Just a few days before His death, Jesus, knowing that His disciples’ faith would be shaken, prepared them for His departure. Jesus must give Himself as a sacrificial offering (John 1:29) to provide forgiveness of sin (Eph 1:7). Jesus knew that His death was not the end, but that He would rise from the dead in order to give eternal life to His disciples (John 3:16). This Easter morning, let us hear Jesus’ words of comfort and “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
The disciples were troubled. They had spent three years with Jesus. They had seen Him walk on water, heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, etc. They knew He was the Messiah and they couldn’t understand Him when He spoke of leaving them (John 13:31-38). They considered it inconceivable that He would die (John 12:27-36) and they could not comprehend life without Him. Jesus assured them that even though He will physically leave them, He will never spiritually leave them; and one day soon they will physically see Him again. He even stressed that it is better for Him to leave because He will send them the Holy Spirit (John 16:7) to comfort them. Jesus wants their sorrow to turn to joy (John 16:20) and He tells them, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John 14:1a). Jesus wants them to intentionally and deliberately fight against the anxiety that seeks to consume them. They must refuse to give into fear, worry, and doubt.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
How do the disciples refuse to give into the fear? Fear does not come from without, but from within. External forces can provoke fear within you, but Christians are enabled by the Holy Spirit to be self-controlled in all situations. Jesus told His disciples that they should not be anxious, but “you believe in God, believe also in Me” (John 14:1). In Psalm 42, the sons of Korah provide a blueprint for fighting against anxiety and fear. First, they address their own soul, saying: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me” (Ps 42:5a). In other words, ask yourself, “Why am I so fearful and anxious?” Martin Lloyd-Jones remarked, “Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?” Then remind yourself: “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance” (Ps 42:5b). Dane Ortland adds, “The Psalms guide us into learning how to talk to ourselves–rebuking the hope-sucking discouragements that tend to torpedo our emotional buoyancy. How? Not through self-help pep talks…rather through remembering who God is.” We can refuse to be fearful and frightened through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13).
Heading towards Heaven
Jesus told His disciples to believe in Him and then He gave them remarkable news. Jesus said to them, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know” (John 14:2-4). Jesus made these remarkable truth claims: 1) He leaves to prepare a place for us to dwell, 2) When He is finished, He will come back for us, and 3) We will dwell with Him forever. Jesus’ disciples are heading towards their heavenly home. Peter tells us “we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). Thomas asked, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” (John 14:5). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
Jesus is the Way
Jesus is the only way to the Father. Many people view getting into Heaven the same way they treat cooking Chili. It’s been said that cooking Chili is one of “the most blissfully inexact dishes in the world. You’re basically just dumping some stuff into a pot and letting it bubble for a while.” Numerous “Simple and Easy” recipes abound. If you were to ask many people today about how to get into heaven; you will hear “Simple and Easy” responses such as “do your best” and try to be a “good person.” Getting to our heavenly home is anything but inexact, it can only be accessed through Jesus Christ (the only way to get eternal life). Peter said, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Jesus is the Truth
Jesus is the only fountain of truth. No one can really know the truth until they know the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord because He is the truth. Christians, we must never cede the moral high ground to those who deny Jesus Christ, do not have the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:27), and reject the Bible as the source of truth (Rom 10:17). All truth that the world knows is made possible by the grace of God. Satan is a liar (John 8:44) and He has blinded the world (2 Cor 4:4). Unbelievers “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18). The ungodly, worldly culture around us lies to us everyday and Christians must fight against it with Christ and put on the whole armor of God (Eph 6:10-18).
Jesus is the Life
Jesus is the only source of eternal life. You are going to die. It’s going to happen. If you are over 70, you are more keenly aware of this than others. If you are under 30, however, the thought rarely crosses your mind. Different people respond to this fact in different ways. Some people become paralyzed by it. They live in fear of the future and live life in paranoid terror. Some people refuse to think about it for more than 2 seconds at a time. They think that if they avoid thinking about it, it might not happen. For these people, death is terrifying because it means the end of what they know. Christians, however, have made peace with their upcoming death because they have found peace with the conqueror of death (1 Cor 15:26). We know Christ and we know we have passed from death to life (John 5:24).
Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (John 10:27-28). Is your heart troubled? Believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God! Isaiah said, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Is 55:6-7). Jesus is taking His followers to our heavenly home! Jesus takes them because He is the way, the truth, and the life. Therefore, Christians, refuse to give into fear, worry, and doubt because we believe that Jesus is the “Lord of lords and King of kings” (Rev 17:14).
First Baptist Scott City, MO 
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