It’s hard for me to imagine a society and country living more in denial of death than ours. Years ago, there was a news story about the relationship between Japanese doctors and their patients in Tokyo. It told us that most of the time, when a Japanese doctor is treating a patient with terminal cancer, he never tells the patient what they’re being treated for, and the patient usually doesn’t ask. A Japanese doctor told an American reporter, “Well, you have to understand that we here in Japan generally don’t believe in an afterlife, so death is a harder thing for us to accept.” I think he was giving the United States and Western people way too much credit. Ernest Becker wrote a book called The Denial of Death. He was not a Christian, but he says the reason we deny death is not an innocent one. There is a motive behind it. We don’t want to admit we’re out of control. To our culture, what makes life meaningful is choice. We always want the idea of options and to keep all our options open. The American way is nobody has a right to tell you how to dress, how to believe, how to live, what to listen to, how to think, what to do, or where to go. And that’s why we’re stymied with death because death does not negotiate. Death offers absolutely no choices.
That’s the reason the belief in reincarnation was created. It’s the reason we have so many stories in our fiction about death, like the movies Heaven Can Wait and Ghost. We want choices after death. But that’s all fiction. The reason we can’t stand the idea of death is because death is saying you must come with me. There's no choice. You can’t appeal to it. It won’t listen to arbitrators, lawyers, or doctors. It is relentless, and we can’t resist it. Even though we don't want to take the trip, death is on the horizon for all of us.
So today, the question is, what are you doing with death? It is the only reality we know about. It’s the only thing sure about your future. Death offers absolutely no choices. Thankfully, Jesus tells us how to face death without fear or regret. In our scripture today, Jesus knew death was on the horizon for him, and He knew death was on the horizon for all of his disciples and us. But Jesus also knew that beyond the horizon of death, He could still lead you home.
Bible Passage
John 14:1-6 (ESV)
1Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
2In 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?
3And 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.
4And you know the way to where I am going."
5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?"
6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Scriptural Analysis
John 14 is a continuation of Jesus' farewell teaching that began in chapter 13 after Judas’s abrupt departure from the Upper Room. Jesus has continued to say that he will die on the cross. Jesus affirms what he has said throughout his life: His death will not be a tragedy orchestrated either by men who desire to stop him or by Satan, who thinks that by using Judas as a pawn, he has foiled God’s plan, but it will be a glorious return to God the Father. Throughout these verses, we can feel how distraught the disciples must have been. They have entered Jerusalem for the last time, and Jesus is speaking clearly about his death. They are facing profound shame, disillusionment, and fear. Peter was the first to express their worry in chapter 13. Jesus now begins to provide answers to their many spoken (and unspoken) questions.
Verse 1
Jesus now begins to prepare his disciples for what lies ahead. The text immediately catches the readers’ attention, for it begins with a strong declaration. Jesus is gently telling his disciples, “Don’t allow yourself to be intimidated by the situation.” Troubled people need peace and affirmation. The problems of the disciples were as real as our problems. They are like us in the fact they are realists about the approaching darkness. As good Jews, these disciples had already trusted in God, and now Jesus asked them to trust in him. They had watched him feed five thousand people and bring Lazarus back from the dead, but now they must trust him not just for food or miracles, but with their lives. The disciples are unnerved, scared, and filled with anxiety. The command “Let not your hearts be troubled” anticipates the disorientation brought on by the grief and shock caused by Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus encourages them, encouraging them to continue believing in God and in him. Even in the hour of His own temptation and imminent torture, Jesus looked at His disciples with compassion.
Verses 2-3
Some translations use the word mansions. Because it has become infused into popular Christianity, some Christians speak about the fact that they have “an earthly mansion just over the hilltop.” Such a concept, unfortunately, supports the Western economic notion that following Jesus will lead to economic prosperity either in this life or in the life to come. God never promises us economic prosperity. He promises something more than that.
The domain of God is certainly beyond our finite thinking. The best we can do is to describe God’s domain in metaphors. That is exactly what Jesus, the agent of God, did for his bewildered disciples. The point is that God’s domain has plenty of room, and the preparation of Jesus for our entrance into that domain was through his “departure:” His death on the cross. The Gospel of John is not trying to portray Jesus as being in the construction business of building or renovating rooms. Rather, Jesus was in the business of leading people into God's presence in eternity.
