# 23 - Jesus Comforts His Disciples

23. John 14:3

If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. —
John 14:3

When we were first married, my wife and I had a visit from a salesman who, wanting to sell us waterless cookware, offered to cook our supper one night. He pulled a pot from his suitcase, put in some carrots, and poured in a little water.

“I thought you said it was waterless,” I said.

He replied: “It is. You use less water. It isn’t water-free; it is water-less. Instead of boiling your vegetables in a quart of water and washing away the vitamins, you use just a few spoonfuls of water.”

I wish I could say Christians can live a worry-free life; but by all means we must at least live a worry-less life. It’s true that the Bible tells us not to worry or to let our hearts be troubled, but the fact that we’re told not to worry implies the existence of worry in the life of the Christian.

Certainly in the upper room the disciples had reason to worry. But in John 14:1-6, Jesus warned them not to remain in a worried state of mind. He was telling us all:
Don’t succumb to a troubled heart. 
Don’t give in to panic.
Don’t cave in to anxious care. 
We aren’t to let our hearts remain in a state of agitation, panic, terror, or of being upset.

I may not be able to avoid being frightened on occasion. I may be unable to avoid flashes of panic or aches of anxiety. Perhaps I can’t totally escape the temptation to worry. But I can avoid remaining in such a state or abiding in such a condition. In fact, it’s my obligation as a Christian to fight off the sin of anxiety just as I would resist the sin of drunkenness, profanity, lust, or idolatry.

This passage is incredibly helpful in fighting the sin of worry (which is unbelief), and it also helps us in times of grief. I often use it at funerals, using this simple outline:

• The peace Jesus provides (John 14:1)
• The place Jesus prepares (John 14:2-4)
• The path Jesus prescribes (John 14:6) 

 John 14:1-6 (NIV)

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14  1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God^[a]; believe also in me.

  ² 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? 

³ 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. 

⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Jesus the Way to the Father

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Verse 3 is at the center of this text; and in memorizing it, notice how every phrase emphasizes a different aspect of our Lord’s promised return. He is going away for the express purpose of preparing a place for us; He will return, and where He is, we will always be.

Memory Tip

In our list of 100 verses, we’re including John 14:1, 2, 3, and 6. Why not go ahead and learn verses 4 and 5, too? It’s one of the Bible’s most reassuring paragraphs.

The belief of Christ’s second coming, of which He has given us the assurance, is an excellent preservative against trouble of heart.—Matthew Henry

* 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart.