Sermon: Going to the Father

John 13, beginning in verse 36, is what we come to this morning. And as we come to God's Word, let's take a moment now to pray and ask God to bless the reading and preaching of it.

Our Father in heaven, we have just prayed, through song, that you would grant us grace to read and to mark your Holy Word, that we would receive its precepts, and that we would live by them, and that we would live them. And that is our prayer this morning. And so we ask, O Lord, now that you would, by your Spirit of truth, make us to understand this word, and that your Spirit would empower and enable us, not only to receive it, but to believe it, and to practice it.

This we pray in the name of Jesus our Savior. Amen. John 13, beginning in verse 36 and reading through chapter 14, verse 14. Listen carefully, for this is God's Word:

"Simon Peter said to Jesus, '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. 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. And you know the way to where I am going.' Thomas said to him, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way,

and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.' Philip said to him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. But the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the

Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.'"

Well, I realize that it may not always be like this for me. But for now, when I get ready to go away on a trip and I tell my kids that Daddy is going to be gone, my kids are sad,

and they're full of questions. "Dad, where are you going? How are you getting there? Are you taking a plane? Can I come? Why can't I come? When are you coming back?" And, "Dad, are you going to bring back something for us?" All kinds of questions. We have a very similar situation here in our text this morning, and similar responses. Jesus has just informed his disciples in verse 33 that he would be leaving them, and Jesus' disciples are troubled.

They're perplexed, confused, sad, afraid,

and they're full of questions. And perhaps this is the exact experience you are having this morning. Your heart is troubled, confused, perplexed, afraid. Perhaps you are also, like the disciples, full of questions. Lord, why?

How long, O Lord?

John records for us this morning how Jesus interacts with and engages his disciples, and I think what he does for them is a benefit as well to us because Jesus, who is himself troubled, John has already told us-Jesus is troubled knowing that He will soon be crucified. He comforts His disciples and He teaches them, preparing them for His departure. This morning as we move through this passage, I want to use the disciples' questions as our headings

to move us along. So four questions this morning that I will be answering. The first is a where question from verse 36. Where is Jesus? Second is a why question from verse 37. Why has Jesus gone to the Father? Third question is a how question from verse five. How do you get to the Father? Or if we were to make that a what question, what is the way to the Father? And then fourth is not so much a question exactly stated in the text, I think it's implied

in verse 12. What is the significance of Jesus going to the Father? What is the benefit of Jesus going to the Father? So four questions this morning. The first one is the where question. Where is Jesus? Simon Peter asks Jesus in verse 36, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus does not immediately answer Peter's question here, but what He does is repeats what He has already told Peter and his other disciples in verse 33. But this time He adds for Peter

a supplement to what He has already said. "Peter, where I'm going, you cannot come. But you will follow afterward." Jesus eventually answers Peter's question. Does not do so immediately, but eventually does. And before we hear Jesus' answer to Peter's question, I want to point something out to you that may be rather obvious. You could already pick up on your own, but I just want to make sure. All the questions the disciples are asking

are future questions, future tense. They're looking ahead. They're anticipating that Jesus will be going. Jesus had not yet left them. But this morning, for us, we are going to be asking their questions in the past tense. Or maybe even better yet, in the present tense. Because where Jesus has gone, Jesus still is. And so the question Peter asks is, "Where are you going?" And we ask, where is Jesus now? Jesus says plainly to his disciples in verse 12 where He is

going and where He is. He says, "I am going to the Father." Jesus is referring to His ascension, when Jesus would leave this Earth, depart his disciples, having concluded His work, and go on the clouds to be with the Father. Jesus came from the Father, and now the time has come to return to the Father. Verse two, Jesus calls the place where He is going, "My Father's house." What do you think of when you think of a house?

It's the place where someone lives or dwells.

Jesus is saying, "The place where I'm going is my Father's house, where He dwells." Jesus, of course, is speaking about heaven. That's where He is going.

When you think of heaven, what is it that comes to your mind? What do you meditate on? What do you look forward to? Some of you perhaps think about the golden streets or the glassy crystal sea. Maybe some of you think about how there will be no sickness, no pain, no diseases, no death, no tears.

Maybe some of you think about that song that was popular when I was a kid when you think about heaven. It's a big, big house with lots and lots of room.

Big table, big yard. What do you think about when you think about heaven? What comes to your mind? The Bible tells us some things about heaven, what will be there and what won't be there. But the best news, the very best news of what the Bible tells us is in heaven is this. It's not a thing or the absence of a thing, it's a person, a who. Who is there? Your loved ones and all who have died keeping the faith will be there.

But that's not the good news, the very best of all news that I'm referring to. Even better than that is God will be there. Do-When you think about heaven, about God being there, do not forget this most wonderful truth that heaven is the place where God dwells, and Jesus is there with him, dwelling with his Father and with our Father. That is where Jesus is, even now. He is with the Father. Why? Why has Jesus gone to the Father?

Jesus explains and gives the answer for why he has gone to the Father in verses two and three, but Peter asks a different why question first in verse 37. The very question that my kids ask when I leave for a trip. "Why can't I come? I want to go with you. I want to be with you." And that's Peter's desire. He wants to be with Jesus, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to be with him. He says in verse 37, "I will even lay

down my life for you."