The New Testament teaches us we are pilgrims and wanderers in this world. In heaven, we will be where we really belong because Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for us. To go home is the basic desire of every heart since Eden. The point is not the lavishness of a mansion, but the fact that a provision has been made, and there is more than enough space for every one of Jesus’ followers. Forget the mansions, it's about there being a space for you with your creator. When Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you,” He is not speaking generically, but specifically. Jesus is preparing a place for you specifically.
When Jesus says, "I will return," that has sparked some theological debate. Some think He's talking about the resurrection. Some think Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit. And some think He's talking about His second coming. And the answer is yes. Yes, He's talking about the resurrection because His return meant eternal life is available to us. Yes, the Holy Spirit guides us until our death and our journey home. And yes, at Jesus' second coming, he will lead us home. Jesus is saying, "I'm leaving so I can bring you home."
Verse 4
While Jesus affirms that they know where he is going, Thomas speaks up and presses for more clarification. He claims that they know neither the destination of Jesus nor the way he will take to get there. Thomas turns and says, “Lord, what are you talking about? We don’t know the way. We don’t know where you’re going, and we don’t know the way to it.” This reflects the disciples’ inability to accept and comprehend that the cross will be the way Jesus will return to the Father. But in the next verses, Jesus says, “Yes, you do.” What an interesting moment. Most of the time, Jesus is telling the disciples, “You don’t know. You think you know, but you don’t.” Here he’s saying, “You think you don’t know, but you do know, because you know me.”
Verses 5-6
Thomas’s problem was that in the metaphor of the house and the rooms, Thomas had misinterpreted the metaphor to be a statement of taking a journey. Instead, Jesus was talking about the ultimate relationship of life that humans have with God, and that has implications for their eternal destiny. Access to the Father’s presence in heaven will only be through Jesus and no other. He is the only one who can lead his followers back to the places he will prepare.
Jesus does not show us the way to the Father; rather, Jesus is the way to the Father. Just like today, back then was a world of religious pluralism, and by making an exclusive truth claim, Jesus definitely offended others. But this is precisely the truth claim we have in Christianity. Jesus does not merely point the way, he is the Way. Jesus does not just teach us the truth, he is the Truth. He does not represent one avenue to life, he is the Life. This is an exclusive claim that cannot be compromised. In a word, the human quest to be connected to their creator God ends in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the exclusive claim of Christianity about Christ is not just centered on our belief that Jesus was right about God. It is centered on our claim that God was fully present in Christ so He could reconcile the world to himself.
Jesus’ words are right because those words are God’s words. "Jesus is the way” is not superior because it promotes a higher ethic or because it champions values that resonate with our spiritual sensitivities. Jesus is the way because in him, we find God calling us to himself and calling us home.
TODAY'S KEY TRUTH
Jesus prepares the place, and He is the way, home.
Jesus and Jesus alone tells us how to face death without fear or regret. He says, “I am going there to prepare a place for you.” A place. What does he mean? What he means is that human beings need a place called home. “I go to prepare a place for you.” Jesus Christ is trying to comfort the disciples. He says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He’s trying to comfort them. Jesus knows these men are all going to suffer incredible, horrible deaths. Every one of them, except one, who’s going to die a lonely prisoner in exile. Jesus knows they’re going to be sawed in half. He knows they’re going to be impaled on stakes while they’re still alive and covered with pitch and lit on fire. He knows they’re going to be tied to wild animals, and the animals set off in two different directions, ripping their limbs out. He knows they will be crucified. He wants to comfort them. So whatever he has to comfort them with better be pretty good stuff, don't you think? He does, and it's the same words that should comfort us: You have a home with me.
What is a home? It's more than a house or a building. It’s more than geography. Not less, it's more. A home is a place you belong. A home is a place where you’re totally accepted. A home is a place where you are your best self. Home is a place where the sights and the sounds and the smells, and the colors fit. What is a home? It’s an open door. It's a place you’re expected and wanted. It's a place where supper is ready, and everyone in the room rises up in delight and joy to greet you. It's the place your heart and soul constantly desire to be. That's Home.
It's built in us that we need that place. We need that home. Therefore, Jesus Christ is able to come to these men and say, “You’re going to face the most incredible suffering, the most incredible troubles, but I have the hope you need. I have what you need to overcome these troubles. I have the place, the one you’ve been looking for, and I am preparing it for you. I can take you home."
