In John 14:1 there should be no chapter break from 13:38– 14:1 and in light of the disciples failure Jesus encourages them with hope. Jesus’ words to Peter were, “I know the worst that is in you Peter but if you trust in Me and not in yourself I’ll take you to heights you never imagined.” This section opens and closes with our Lord’s loving admonition, “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1, 27). We should not surprised that the Apostles were troubled. After all, Jesus had announced that one of them was a traitor, and then He warned Peter that he was going to deny his Lord three times and Jesus followed that by saying He was going to leave them (John 13:33). The truth is a self confident heart will eventually lead us to a troubled heart.
Jesus’ opening words “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me”, could be called the, “Manual for Stress Management, a remedy for anxious and troubled hearts.” What is even more comforting in Jesus’ words is the context that they come right after the revelation Jesus spoke of concerning Peter’s denial. So, right after Jesus speaks of Peter’s failure He tells Peter that He is bigger than even his failure. Notice that Jesus uses the word “your,” which means that He wasn’t just referring to Peter’s failures He was including all of the disciples and I rather think mine and yours as well. Friends these words of Jesus were being said to fellows whose worlds were coming apart, now that ought to bring some hope to those of us whose worlds are coming apart even if we have had a hand in tearing them apart.
Some folk seem to subscribe to the stoic philosophy that we are never to be anxious, never worried or in fear but I’m of the opinion that it’s not if I’m going to be anxious but rather what I do with my anxiety when it’s there. Paul wrote to the Philippians’ in 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”. Peter would later write in 1 Peter 5:7 “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” The truth is we may not be able to prevent stress or even feel stress but we can give it to the Lord so that we are not overcome by it.
So how do we do that?
“You believe in God, believe also in Me”: Jesus, “keep on believing in the father and the Son”. Our sinking feeling is because we have momentarily taken our eyes off the Lord and onto our situation, so Jesus reminds us to “Don’t look down, look up!” The psalmist wrote in Psalm 121:1-2 “I will lift up my eyes to the hills– from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” They’ve found relief from anxiety in the promises of God and they have found strength and help from those passages in times of pressure. But now he gives them new truth which goes beyond anything in the Old Testament. “I want you to believe this too,” Jesus says.