"I Am Going to Prepare a Place for You” | John 14:1–14

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a

couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in

practical ways.

Good Morning, good morning, we talk home through good morning

and Chris, good morning to you and you and you

you said, get.

It Chris, Yeah, bring it home, Bring it home, Chris,

that's so funny.

Hey, it's pretty early.

It's a Tuesday for me to do that. But good

morning everyone, and welcome to the Bible guys. Man.

It's so good to be here. I'm Jeff and this

is Chris. Yes, and it's going to be amazing today.

Yes, and we're.

Talking about one of Jesus's very famous sayings, I Am

going to prepare.

A place for you, a place for you, talking about heaven.

Okay.

But by the way, before we do that, Desiree has

written us a segment that is sort of based.

On our scripture today.

Okay, and so.

Here's what she says. She says.

Today's episode dives into John fourteen, where Jesus says, I'm

going to prepare place for you. So let's imagine what

kind of places we'd love to live if we had

zero responsibilities holding us back. Start with rock, paper scissors,

to decide who gets the first draft pick. Take turns

until each person has five locations. So writing, rock, paper, scissors?

Ready, one, two, three shoots?

This is I never beat you. No, you went for

paper and I did scissors. Yes, usually I do rock,

and that's why you went paper.

Well, I tell you, which is why I tried to

shake it up.

Oh man, Okay, so I get to go first. Yes,

places I would love to live. I really like where

I live. I like, I like our home, but places

I would like to live.

And I'm assuming she's meaning like, not in Michigan.

Not in Michigan. Okay, So Michigan's pretty great.

Although I mean, can up North be a thing? Yeah?

Yeah, yeah, I guess you could.

Whatever you want, says Okay. By the way, we have

to be and today.

Yeah yeah, we had extra.

Yeah.

What's funny is she after the last episode yesterday we

were harassing her the whole time about skippings and verses.

She's like, I just put in there what you guys

told me to put in. So we made that list.

Yeah.

So anyways, favorite place, the place that we'd love to live.

You know what, I think one of the prettiest places

I've ever been was in the Austrian Alps.

Wow.

Yeah, stunningly beautiful, stunningly beautiful. My wife and I went

to now Schremstein Castle right there on the border of

Austrian Germany. It's actually yeah, it'd be fine. Yeah, but

that's the castle that Cinderella Castle was.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, right.

Well we stayed. We didn't stay in Germany. We stayed

across the border, just a few miles away in Austria,

in this valley, and it was just magnificent. Yeah, really beautiful.

Well, you've traveled extensively more than me, so I'm going

to say this last Sunday. Last Sunday, we had two

people in our lobby and they said, oh, they're visiting

here today. This is the first time here. And I said,

where are you from? And they said Milan, Milan, oh yeah.

And I said what I said, you're from Milan. And

I said, I said, so, how's how are the states?

They go It's.

Okay, it's ok and I said, and I said, and

I think they listened to the Bible, guys, so if

you're listening.

Today, hello from Milan.

But anyway, I said, you know, you live in one

of the those beautiful places of the world and they

both go.

We know Italy is beautiful.

Yes, so that is my first place. It's going to be.

Italy, Italy. Where in Italy?

You know what I'm not Unfortunately, I'm not knowledgeable enough

to pick one.

So I'm going to go with Milan. Yeah, I I

wish I traveled.

Milan is kind of the Detroit of No, I'm joking.

I was going to say, what of it is working?

It's booming.

Yeah, it's a big workings. Yeah, there's a lot of

manufacturing and things for clothing.

Yeah.

I love Rome rome is and yeah, I like that.

Let me see think the next one that I would

like to live. So how many are we doing?

We're doing five? Five?

Oh my goodness, we got a hustle. I love visiting Sri Lanka.

I really like. I really like Sri Lanka. Yeah, it's

kind of it's all of the culture and excitement and

all those kinds of things of India. It's just smaller

and less crowded and way cleaner, that kind of thing.

The food is great, all that stuff, but it's like

a garden paradise. They struggle that the government struggles, the

economy struggles, but the place is just beautiful right there

on the Indian Ocean, and jungles and and tigers and

elephants and whales out in the ocean. It's just it's phenomenal. Okay.

Yeah, So I'm gonna go the second one, and I'm

going to say I wouldn't mind living in London.

Oh, London is expensive. It is expensive, but it's a

cool city. Yeah. During the summer, during the during the

rest of the year is just gray. It's just gray

and wet. You gotta have an umbrellas for everything. Yeah,

that's true. Okay. Uh, if it weren't for the communism,

I love Havana, Cuba.

Yeah, man, you picked a good one.

Havana is fabulous. I love the city, I love the people.

I love everything about Cuba. I'm just not a big

fan of the communism, right right right.

I could actually see a day maybe where I would

have a place, not permanently, but a place perhaps in

the Dominican Republic.

Dominican. Yeah, Dominican is beautiful too, isn't it.

Yeah, it's very beautiful.

I think one of my other favorite places in the

world is Morocco. Specifically, I loved the Medina in Marrakesh.

Oh wow, yeah yeah, but the mountains there, the desert,

everything is just it's such a cool culture, cool place.

Okay, all right, so right this is number four, right, yeah,

all right, number four.

I'm going to say the Maldives. Yeah.

Yeah, I was in the Maldives for an hour. Yeah.

They didn't even let us get off the plane. Oh wow,

yeah yeah, yeah, it's just a layover.

I'm gonna go on the record and say that would

be like paradise every day.

Yeah wow. So I'm really conflicted, really really really really conflicted.

One of my favorite countries in the world is Ecuador.

I love Ecuador, love everything about it. You've got the

Ocean to the west. It's a small country. You got

the ocean to the west, You've got the Andes Mountains

in the middle, you got the Amazon Jungle to the east.

What a cool country, right, just phenomenal. So either I'm

gonna double dip here, either I would choose Ecuador, or yeah,

you know what I'm gonna leave. I'm gonna leave with

that Ecuador. I would say, let's just to say, Ecuador.

You're not gonna cheat.

Yeah, no, no, no, okay.

And then for my fifth one, I'm going to say

anywhere my kids end up living.

Oh how sweet is that?

Yeah? So, I currently my daughter lives in floor Orida. St.

Petersburg, Florida, which is people love, right, I'm not sure

I would love to live there, like if like, if

my daughter weren't there, I'm not sure I would say, oh,

I want to live there as my primary residence.

I don't think I would actually, to be quite.

Honest, sorry people listening in Florida. But but if for

some reason my kids gravitate toward another part of the

country and they're together, then that's.

The spot I'm gonna choose.

So the States probably, the state's very likely. The way

your family is very likely, the States. I'm gonna squeeze

one more in Zanzibar like sand beaches, beautiful, amazing, You.

Couldn't do it, you couldn't.

Well, East Africa. I love East Africa in general, love it.

And then the island of Zanzibar is just amazing, so

so exotic.

Now I've been to, haven't I been? Is that near that?

Yeah?

Yeah, you went to because you went on a on

a blue blue safari with chat out in the ocean, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I did Snorkeling and Zanzibar. Yeah, h yeah, it was.

It was beautiful. Yeah, okay, there you go, Chris cool Man,

oh Man, Well we got it all worked out. Now, Hey,

do you think when we go to heaven do you

think that we'll be able to do all those kinds

of things? I do? Actually, I do too, Yeah, I

do too.

And you know, speaking of heaven, Jesus talks about it,

and yeah, speaking places, Jesus is preparing places.

Yeah.

Yeah, in John chapter fourteen.

Well, we're going to read John fourteen one through like fourteen,

I think is what we're going to do here. Okay,

So Jesus says, don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust

in God, trust also in me. There is more than

enough room in my father's home. If this were not so,

what I have told you that I'm going to prepare

a place for you. When everything is ready, I will

come and get you so that you will always be

with me where I am. And you know the way

to where I'm going. No, we don't know, Lord Thomas said,

we have no idea where you're going, So how can

we know the way. Jesus told him, I am the

way the truth and the life. No one can come

to the Father except through me. If you had only,

if you had really known me, you would know who

my father is. From now on, you do know him

and have seen him, Philip said, Lord, show us the

Father and we will be satisfied. Jesus replied, have I

been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you

still don't know who I am. Anyone who has seen

me has seen the Father, So why are you asking

me to show him to you. Don't you believe that

I am in the Father and the Father is in me.

The words I speak are not my own, but my Father,

who lives in me, does his work through me. Just

believe that I am in the Father and the Father

is in me, or at least believe because of the

work you've seen me. Do I tell you the truth.

Anyone who believes in me will do the same works

I have done, and even greater works, because I am

going to be with the Father. You can ask for

anything in my name, and I will do it so

that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes,

ask me for anything in my name, and I will

do it. Well, there you go.

Yeah, I have heard that passage by the way, talked

about in many a counseling sessions where Hey, all I

have to do is ask for anything, and God's going

to do it right in his name. So I want

a maserati. I want a maserati in Jesus name.

Right. Did you ever see that?

What's that movie with Adam Sandler where he's at the

hotel with the kids and and he goes for free.

Remember, no, you don't know that one.

Anyway, I don't know the name.

But anyway, the point is is that that that is

how it.

Reads on the surface, doesn't it. It reads like but

you have.

To read it carefully though, because it says you can

ask anything in my name and I will do it

so that the son of Man can bring here it

is glory to the Father, right, So you know you're

maserati may not bring glory to the Father. So clearly

what God is talking about is God is talking about

in his will, right, So bringing glory to the Father

is is is uh pishing God's agenda forward, bringing his

glory with you know, his name being renown and known.

You know, there are things in our lives that we

have to understand. You know, sometimes we pray and sometimes

they align with the will of the Father and God,

and sometimes their lateral.

I believe this is true too. I believe God's will

is lateral. Sometimes.

I believe that you know, either he can do a

thing or he cannot do a thing. And I think

that sometimes we pray and God's like, Okay, I'm gonna

grant this, because the fervent prayer of a righteous person.

Avails much right, right, And so you pray and you ask.

In God's name, and sometimes it just happens, but clearly

it's it's it's the things we pray for that God

chooses to grant that are in his will, and don't

conflict with it.

There's kind of this idea in Bible study. You have

to remember who is speaking and who it's written for

or two right, the original listeners. It's written for you too,

but the original listeners. So this is a Middle Eastern

my mind set. It's how they think, and and you

and I sometimes can be more a little not just

you and I, but Western thinkers can sometimes miss a

thing because we tend to be very linear. We tend

to have A leads to him, and B builds upon

A and then C builds upon B right a and

B right, and so we kind of stack a thing

so that the big idea is at the end usually right,

or sometimes we'll give the big idea at the beginning,

then unpack the whole thing, build out the argument, and

then say proof right there, right, that's what we do.

Whereas in the in the Middle Eastern culture a lot

of times mindset, a lot of times, the biggest idea

is the middle idea, and then the other the other ideas,

the outlying ideas, oftentimes are the ones explaining how and

what the middle idea, how it functions. So the middle

idea is so that the son can bring glory to

the father. That's the big that's that's the middle idea.

But he's or you can ask anything in my name,

I will do it. That's the middle idea. I'm sorry,

that's that's the middle idea. That's the oh my goodness,

that's the one that surprises you. Usually the surprises in

the middle of Middle Eastern thinking. It's gonna be in

the middle, say a big thing, surprise you in the middle,

and then finish it on the end. So the big,

the surprising piece that you read here is you can

pray for anything in my name, and I'll do it

what my soariety, baby, right, that's it, right, But you

go before it and after it, and it explains the

surprise in the middle always, so before it, it's anybody

who who believes in me will do the same things

I've done, and even greater. So guess what the expectation is.

You're going to do what Jesus did, then you can

have what Jesus Had's that's what he's saying, right. You

have to be living a life for others, being a

blessing to others, bringing the Gospel to others on the

mission that God sends you on. This isn't and.

By the way, that also assumes that you have the

heart of Jesus as well, that's right, which means you're gonna.

Want with Jesus want.

But what you did and what you don't find anywhere

in any of the gospels is Jesus hitting God up

from Masarati, right, right, So if you pray the way

Jesus prayed, if your priorities are Jesus prayer.

Would have been pretty cool though, like a Maserati in

first century, right.

That would have gotten people's attention. Right, So, The surprise

statement is you can pray for it. You can ask

for anything in my name and I'll do it. Before

it is you have to be on the same mission.

I'm on doing what I do and greater.

He wouldn't have had any gasoline, right.

Yeah, that's true. Well he's he he made why not

of water? But then the backside of it is so

the son kim ring glory to the Father. Those are

the two things. So when you're asking God to bless you,

is it because you're on the exact same mission Jesus

was on to seeking to say that which is lost

to uh speak truth to people, to point them to

the light, to bring healing and hope and feeding and

and and all those things that Jesus brought.

We stopped at fourteen, but the very next verses, if

you love me, you obey my commandments, ask ask and

I will and I will ask the Father, and he

will give you another advocate who will never leave you.

You're talking about the Holy Spirit being with you and

in you.

