Just keep your passage open there at the end of John 13. On the night when Jesus died, he gave the world’s greatest ever seminar. We find it in our Bibles in John 13, verse 31, and it runs all the way through to the end of chapter 16.

This seminar sits between Judas’ betrayal and Jesus’ prayer. And it’s sometimes called the farewell discourse, because this is the last time before the cross that Jesus gets to teach the disciples. And as we edge our way into this, and we’re going to be in this for quite a number of weeks, I want you to notice two characteristics up front, two features that’s true of the whole of this teaching.

The first one is that the style of this is interactive. I like how one author puts it, he says, the farewell discourse is like an extended Q&A. It is mostly Jesus answering the disciples’ questions.

So, we’ll see in our passage today, for instance, Peter asks a question and Jesus gives an amazing answer. And as we progress, we’ll hear Thomas and Philip and Judas, the not-Judas Iscariot, Judas, asking questions. At one point in the middle of chapter 16, the seminar gets a bit unruly, and the disciples are just asking one another a question in the middle of the class, and Jesus then answers that question.

So, Jesus is not so much giving a preset lecture, He is responding to the questions and fears of His troubled disciples. And that leads me to the second feature, the second feature of this discourse is that the purpose is pastoral. The purpose is pastoral.

(2:31 – 3:15)

And that’s really clear, isn’t it? Right from the beginning of the teaching, chapter 14, verse 1, do not let your hearts be troubled. Their hearts were troubled. And why were they troubled? Well, for a number of reasons.

They were troubled primarily because Jesus was leaving them. And they were also troubled because of some grim predictions Jesus had made, predictions of betrayal and of denial. And so, Jesus says, don’t be troubled.

(3:16 – 4:16)

There is a pastoral purpose in this teaching. Indeed, if you skip all the way to the end of the discourse, if you flip over to chapter 16, verse 33, you will see Jesus underlining this. I have told you these things so that in Me you will have peace.

In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. So, this farewell seminar is not some theoretical, irrelevant theology, and it is not given in an impersonal manner. This is not like the university lecturer who’s just trying to get through the curriculum for the day, who in the worst cases may not care a stitch about the class.

(4:17 – 4:26)

No, this is deeply personal. It is highly responsive. It is a seminar to shepherd them.

(4:27 – 4:55)

Here is truth for troubled men to calm their troubled hearts. And speaking to the troubled, Jesus begins by giving four reasons not to be troubled. Four reasons that still hold true for troubled people today.

Four reasons that we can be comforted. So, here’s the first of them. Number one, Jesus’ death will bring immense glory.

(4:56 – 6:14)

Jesus’ death will bring immense glory. See, that’s what’s looming in these chapters. It’s the disciples’ underlying fear because of some of what Jesus is saying, that something tragic will happen to Jesus.

And so, Jesus wants to explain that what they view as tragedy, they should be viewing as glory. When He had gone, verse 31, that’s Judas, when the betrayer had left the meal, kind of cleaned of the unclean now, we’ve just got the true believers here, Jesus said, now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. And in the context, it’s another prediction of Jesus’ death.

Jesus says something’s about to happen at once, verse 32. What’s happening at once? Well, we see from the context, it’s the death of Jesus. But what is the true nature of His death? Not tragedy, but glory.

(6:15 – 8:41)

It’s amazing, isn’t it? Jesus describes the cross, this now moment, as glorious. And that’s so counterintuitive, isn’t it? I remember one time having a chat with a man, he was a Muslim, and we had a great conversation. I discovered that we had a lot in common when we started talking about what we believed.

He believed in one God, and so did I. And he had a respect for Jesus, and so did I. And we had many similar moral values. And the conversation was going so well until we started to talk about the cross. And that was a major sticking point for him.

Because you see, in his mind, it would be impossible for someone so revered as Jesus, and certainly for someone claiming to be God, to be beaten, and spat upon, and nailed to a cross. This was to him utterly impossible. But actually, Jesus Himself told us, not only that the cross would happen, but that His cross was not a tragedy, but a display of glory.

And why would the cross be glorious? Well, because it displays God’s amazing character. God’s love, grace, humility, self-giving are all displayed on the cross in a most supreme way. And the cross is also glorious because of what the cross achieves.

It brings forgiveness to the sinner. It cancels the debt of the debtor. It cleanses the filthiest soul, and it secures, as we’ll see today, our future with God.

And this is why it brings God glory. Glory to God the Father, and glory to God the Son. And notice here that it’s not just that the Father and Son are glorified, but they are glorified in one another.