We all need that place. Jesus says you’ll be wandering around pursuing cheap imitations until you realize you need Him to get home. Jesus is saying that in Him, the wandering is over. He is the key home.
I don’t know what you think about heaven, but let me tell you some of the biblical thoughts. It’s a place where you eat. It’s a place where you love. It’s a place where you laugh. It’s a place where you learn. There’s a concreteness about it. The Father’s house contains the new heavens and the new earth. The metaphors in the Bile give us just a glimpse. If this world, with all of its seas and canyons and valleys and peaks, with all of its glory and all of its beauty, is the kind of world God gives to people who chose to be his enemies, what do you think he’s going to give to people who are his friends?
Jesus prepares the place, and He is the way, home.
Conclusion
How can you face troubles? How can you face death? True Christianity never minimizes problems. It never says, “Oh, in every cloud, there’s a silver lining. Things could always be worse.” Christianity never minimizes your trouble. Christianity says, “The evil and death you face is very real, and there’s only one possible way to deal with it: If you believe this truth called Jesus.” Do you believe that Jesus Christ was God, that he died for your sins? That by the cross he defeated sin, then he rose triumphant over death, that he passed into the heavens, and now he’s seated before the Father and preparing a place for you? If you believe that, then there’s comfort and peace. That's how you face troubles and death. If you don’t believe that, you’re stuck. You’re trapped in this life. All the happiness you’ll ever know has to be in this life. You’re trapped here. If anything goes wrong with your life, this is all you have. If this life is it, and something destroys your health, or destroys your wealth, or destroys your happiness, your life is wasted.
But if you believe there's more than just this life, the Bible says you need somebody to come into the Father’s house and unlock the door from the inside. That's Jesus.
Jesus prepares the place, and He is the way, home.
Many people believe that the trouble with Christianity is that "I’m a passionate, lusty, and driven person, and I’m afraid Christianity & reaching toward Heaven is just too weak and lifeless for me.” The problem, the Bible says, is that your lust for love and joy and glory is not too strong; it’s too weak. Here, we are messing around with material possessions, driven ambitions, sex, and temporary happiness when infinite glory and eternal life are offered to us. Everything is changed when ask God to give you a desire for real joy. If you've not embraced Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, then ask God to give you a desire for real joy because right now, you don’t have it. Just like a park is a lovely place to walk, but it’s a lousy place to live. When people have to live in there, it ruins it, because it’s not home. Your work, your relationships, your money, your success, your possessions, they’re not your home. You'll always be wandering and never settled. You can’t live there forever because death will find you.
So yes, there’s an eternal home, and yes, it’s in Heaven. But the road to it is through hell. Not for you, though. Jesus says twice, ‘I go to prepare a place for you.’ This right before He’s about to die.‘I’m going to secure a place for you.’ Jesus is going into the horizon of death, a horribly painful and brutal death, to prepare the place for you.
Why does Jesus have to die to do that? I’ll tell you why. Adam, Eve, and all of us are the reason. Adam and Eve, just like us, turned away from God. Adam and Eve, just like us, want to be their own saviors, their own lords, their own masters, and turned away from God. What was their punishment and ours? They were kicked out of Eden. They became homeless wanderers. The natural consequence, the natural, and right punishment for sin, is homelessness. And that’s what Jesus took on. Jesus says foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head. Jesus became a wanderer. He became homeless. And when He died, He was crucified outside the gate, outside His home. He took the exile. He who knew no sin became sin so Adam and Eve, and you and I could go home.
Jesus prepares the place, and He is the way, home.
What is thought to be the worst thing that can happen to you on this earth, is actually the best thing. What is thought to be the darkest thing that could happen to you, which means you get killed, or you die, is actually the most glorious thing. The Great Chicago preacher, Dwight Moody, when he was dying, said, "Pretty soon you’re going to read in the newspapers that Dwight Moody is dead. Don’t believe it, I’ll be more alive than I’ve ever been." You see, what Jesus is saying here is that when you die, you do not leave the light and go into the horizon of darkness. No, when you die, you can leave this dark world and go into the light and love of eternity called Heaven, which is home.
Jesus prepares the place, and He is the way, home.