“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me.” John 14:1 ESV1
Read John 14:1-3
I have heard it said that there are at least 365 admonitions in Scripture to not fear. Supposedly, Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian pastor during the Second World War, searched the Scriptures for these exhortations, memorized them, and meditated upon one of them each day. Evidently, Pastor Wurmbrand found 366 such Scriptures—one for each day of the year including Leap Day. It was Leap Day when he was captured by the Communist Regime and imprisoned for his faith.
Over the last few years, as I have been reading and studying Scripture, I have been searching for all the verses that command us to be fearless. I want to make a Fear Not calendar to encourage and empower myself and other Christians so that we might valiantly face the challenges that arise before us. I found one such verse at the beginning of John 14. The words of Jesus are:
“‘Let not your hearts be troubled’” (John 14:1a).
John 14 is part of what has traditionally been called The Upper Room Discourse. Chapters 14-17 of John contain Jesus’ last teaching to His closest disciples just before His arrest. Jesus’ final exhortation was intended to comfort and prepare these disciples for the future.
Jesus shared the Upper Room Discourse During the Last Supper after Satan possessed Judas, and Judas went out to fulfill the plan to betray Jesus (see John 13:21-30). Jesus spoke these comforting words to His remaining disciples:
“‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In 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? And 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’” (John 14:1-3).
Jesus began His final training session with a few statements to give His disciples hope.
“Let not your hearts be troubled.”
The disciples had cause for concern. Jesus had recently given them some upsetting news. Several times, in the near past, Jesus had warned them that He would be rejected, betrayed, and killed. Near the middle of His earthly ministry:
“He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31).
As Jesus’ ministry neared its end:
“They went on … and passed through Galilee. And He did not want anyone to know, for He was teaching His disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And when He is killed, after three days He will rise.’ But they did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask Him” (Mark 9:30-32).
As they made their final trip to Jerusalem together:
“Taking the Twelve again, He began to tell them what was to happen to Him, saying, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him. And after three days He will rise’” (Mark 10:32b-34).
During this very meal, Jesus explained that He would be betrayed by one who dined with Him:
“Jesus was troubled in His spirit, and testified, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.’ The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom He spoke …. [One] disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to Him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ Jesus answered, ‘It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.’ So, when He had dipped the morsel, He gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘What you are going to do, do quickly.’ … So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night” (John 13:21b-22, 25-17 & 30).2
Also, during the Last Supper, Jesus shared that He would be denied by one of those closest to Him:
“Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, where are You going?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow afterward.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied Me three times’” (John 13:36–38).3
Now, Jesus talked about leaving them!
For three years, these men’s entire existences were intertwined with Jesus’. They had left everything from their lives and livelihoods to follow Him. They had learned from His teaching and example. They believed He was the Messiah. They knew He was the promised Deliverer, but they expected Him to deliver them physically from the tyranny of Roman rule. They did not yet understand that Jesus would accomplish a far better spiritual deliverance.
Their expectations were being shattered. The announcement that Jesus was leaving them would have been deeply disturbing. So, Jesus set aside His concerns and spent an extended time settling His disciples’ hearts. Jesus attempted to direct their focus from the events soon to happen in the physical world to something powerful about to happen in the spiritual realm. To do that, He emphasized the importance of faith.
“Believe in God; believe also in Me.”
Because Jesus instructed His disciples to keep their hearts from being troubled, they had access to something that would keep them from falling into fear and worry. Jesus’ disciples would find comfort in fully trusting God despite their lack of understanding. Faith would be the antidote for their fear concerning the information they heard. Belief would be the key to understanding the confusing things Jesus told them.
The New King James Version of John 14:1 is translated as such:
“‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me’” (John 14:1 NKJV4).
This rendering of the text emphasizes that the disciples already had faith in the true God. For likely their entire lives, the disciples had believed in God the Father though they had never physically seen Him. Soon, they would no longer physically see Jesus but His leaving would open up a way for them to know and experience Him in a new way. A better way was coming. But they would have to believe what they could not now see.
If they believed, the promise of a place for them would compensate for any hopelessness they felt about Jesus’ betrayal and their denial of Him. The hope of His return would cover the despair of Jesus’ crucifixion and departure. But first, they would have to let faith open their eyes to what was happening in the spiritual world and be willing to let go of their expectations for the physical world.
“I go to prepare a place for you.”
In some versions of the Bible, John 14:2 is translated:
“‘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’” (John 14:2 KJV5, emphasis added).
Unfortunately, translating the Greek word monē, as mansions, has led many of us, with our materialist, selfish natures to expect that we will all get our own large, extravagant home in Heaven. But the word, monē, simply means a staying, abiding, dwelling, or abode.6 It is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit indwelling Believers. There is nothing to indicate extreme excess in the word. Maybe in the 1600s, when the King James Version of the Bible was first translated, a mansion was the best word to describe a house with many rooms. I don’t know.