And so anytime you find a big surprising statement, oh

my gosh, I just hit the lottery with this Bible verse. Yep,

you might need to read the ones before it and

the ones after it right to figure it out. That's

what he's doing there. But man, I love this because

he starts off. I think it's funny Chris. Whenever we

do these podcasts, yep, whatever the last thing we read

is the first thing you talk about. Yeah, right, And

I always want to go to the first thing.

I think it's coincidence because because in this case, the

last thing you read was the most striking.

Well, what going to heaven isn't striking.

I'm not talking about I'm talking about the well known.

I'm talking about the misinterpret And so I think it's

funny because you almost always want to start at the

end whatever the last thing we read, and I always

want to start at the beginning. I want to go

back to let's go all the way back to the beginning.

I think it's more accurate to say I often don't

care that we started.

Well, it's even more accurate to say you usually start

at the end.

Okay, Hey, you want to warn something fun.

Yeah, I want something.

Fun, so at the very beginning.

So to go back to the beginning is his very

first comment in verse one is don't let your hearts

be troubled and trusting God and also in me.

Right.

So another version that you might have at home would

be do not let your hearts be troubled and do

not be afraid.

Right.

So isn't it interesting how Jesus is here he is

wrapping up his ministry John fourteen. At least, you know,

there's not too many other chapters here in John. It's

only in the mid low twenties here, And so Jesus is,

you know, sort of like already established his ministry. He's

talking about heaven and he's talking about a place that

he is going to go soon. And as he's talking

about this heaven place, he couples it in this chapter

with the don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. It's a

real place. I'm going to prepare a place for you.

And you know, it's one of the best things at

the end of the chapter.

We didn't read it.

But at the end of the chapter, as he's talking about,

you know, these scary things, he says, I'm leaving in

verse twenty seven, I'm leaving you with a gift, peace

of mind and heart. And the peace I give is

a gift the world cannot give. And then he says,

do not be troubled or afraid. So I use those

verses at funerals. And so I say, here's Jesus talking

about heaven, right, I'm preparing a place for you. Don't

be afraid, don't be troubled, don't be afraid. Like when

we all get to heaven, we're going to realize how

much there's nothing to fear if you've trusted in Christ

and you've put your faith in trust in Him. When

we get to heaven, we're going to realize, oh no,

I'm afraid to die. You're not going to be afraid, right,

And and so this is what Jesus is trying to do.

He's describing heaven, and he's saying, don't be afraid for

those of us who've lost a loved one and we

try to picture them and life without them, and you know,

oh no, and all these different kinds of fears and

what you know, Jesus says, listen, I'm going to leave

this world eventually, but I'm going to give you a gift.

And this is what I pray for people. I say,

I'm going to pray that God gives you the peace.

That doesn't make any sense. And then he says don't

let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.

It's very comforting, and.

I love the fact he says, when everything's ready, I'm

going to come and get you, Yeah, so that you

can always be where I am. So Jesus knows how

good it is there, and Jesus knows how the struggle here,

and he says, listen, when it's already and your turn

is up and it's time, I'm going to come and

get you, and it's going to be amazing. You don't

have to be afraid. I'm going to come and get you.

And I love that too, that he's preparing and he

knows our time, and he's constantly reminded us you don't

have to be afraid. I've got a plan. And I

love the fact that God has a plan. So when

everything's ready, going to come and get you so you

can be where I am. And then he says, you

know where I'm going, the Way, And Phillip's like, Thomas goes, Lord,

we have no idea where you're going. What are you

talking about? Show us the way, and then Jesus makes

this great declaration, I am the Way and the Truth

and the life. No one comes to the Father except

through me.

Yeah, and he's he's like, you know the way, what's

the way?

I'm the way, I'm the way. You three and a

half years have figured that out yet, Yeah? Yeah, do

you know I've told you I was the door. I

told you I was the bread. I told you as

a shepherd, I told you I'm the gate.

I'm the gate. Yeah. And now I'm the way, the

truth and the life.

So so you know, and again I can't seem to

even think of this verse without thinking of one of

the best things I've ever heard in my life, because

you know, people hear that comment and it seems narrow minded.

Right, you know, you know, you know what I'm gonna say.

Yeah, you know, I'm the way, the truth in the life.

No man comes to Father except that. That's the narrow

mindedness in human thinking, except through me. Don't all world

religions lead to heaven? Well, Christianity, you know, is the

greatest inclusive invitation because everybody's included. Everybody gets in the

same way, and everybody can meet the requirements. And so

this invitation is the most inclusive. It's not the most narrow.

