Jesus speaks these words in a moment of heaviness. The disciples are troubled because Jesus has been speaking of leaving them. Judas has gone out to betray Him. Peter has been warned that he will deny Him. The cross is near. Everything around them feels uncertain.
Yet Jesus does not begin by explaining every detail. He begins by addressing the heart.
The word “troubled” carries the idea of being stirred up, agitated, disturbed, or wnsettled. Jesus does not say that His people will never face trouble. He says, "Let not your heart be troubled.” In other words, trouble may come around you, but it does not have to rule within you.
The believer may face trouble, but the believer does not have to be dominated by trouble.
Jesus points them to faith: “ye believe in God, believe also in me.” The disciples trusted in the God of Israel. Jesus now calls them to place that same confidence in Him. This is a strong statement of His deity. He does not say, “Believe in God and listen to my advice.” He says, “Believe also in me.”
Jesus is not merely a religious teacher comforting sad men. He is God the Son calling troubled hearts to rest in Him.
Here are three words, upon any of which stress may be laid. Upon the word troubled. Be not cast down and disquieted. The word heart. Let your heart be kept with full trust in God. The word your. However others are overwhelmed with the sorrows of this present time, be not you so. Christ's disciples, more than others, should keep their minds quiet, when everything else is unquiet. Here is the remedy against this trouble of mind, “Believe.” By believing in Christ as the Mediator
between God and man, we gain comfort. The happiness of heaven is spoken of as in a father's house. There are many mansions, for there are many sons to be brought to glory. Mansions are lasting dwellings. Christ will be the Finisher of that of which he is the Author or Beginner; if he have prepared the place for us, he will prepare us for it. Christ is the sinner's Way to the Father and to heaven, in his person as God manifest in the flesh, in his atoning sacrifice, and as our Advocate. He is
the Truth, as fulfilling all the prophecies of a Saviour; believing which, sinners come by him the Way. He is the Life, by whose life-giving Spirit the dead in sin are quickened. Nor can any man draw nigh God as a Father, who is not quickened by Him as the Life, and taught by Him as the Truth, to come by Him as the Way. By Christ, as the Way, our prayers go to God, and his blessings come to us; this is the Way that leads to rest, the good old Way. He is the Resurrection and the Life. All that
saw Christ by faith, saw the Father in Him. In the light of Christ's doctrine, they saw God as the Father of lights; and in Christ's miracles, they saw God as the God of power. The holiness of God shone in the spotless purity of Christ's life. We are to believe the revelation of God to man in Christ; for the works of the Redeemer show forth his own glory, and God in him.
Jesus speaks these words in a moment of heaviness. The disciples are troubled because Jesus has been speaking of leaving them. Judas has gone out to betray Him. Peter has been warned that he will deny Him. The cross is near. Everything around them feels uncertain.
Yet Jesus does not begin by explaining every detail. He begins by addressing the heart.
The word “troubled” carries the idea of being stirred up, agitated, disturbed, or wnsettled. Jesus does not say that His people will never face trouble. He says, "Let not your heart be troubled.” In other words, trouble may come around you, but it does not have to rule within you.
The believer may face trouble, but the believer does not have to be dominated by trouble.
Jesus points them to faith: “ye believe in God, believe also in me.” The disciples trusted in the God of Israel. Jesus now calls them to place that same confidence in Him. This is a strong statement of His deity. He does not say, “Believe in God and listen to my advice.” He says, “Believe also in me.”
Jesus is not merely a religious teacher comforting sad men. He is God the Son calling troubled hearts to rest in Him.
Here are three words, upon any of which stress may be laid. Upon the word troubled. Be not cast down and disquieted. The word heart. Let your heart be kept with full trust in God. The word your. However others are overwhelmed with the sorrows of this present time, be not you so. Christ's disciples, more than others, should keep their minds quiet, when everything else is unquiet. Here is the remedy against this trouble of mind, “Believe.” By believing in Christ as the Mediator
between God and man, we gain comfort. The happiness of heaven is spoken of as in a father's house. There are many mansions, for there are many sons to be brought to glory. Mansions are lasting dwellings. Christ will be the Finisher of that of which he is the Author or Beginner; if he have prepared the place for us, he will prepare us for it. Christ is the sinner's Way to the Father and to heaven, in his person as God manifest in the flesh, in his atoning sacrifice, and as our Advocate. He is
the Truth, as fulfilling all the prophecies of a Saviour; believing which, sinners come by him the Way. He is the Life, by whose life-giving Spirit the dead in sin are quickened. Nor can any man draw nigh God as a Father, who is not quickened by Him as the Life, and taught by Him as the Truth, to come by Him as the Way. By Christ, as the Way, our prayers go to God, and his blessings come to us; this is the Way that leads to rest, the good old Way. He is the Resurrection and the Life. All that
saw Christ by faith, saw the Father in Him. In the light of Christ's doctrine, they saw God as the Father of lights; and in Christ's miracles, they saw God as the God of power. The holiness of God shone in the spotless purity of Christ's life. We are to believe the revelation of God to man in Christ; for the works of the Redeemer show forth his own glory, and God in him.