(8:42 – 9:58)

God is glorified in the Son, and the Son is glorified in the Father. It’s a very hard thing to illustrate. But let me give you a lesser human example.

Think about an earthly Father and Son, a dad and his son. And think of a son who maybe achieves something very great, and they win an award. And you can imagine the son getting up at the awards ceremony, and he’s receiving it, and you can imagine him there telling those who are present that the reason he’s achieved this is because of his dad and his father’s influence.

And in that moment, he’s receiving the glory himself, but he’s also honouring the father, and he’s saying something of who his father is. You can also think of that same dad maybe going to his work the next day and kind of having a little boast to his colleagues of what his son had achieved and what his son had done. And at a greater level, something like that is going on here.

(9:59 – 10:52)

The greatest display of the Father’s glory is seen on earth in his son when he dies on the cross. And for all eternity, what will the Father be saying to the hosts of heaven? In the presence of the angels, he’ll be saying, do you know what my son achieved? This is the greatest display of glory, and therefore it is the greatest comfort that we could ever know. And I think Jesus is saying this as a comfort, so that when we, like the disciples, see in our lives darkness and tragedy and things that we cannot make sense of or understand, so that in those moments, we will lift our eyes to the glory of the cross.

(10:55 – 11:26)

Don Carson says, for troubled Christians, there is little genuine comfort that is divorced from the significance of the events that one weekend in Jerusalem and its environs 2,000 years ago. There is no comfort that you can separate from the cross. It is our ultimate and in the end, our only real source of comfort as we go through the difficult experiences of life.

(11:27 – 12:42)

So, that’s comfort number one, for them, for us. But secondly, and more briefly, second comfort is that Jesus’ disciples will love like him. His disciples will love like him.

Now, notice how Jesus starts in verse 33. He calls the disciples, my children. It’s a very tender way of speaking.

He knows his disciples are very fragile at this moment. And so, he tells his children that he will only be with them a little while longer. He is going somewhere they cannot come.

With hindsight, we know that he’s speaking there of the cross. But that cross will not be the end. It will be the showcase of God’s glory, and part of that showcasing of God’s glory will be the result of it in verses 34 and 5. Jesus says, I am giving you a new commandment, which is to love one another.

(12:43 – 13:35)

Now, that is a bit curious, isn’t it? Because it doesn’t seem like that’s a new command, does it? From Old Testament times, from Leviticus 19 onwards, God’s people were commanded to love their neighbour. So, why is Jesus saying that this is a new command? In what sense is it new? Well, the key to the answer is the second part of verse 34, as I have loved you, so you must love one another. What’s new is not the act itself, but a new motivation and a new example, indeed, the supreme example of how to do it.

(13:36 – 17:36)

Think of this. All of the Old Testament believers, although they saw God’s love on display, never had a clear glimpse of the cross like we do. They had glimpses of it prophetically, some of them.

They saw a little glimpse of it in the future, but we see the full reality of the cross. And so, Jesus says to them, as I have loved you, humbly, graciously, sacrificially, so you are to love one another. This is not minimal acts of kindness, incidentally.

This is loving with Calvary love in all of its self-giving sacrifice. As I have loved you on the cross, He’s saying, so love each other. When you read how this is played out in the book of Acts, you see the kind of way they apply this, because at the end of Acts 2, the early disciples sold off their extra possessions and their extra property, and they used the money to help feed hungry mouthes and provide a roof over some of the Christians’ heads.

They didn’t apply this just by helping an older lady across the street. That is something that all decent people should do. But how many people today, even in our culture, would sell off their property and give the proceeds to people that are not even in their family? There was a radical outworking of this, and it is a command.

But in another sense, it is also a promise. Verse 35, by this, all people will know that you are my disciples. This will happen, not always perfectly or consistently.

Why, even the New Testament churches needed to be called back to love and rebuked at times for lovelessness. Paul could pray that the church would increase in its love. So, it’s not always perfect or consistent, but it is a Christian characteristic.

The world will know that we are Jesus’ disciples because we have a love that is distinctive and unusual. Minor side note. Actually, it’s a major side note.

Jesus doesn’t say, by this, all people will be converted and be saved. Because we still need to tell people the good news about Jesus. No one gets saved because you give them a house.

No one comes to Christ because you wash the dishes. But you will be marked out as Jesus’ disciple if you do such things for lost people and especially for the people of God. And it might be part of your testimony that leads them then to listen to the gospel message.

So, this was a comforting preview of the future. And yet, Jesus keeps going. He keeps adding to their comfort.

