Revealing the Way
John 13:36-14:8
The hospital hallway felt heavy with grief. Paul had just spent time at the bedside of a woman he'd been meeting with for six months, a believer whose cancer had finally won its earthly battle. Her family gathered around as Paul shared words from Scripture, reassurance about the resurrection. And even though they could all see the confidence written across her tired face, even though she whispered her eagerness to meet her Lord and Saviour, they were still in deep grief.
As they stepped out of the ward, the husband pulled Paul aside and asked the question that haunts us all: "Do you think I'm ever going to see her again?"
After decades of life shared together, suddenly she's gone. Suddenly he's alone. Will they ever be together again?
What Do You Say in That Moment?
Standing in that hospital hallway, Paul said: "Mate, we've just heard Jesus make promises to us. Not just to your wife, to us as well. He's gone through death and risen to heaven, and He asks us to trust Him. To trust Him with our life and especially with our death. Will you do that, brother? Do you believe that?"
Do you believe that?
Because that question is for all of us. Will you trust Jesus with your life and death?
God knows the state of our hearts. He knows we're troubled. He knows if they're at peace or somewhere in between. And He's saying: "Dear friend, you don't need to carry that burden. I've prepared a place for you to be with me in a perfect eternity where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain."
Finally home.
The Night Before Everything Changed
John 13:36-14:7 shows us the night before Jesus will be crucified. The shroud of death hangs over the entire conversation. Jesus is making it clear He has to leave His disciples, and for them, that's deeply unsettling.
"Simon Peter asked him, 'Lord, where are you going?' Jesus replied, 'Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.' Peter asked, 'Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you'" (13:36-37).
Peter and the disciples have left everything for Jesus. Their livelihoods, their work, their families. They've been commended for their commitment. But now they're being told they have to let Him go. The confusion is real.
But notice something crucial: Jesus isn't rejecting their relationship. He's not abandoning them. He's about to go do a job, a job only He can do.
"Then Jesus answered, 'Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times'" (13:38).
Peter's bravado is premature. When the heat comes, he'll deny Jesus three times. But more importantly, Peter's got it profoundly wrong. He needs Jesus to lay down His life for him, not the other way around.
Four Promises That Change Everything
With farewell looming, Jesus launches into His final words to His friends.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me" (14:1).
Think about that. Jesus knows what's coming. He'll be crucified the next day. Yet He's telling others not to be troubled. The anxiety they feel in the face of death will produce a type of heart trouble no doctor on earth can cure. Even a transplant won't help. Only the divine physician can cure this kind of heart trouble.
So what does Jesus want them to believe? His promises. His word. Four specific promises about death.
1: Jesus Will Be Our Forerunner
"My Father's house has many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?" (14:2).
Jesus isn't dropping His disciples forever. He's saving them. And He's not preparing a room like we'd expect: straightening sheets, folding towels, putting chocolate on the pillow.
The way He prepares a room for us is by His going.
By His dying, He'll be lifted up and take upon Himself the sins of the world. By His rising, He'll defeat death and make resurrection available to everyone. That's how heaven's door gets opened. No other way. That's how your room is being prepared, once and for all.
It's a good thing He's going. More than that, it's necessary.
2: Jesus Will Lead Us There
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am" (14:3).
Having gone to prepare a place, He doesn't abandon us to find our own way there. We don't have to enter the labyrinth of death alone. Jesus is going to come back and lead us. No getting lost on the way.
Jesus is referring to when He comes back at the end of history to gather all His people and usher them into heaven. But at the same time, this verse is so lovely, personal, and intimate in its promise.
Could this be nothing less than the personal coming of Jesus to each of His people at the time of their death? "I go to prepare a place for you. I'll come back and take you to be with me."
If that doesn't calm your troubled heart, what will?
3: Jesus IS the Destination
"I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am" (14:3).
Whatever you think of heaven, you need to think of Jesus. Otherwise you haven't got heaven.
Notice how personal this is. "I, Jesus, will come back and take you [put your name there] to be with me, Jesus, that you [put your name there] also may be where I am, where Jesus is."
He wants me to be with Him forever. He's not fussy. He'll take anybody, even you, even me. And He wants us especially when we're not loveable. He died when we were still enemies.
Heaven is about a person first before it's about a place.
John Piper challenges our view of heaven with this sharp thought: "If you can be content with a picture of heaven where Jesus is not present, you're probably not a Christian."
We're quick to associate heaven with all the pleasures: no sadness, sickness, pain, all good things in abundance. But we can focus on that and forget that first, heaven is about a relationship with Jesus.
Heaven actually begins already. It begins now. Eternal life begins now with a relationship with Jesus. And heaven is just continuing that relationship in a better place.
4: Jesus Is the Only Way
"You know the way to the place where I am going," Jesus said. But Thomas replied, "Lord, we don't know where you're going, so how can we know the way?" (14:4-5).
His question provokes the clearest and most challenging word Jesus probably says in the New Testament:
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" (14:6).
Did He really say that? If you've been a Christian for a while, you might be familiar with this claim. But drop it into a conversation outside church, and you'll realise just how offensive these words are.
He's not saying He's a way. He's saying He IS the way.
Jesus sets Himself apart. He's the only way. He's also the only truth, from all the philosophies and religions that make truth claims. And He's the life, if you try to live life without Jesus, you're one of the walking dead. True life is only found in Jesus.
In case we haven't fully understood, Jesus tightens the claim by saying it negatively: "No one comes to the Father except through me."
It's thoroughly exclusive. At first glance, it seems arrogant. But it's only arrogant if these words come from the mouth of a mere human being. If the one speaking is the Son of God, it makes perfect sense.
There is a Way
In a time when we're spoiled for choice, people complain that only one option is available. But we're an ungrateful bunch. If there were ten ways, we'd probably complain there wasn't eleven.
But think about this: Jesus could have said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father. Full stop."
Just imagine. Heaven's door shut. Jesus could have said that.
But then He adds those wonderful three words: "except through me."
Where Is Your Heart Now?
The key question is: Where do we place our trust during troubled times?
When facing anxiety, uncertainty, or difficult circumstances, these verses invite you to turn your eyes to God. Not denying your troubles, recognising they're there, but choosing to anchor yourself in something beyond the immediate crisis.
When you're in the storm, God knows.
Jesus urges us to believe. That means actively choosing to follow Him, especially when our hearts are troubled. Deliberately reminding ourselves of God's character, His faithfulness in the past, His promises for our future.
Where does your security lie? Not in health, career, cleverness, or bank balance.
Your ultimate confidence has to be in Jesus.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, Jesus says. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
Soul Revival Church gathers across the Sutherland Shire [Kirrawee, Yarrawarrah, Miranda, Cronulla] and Ryde.