But I do know that when Jesus spoke of preparing a place for the disciples, He meant He was returning to Heaven. But it was not to build imposing, physical houses for His Followers there. Heaven isn’t under construction. Jesus’ death and resurrection opened the door to Heaven and all that already awaits those who believe. Through His death, Jesus took the punishment for sin and gave His righteousness to Believers so that they are welcome in Heaven.
“For our sake [the Father] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
But the place Jesus prepared through His death and resurrection isn’t just in some far-off place to be occupied some time in the future. Jesus’ return to Heaven gives His Followers a place in Him now! Jesus sent Paul to the Gentiles instructing him:
“‘To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Christ Jesus]’” (Acts 26:18).
Paul explained to the believing Gentiles that the place they have is in the Body of Christ:
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ … Now you are the Body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12: 12 & 27).
“So we, though many, are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:5).
Finding one’s place in the Body of Christ begins immediately when a Believer receives forgiveness of sins. That place is secured for an eternity and culminates in Heaven. Though we won’t get a mansion in Heaven, we have something better now and forever. Jesus also used the word, monē, when He said later in this Discourse:
“‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him’’ (John 14:23).
Here, monē is translated as home. As Believers, we have a place in Christ and Christ has a place in us. We are at home with God now and we will be at home with Him for eternity.
“I will come again.”
The disciples did not understand Jesus’ departure would benefit them. Nor did they seem to grasp that Jesus planned to return for them so they could be with Him though He said then:
“‘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’” (John 14:3).
As He had told them before:
“‘For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man … They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other’” (Matthew 24:27, 30b-31).7
This return has been interpreted as the Rapture of the Church. Paul reiterated to the Thessalonians Jesus’ plans for His Return:
“For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord’” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
Jesus indeed will return in His Second Coming to take His elect with Him to Heaven. But Jesus also returned in another way for His disciples. Jesus returned from death. Because He overcame death and will never again die, Believers have everlasting life. That eternal life starts at the moment of belief. Christ-followers don’t have to wait for physical death to begin to enjoy the life Jesus bought for us.
The purpose of Jesus’ coming was to provide eternal life to all who believe:
“‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life’” (John 3:16).
Jesus intimately knows those who follow Him. About those, Jesus said:
“‘My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand’” (John 10:27-28).
Later, the same evening of the Last Supper, in prayer, Jesus explained:
“‘And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent’” (John 17:3).
For His disciples, the ones who intimately knew the only true God and Jesus Christ, eternal life began the moment Jesus returned from the dead. For us who come to intimately know the Father and the Son, our eternal life starts when the Son of God rises in our hearts.
“There will be richly provided for you an entrance into the Eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ … For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty … And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:11, 16 & 19).
The Key to Hope in Troubled Times
The secret to keeping our hearts from being troubled is believing what God has said regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Shortly after the conclusion of Jesus’ discourse, the disciples were thrown into great chaos. Their faith was sorely tested. If they remembered Jesus’ promises that this was not the end of everything in which they had placed their hopes but the beginning of something far better, they would have all they needed to hold fast during the crazy events of the coming days.
Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned for 14 years because of his faith. Because he hid in his heart God’s Word commanding him not to fear, Pastor Wurmbrand was courageous in the face of great danger. Because he believed God, even when everything around him screamed that His promises were lies, Pastor Wurmbrand was sustained through the terrible torture of those long years in prison.
Like the disciples, we may be tempted to think that if Jesus were available in person we would navigate our difficulties better. Instead, it should comfort us to remember that Jesus has already done everything necessary to give us a place in Him and Him in us. This is not the end; Jesus returned to life and is coming back to get His Church.
If I find all of the Fear Not verses in the Bible and complete a calendar but do not believe the promises contained within, it will do me no good. All of us Christians have the power to take control of what causes our hearts to fear. We must not let our expectations cloud our minds and trouble our hearts. We need to take the time to seek out, remember, and believe God’s promises. But when fear seems too large to control, let’s ask God for help to remember the truth.
“Remember Your Word to Your servant, in which You have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your promise gives me life … When I think of Your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord … Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning. I remember Your name in the night, Lord, and keep Your law” (Psalm 119:49-50, 52, 54-55).
1 Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.
2 For more on this check out: https://blueturtletrails.com/what-will-you-give-me/
3 For more on this check out: https://blueturtletrails.com/no-longer-following-at-a-distance/
4 Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.
5 Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version.
6 https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3438/kjv/tr/0-1/
7 For more on this and what Jesus taught His disciples in the Olivet Discourse, check out: https://blueturtletrails.com/the-signs-of-the-times/, https://blueturtletrails.com/preparing-for-the-future/ and https://blueturtletrails.com/seemingly-random-acts-of-kindness/