Corinthians 13:11 and 12 Paul says, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass darkly: but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” And what he’s saying is that, all immaturity, all selfishness, all imperfection, and all limitations of knowledge and understanding will be gone because we’ll all be perfect in our knowledge.
And then we’ll have perfect comfort, as a matter of fact, we’ll never experience an uncomfortable moment. In Luke 16:25 Abraham says to the rich man in hell, “Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things, but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.” And don’t forget that Jesus was the one who told this story and here He says that just as one man knows nothing but agony and torture the other knows nothing but comfort.
And then we’ll have perfect love. I Corinthians 13:3 says, “Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest is love.” We will love everybody perfectly. We won’t look down on each other or question someone else’s motives but we’ll be perfected in love and that means we’ll love each other the way we should love each other and we’ll receive the same as well.
And of course we’ll have perfect joy. As the master said to the faithful slave in Matthew 25, “Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” The dominant characteristic of heaven is joy and any joy we experience in this world is merely a taste of what awaits us there. Just think about the nature of heaven this way, all the longings of our souls will be completely satisfied forever.
And to enjoy all this we’ll have a perfect body. Man, you think I look good now, you just wait until I’m perfect. No wonder John 14 is often referred to as the comfort chapter because here Jesus comforts His disciples by telling them that although He was going away that He was going to prepare a place where there was plenty of room for the rest of them.
And then He says in verse 2. “If it were not so, I would have told you.” And what He’s saying to them is, trust Me, I’m not just saying this to make you feel good, I’m saying this because it’s true and if it wasn’t true I would have told you.
I don’t think we could ever do justice when it comes to describing heaven or our capacity to enjoy it but one thing we have to keep in mind is that Jesus calls it our home.
Whenever John or Caitie come home they both head straight for the fridge and if they don’t find what they’re looking for they start opening the cupboards and hollering to their mother that there’s nothing to eat. They never ask permission and I wouldn’t expect them to, why not? Because they’re home. Home is where we go and we’re always welcome. I like as someone once said, “Home is where you go and they have to take you in.” And that’s what heaven is. It’s a place where we feel like we belong. And until we go there we all need to busy doing what we’ve been told to do while we wait to reap all the rewards associated with our heavenly home.
John MacArthur Sr. used to tell a story about a father who had dropped his little boy off at a candy store and told him to wait right on the corner and he’d be right back in twenty minutes. As the father went to run his errands his car broke down and he was stuck on the side of the road for several hours and he had no way to reach his son. He didn’t get back until about eleven o’clock that night and there was the boy rocking back and forth and whistling on the corner. The father jumped out of the car and hugged him and told him how sorry he was. The boy said, “What are you sorry for, you said you were coming back?” And that’s the kind of trust we need to have in God. Even though things might look bleak and desperate, we know He’s coming.
Listen, in verse 3 He says, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.” So, He’s not going to send an angel to get us but this tells us He’s coming back Himself to meet each and every one of us. And just give you a sense of how He feels about our coming home to heaven imagine if one of your children or even your parents were away for a real long time and they said they would be arriving at the Moncton airport at tonight at seven o’clock. Would you say, “They can get a taxi and we’ll see them whenever we have time.” No, you’d be there to meet them and Jesus says He’s going to do the same.
So, after He said all that Thomas said, we don’t know where you’re going so how can we possibly know the way? We don’t know where heaven is and we don’t know how to get to the Father. And I think he had a legitimate problem and that’s why Jesus answered him.
And Jesus responded in verse 6 by saying, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” In other words, we don’t have to know how to get there or where to go because I’m coming back for you. Have you ever gone to a strange place and asked someone for directions. They may have started to tell you where to go and how to get there but when they realized you didn’t have a clue as to what they were saying, they said, just follow me. And when it comes to our dying and going to heaven we don’t have to worry about anything because Jesus says He’ll be right there to take us to our Father’s home.
The gospel message almost sounds too good to be true and it is too good but it’s also true. There was a story that went around the news a while back about a couple by the name of Glen and Gloria Symes. They had had their taxes done by H&R Block and were automatically entered into some kind of a contest and the prize was one million dollars. There were seventeen million Americans entered into this contest. And when the draw took place Glen and Gloria received a call from H&R Block telling them that they had won the million dollars and they politely hung up and thought, that was some kind of advertisement or a way to get your credit card and they forgot all about it. A few days later H&R Block called back again but they politely told them they weren’t interested. Then they received information in the mail but they thought it was false advertisement and they threw it out. Glen just told his wife it was some kind of scam so they ignored it. They received another call from H&R Block and they hung up on them. Finally, someone from H&R Block went to visit them but they wouldn’t even let them in the door. At last, they were contacted by the Today Show and they realized that this was for real. And they received the cheque for a million dollars cn the show.
Listen, you can hear the gospel every which way possible but if you don’t receive it in faith it won’t do you a bit of good. You’ll live for yourself and die by yourself. Mark Twain once said, “The only one who likes change is a wet baby.” But change is what we need.
Close
There’s a tombstone in an English village that says,
Here lies a miser, who lived for himself,
And cared for nothing but gathering wealth.
Now where he is and how he fares,
Nobody knows and nobody cares.
What an awful way to describe someone and yet there are many who live their entire lives for themselves and sadly some of them can even claim to be believers. And let’s face it, we can all put on a good show for every one else but the Lord sees beneath our mask.