Christianity has the most it's the most broad invitation of

all world religions in the history of world religions. Jesus says,

the Gospels for everyone, right, he does on the cross

for everyone. Everybody can get in, everybody meets the requirements.

Everybody's invited. And so that's that's, that's the opposite of

narrow minded.

Yeah. So he says, no one comes to the Father

except through me, and he draws that line in the sand,

which is a very strong statement. And then he goes

on and he goes because now, if you really knew me,

you know who the Father is. From now on, you

do know him because you've seen him. And Jesus is

equating himself in no uncertain terms with being equal to

God the Father. He says, if you've seen me, you've

seen the Father.

Yeah.

And Philip is like, okay, well, just show us the Father.

Prove it, prove it.

Show us the Father then, and Jesus said.

Because he says, show us the Father and we will

be satisfied.

Yeah. Yeah, that's essentially the proved statement.

Yeah, yeah, that's that's God's o odacious.

It's it's like it's like, what, well, they're not they're

still not entirely understanding who it is that they're with.

Yeah, right, right, and uh and I love how Jesus

also says in here in the first verse, speaking of

starting at the beginning, which I so love to do,

is at the end of the podcast. Yes, is in

my father's house there are many rooms. As a translation,

another translation says, in my father's house there are many mansions.

And then in this particular translation it says, there is

more than enough room in my father's home. You know,

it's so interesting when they're receiving this truth. You know, again,

it's this middle Middle Eastern mindset, the Middle Eastern mindset,

isn't it? Isn't it ironic? Just a few moments ago,

I said, oh, wherever my kids move, I'd like to

end up, right.

Yeah.

So the Western mindset is we ship them off at

eighteen years old, right, we shoved them out of the nest,

and we've created that. But you know, in the first century,

they didn't do that at all. Right, They actually just

built on rooms. They would they would have a structure

of some sort, usually like a tent, and sometimes not

even in tent, sometimes an actual you know, walls and

everything else.

Yeah, in Jesus Day, it was wolves.

In Jesus Day, yeah, it was wolves. Yeah, but a

lot of times yeah, in.

The Old Testament, right, yeah, so in the cities, in

the cities of the walls.

But they would literally build onto their home as their

family expanded, and it was a great symbol of wealth

to have great flocks, great herds, great great, big, large family,

and people interpreted that as God's blessing, and so a

lot of times it even says so in the Bible,

surely God has blessed you with all your flocks and

herds and wealth and family, and so so my father's

house there's many rooms, but there's many there's more than

left room.

You know.

There's times where depending on the piece of land that

they had, you know, there was there was a point

in time where they could not expand any longer. Right, Hey,

you want to be included in the expansion. Well, that's

what Jesus is saying. He's saying, there's more than left

room in my father's house for you, for everybody. Right,

God doesn't run out of room. There's no limitation of

land as he expands to accept you as his as

his great kingdom.

Right, Right, that's what he's saying.

So this is all in the context of so people

understand when they're having this conversation. They're having this conversation

after Jesus had broke the bread and shared the wine,

right at the Passover meal, the first Lord's supper. Last

this is the last supper. Right then they're just sitting

around the table and they're having this conversation, and he

talks about the fact that Peter's going to deny him.

He says that he's the only way. He says he's

going to send the Holy Spirit. He says, don't be afraid.

This is where remember when we talked a few days

ago about Jesus is the vine and where the branches

bear fruit. He warns about the fact that the world

is going to hate them. He teaches again about the

Holy Spirit. He talks about prayer, and then he prays

for himself, and he prays for his disciples and those

who had come after in us. So all these things

that we've talked about recently, all of this is happening

right after they finished eating dinner. Then they sing him,

they go out, Jesus prays all night, gets arrested. That's

where right and Peter cuts off the guy's ear, then

denies Jesus and he goes on to the chrus ficion.

This is the day before or the night before Jesus

gets arrested, right, and the night of his arrest, but

it's before it happens. Yeah, that's what we're saying. So

it's kind of an amazing thing that Jesus knows how

bad it's going to be in just a few days.

You know, in a day and a half or so,

he's going to get killed. He knows how horrible that's

going to be. And yet he's more concerned about his disciples. Right, Hey,

you guys don't need to be afraid. It's gonna be

rough for whopping when come get you. And there's something

precious about that.

That's great.

All right, Well, hey, that's our time, so hopefully we

will see you tomorrow on the Bible.

Guys, h