Thirdly, he says to these troubled men that Jesus’ disciples will keep following despite failure. They will keep following despite failure. Peter is so good, isn’t he? You just got to love Peter.

(17:36 – 17:45)

Jesus, in verse 33, he says, I’m going away soon. And you can’t come. You can’t follow.

(17:46 – 18:09)

Then Jesus talks about the love bits. But as Peter responds to Jesus, Peter isn’t really interested in the love thing. That’s what he’s just said last.

Peter circles back to verse 33. He wants to know where Jesus is going. And Jesus doesn’t directly tell him.

(18:11 – 18:59)

He just reiterates to Peter, Peter, wherever I’m going, you can’t follow now. There’s a really interesting detail here. Back in chapter 8, Jesus says virtually the same thing to a group of unbelieving Jews.

Back in chapter 8, he says to the Jews that he’s about to go away and they won’t be able to follow. Exactly the same as he says here. But in chapter 8, Jesus also adds something.

He says to the unbelieving Jews, he says, and you will die in your sins. Why? Because they weren’t believing in him. But you will notice here in John 13 that Jesus doesn’t add that last bit.

(19:00 – 19:23)

Because Jesus’ disciples won’t die in their sins. And more than that, Jesus also adds something that’s not in the previous passage. Because even though they can’t follow him now, because Jesus must die on the cross, Jesus says, you will follow later.

(19:26 – 19:56)

That’s a wonderful promise, isn’t it? That’s going to become very precious to Peter in just a few moments, that promise. Well, Peter isn’t happy. He wants to know why he can’t follow now.

He says, look, Jesus, wherever you’re going, I’m willing to come with you. And not only that, I’m willing to die with you. Because he knows that Jesus is going into some kind of deadly danger.

(19:57 – 21:59)

Now, listen, we give Peter a hard time. But as I’ve been rereading this, I’ve been thinking to myself, I wonder whether Peter really was the strongest of all the disciples, not the weakest. Because actually, Peter gets pretty close to dying for Jesus.

In chapter 18, when it comes for the time of Jesus’ arrest, only Peter draws his sword and puts his life in danger and is willing to defend Jesus. And yet in the end, despite his courage, Peter’s bold pledge finally crumbles. And Jesus already knows this.

Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times. I’m not going to say too much about the detail of that. We will learn much more about the detail when we get to, I think it’s chapter 18.

Again, Don Carson so helpfully says, who after all will die for who? Peter won’t die for Jesus, but Jesus will die for Peter. And let me just say that that is the good news of the gospel. If you’re looking into the Christian faith right now, the message isn’t give your life for God, give your life for Jesus, but accept the fact that He has given His life for you.

That’s where it all begins. Yes, of course, then we do in response to that grace, we give our lives to Christ in another sense. But in the end, bottom line is this, Jesus does the dying for us, not the other way around.

(22:00 – 22:35)

That’s what grace is. It means that Jesus dies for all of my failures. And then He restores me to follow Him all the days of my life.

I’m sure that Peter winced inwardly when Jesus said this. And yet, again, notice here that this prediction is surrounded by grace. I mean, look at it, just before the prediction, you will follow later.

(22:36 – 24:00)

And then what comes immediately afterwards, ignore the chapter divisions. They’re not always that helpful. Immediately after, do not let your hearts be troubled.

This is surrounded, even the failure is surrounded with promises of grace. I wonder if you realise that the biggest issue that you’re wrestling with in your life is yourself and your own need to be restored with God. I was listening recently to a clip with Alistair Begg.

He’s a Scottish pastor living in America, and he’s recently retired. I think he’s been in ministry something like 40 years. And the interviewer was asking him, what’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced in 40 years of ministry, 40 years of ups and downs and problems and challenges? And without hesitation, he said, the biggest problem I faced is myself, is myself.

And that is the biggest problem all of us face. It’s always our biggest problem. It is not the world around us.

It is not our circumstances. It is not even what other people do to us. Those can certainly be hard things.

(24:00 – 26:09)

But let me tell you, even if the world was perfect and your environment was ideal, and even if people were lovely to you all the time, you would still have this major problem because of the fallenness in our own hearts and minds. The hardest thing to deal with of all is our own sins and our own hearts. Paul talks about it in Romans 7. It’s knowing what we want to do, but we can’t keep doing it.

It’s the pledging that we will do this and we don’t follow through. Paul wrestles with this. And as he comes to the end of it, he says, who will rescue me from this body of death? And his answer, Jesus Christ.

If you feel you keep messing up, if you know that more times than you can count, you’ve fallen into those moments of denial, then Jesus is a gracious Saviour. And he restores you after failure, and he picks you up from your falls, and he gets you back on your feet, and he calls you to follow again. Our sins, we sang it together, our sins, they are many.

His mercy is more. Do you believe that? Do you believe it? Well, so much comfort here, but we’re not quite finished. I suppose their hearts are so troubled that they need a large dose of comfort.

And so Jesus keeps adding on the comfort. And there’s one more thing. The fourth thing is that Jesus going will prepare a place with him and the Father.

Jesus going will prepare a place with him and the Father. He starts by saying, don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.

(26:10 – 27:38)

Have faith in me as one who is co-equal with the Father, and trust in me and in the Father because of what I’m about to do. And now he explains what he’s about to do. Here’s one way of him explaining what’s about to happen.

In my Father’s house, there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I not have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? The Father’s house here clearly is heaven. It’s not the temple in Jerusalem.

Sometimes that was called the Father’s house, but I think it’s clear this is heaven itself. And Jesus says that in his Father’s house, there are many rooms. In the Authorised Version, very famously, I think it translates it, many mansions, which got an awful lot of people excited back in the day.

Probably that’s not a good translation. It’s probably better, rooms. But the point here is not that we are to work out the exact architecture of heaven.

The point is that there is a space and place for every disciple. Right? That’s the point. There is a room, a space for each of them and all of them.

(27:39 – 32:02)

And Jesus is going to prepare that room for each of them. In the flow of John, the going is the going to the cross, being raised from the dead and ascending back into glory. That’s what he means by going.

And the point here is that it is the going that prepares the place in heaven. If I could put this quite crassly, it’s not that Jesus has been spending the last 2,000 years making up bedrooms in heaven. Right? That’s not what he’s saying.

He’s not saying it’s taken Jesus a long time to fix this. That’s not what this means. The point is that it is the act of going that prepares the place.

The death of Jesus for our sins and his resurrection to give us eternal life is the means of preparing the place in heaven for us. This is why Jesus needed to die on the cross. The disciples didn’t want it.

But if they want to have a relationship with God and they want to live in the presence of the Father, then Jesus has to go. And if I go, verse 3, and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am. Notice again that it’s not the layout of heaven that’s the focus.

The point is that the disciples will be with Jesus again and they will once again be in his presence. Jesus is the joy of heaven. Christians sometimes say things about heaven that are speculative and beside the point.

Someone told me that they were asking a question of their pastor one day, and their pastor told them that he reckoned in heaven people will be travelling around on hoverboards. I don’t know what kind of… Maybe they’d be watching Back to the Future or some kind of Sky-Fi film before that particular Sunday. Now, I have no idea what the physics of the new heaven and earth will be like, and neither do you, because the Bible doesn’t give us all that kind of information.

And I’m not saying that the place won’t be part of it and won’t be part of the wonder of it all, because Jesus is making a new creation. But I think there is a real danger of painting a picture of a Christless heaven where the highest joy will be all of the fun stuff we get to do without God in the equation. The disciples in this sense have an advantage over us.

They knew the joy of being with Jesus day after day. They were gutted when he was going. And so this promise of his presence in heaven was the greatest picture of heaven imaginable to them.

And so on this night of nights, when the disciples can’t contemplate Jesus leaving, he says, don’t be afraid that I’m going, because I’m going to do something glorious. I’m about to do the greatest display of glory you’ve ever seen at the cross. Because secondly, my dying will set a new example and unleash a new impulse of love that you will carry on in the church.

And thirdly, don’t be afraid I’m going, because even though you fail, that very work on the cross will give you the grace to get up and follow again. And don’t be troubled, because by my going to the cross and by my going back to heaven, I am making the way by which you can be with me forever. We live in a troubled world.

(32:04 – 33:56)

And God knows that our lives can be troubled and our hearts can be troubled. And maybe some of you are here today, and you’re particularly feeling that today. But whatever the trouble around us or within us, Jesus points us to the gospel and to the cross, and he points us to the place he is making for us.

And he says, don’t let your hearts be troubled. With Jesus, this is not just a platitude or a meaningless statement. It’s something you can trust today and every day.

Father, we thank you today that you are glorified in your son, that your glory was put on display at the cross. We thank you that even today your glory in heaven is your son. Father, we thank you so much that the cross is glorious because it means forgiveness and reconciliation for us.

So help us to glory in the cross. Help us to live our lives dependent on the grace that flows from it. And help us to be those who live with love and expectation.

Love now for your people and for the lost too, that will show that we’re your disciples. But Lord, also that confidence that Jesus is coming to take us where he is. So we ask these things in his name.

Amen.

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