Peter's bold declaration is ironic, isn't it? And there's a hidden beauty in the irony for us this morning. You see, Peter said that he would lay down his life for Jesus' sake.

But in the end, even after Peter denies Jesus, not once, not twice, but three times, Peter's love and commitment falters as he denies Jesus. It was not Peter who laid down his life for Jesus' sake, but Jesus who laid down his life for Peter's sake. And not only for Peter's sake, but for Thomas', and Philip's, and the other disciples'. And also for your sake.

Thomas and Philip did not make a bold declaration like Peter. But they too were slow to understand, slow to believe. They were weak in faith, weaker than we might expect, weaker than they ought to have been.

And what Jesus does in this passage, and in his interactions with them, is he corrects them, he even rebukes them. But Jesus does so with gentleness and patience, with love.

And it was love, Jesus' love, that motivated him to lay down his life for their sake. The very last thing that John records in his gospel is Jesus on the beach with Peter and the other disciples, restoring Peter three times. "Peter, do you love me?" "Yes, Lord, I love you." "Peter, do you love me?" "Yes, Lord, I love you." "Peter, do you love me?" "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." And then Jesus says, "Feed my sheep, and

follow me. You cannot follow me now, but you will. Now's the time. Follow me." He restores Peter, who denies him three times.

There's great assurance of forgiveness for your sins, and hope for weak Christians whose commitment to Christ falters, whose love for Christ falters. You see, it is not the commitment,

the strength of your commitment rather. It's not the strength of your commitment that ultimately saves you. It is the strength of Christ's commitment for you that saves you. He's committed to you. And it's not the greatness of your love that compels Christ to forgive you and to lay down his life for you. Rather, it is the greatness of Christ's love for you that compels him to lay down his life for you.

Great assurance and great hope for weak Christians.

Before Jesus could go to the Father, he had to complete his saving work, what he had come to do, what he was sent to do, to lay down his life for his own. And that's what he did. Hebrews 10 puts it this way, "When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God." Completes his saving work, and he goes to the FatherBut why? Why has Jesus gone to heaven now? Why is Jesus there

and not here with us? Jesus' words in verse 2 are some of the most comforting words you can find in all of the Bible. Wonderfully comforting words for troubled hearts. He says, "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?"

Do you remember the experience that Joseph and Mary had in Nazareth?

They showed up for the census, and Jesus was about to be born. They were looking for somewhere to lodge. There was no place for them in the inn.

Jesus has gone to heaven so that that experience his earthly mother and father had would never be your experience in heaven. There are many rooms. There is space enough for you.

There are some people who are indifferent to the message of Christianity.

But they think and they believe and see some value in the message of Christianity. They're indifferent to it personally, but they see some value in it for others and for a society, some therapeutic value. Oftentimes, there's sort of not only an indifference about the message, but an indifference to whether or not the message of Christianity is true or not. Their only concern, their only interest, is in whether or not Christianity

helps someone else. If it makes them feel better about their lives, about themselves, then it has some value.

What those people who think that way get right is that Jesus does mean to comfort those who are troubled, to assure them, to encourage them. Jesus is interested in comforting his own. But you see, what they get wrong is that it doesn't matter whether it's true. It does matter. And Jesus asked that question: "Would I have told you that there are many rooms and there is space for you if it were not so?"

The rhetorical answer, of course, is no. Jesus would not have told them, us, that there was room if there wasn't. Jesus is not selling a bill of goods. Jesus doesn't make promises that are too good to be true just to make you feel better. Jesus calms and assures troubled hearts with truth, real truth that offers real hope, and Jesus promises there is room for you.

Then he says in verse 3, and don't you love it, "And if I'm preparing a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." Jesus hasn't gone to heaven just to prepare a mansion for himself and an outhouse for you, kind of nearby him. Jesus is preparing a place so that he could come back and take you to be with him.

That's what he wants. His going away is not a permanent separation but for a reunion. He is coming back to take them, to take you to himself.

That's the why question. Now the how question, and this is crucial, dear friends. This is a crucial question for you to answer, each one of you, just for you to be able to answer for your kids,

for your grandkids, but for each and every person to be able to answer for themselves. How do you get to the Father? Or what is the way to the Father?

After Jesus testifies to his disciples that they know the way to where he is going in verse 4, there's another question, and this time it's from Thomas: "How can we know the way?" What Thomas doesn't realize is that as Jesus has been talking about his Father's house, that Jesus is going there. He's going to his Father's house. That's the destination. That's where he's goingHe doesn't realize it, and so he doesn't think that he knows the way, but Jesus

responds to Thomas by powerfully and plainly telling him, and us, the way to the Father. "Me."

What is the way to the Father? Me. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life."

Friends, Jesus is not like the local who you stop to get directions from.

I realize that this illustration might land on approximately 50% of you. Okay, kids, there was a time when your parents drove on vacation, and they couldn't type in where they were going on their phone and have a GPS take them there, okay? That's what you have to bear in mind. Jesus is not like the local who you stop to get your directions from when you are lost. The local, of course, is someone who can explain the way to you to where you want to go.

They could write out directions on a piece of paper so that you know which turns to make to get to where you want to go. They might even pull out a map for you and highlight the roads to take so that you can follow them and get to where you want to go. And if you find a really nice local, you might even be able to convince them, "Would you take me there? You hop in your car, I'll follow you. You take me there." Jesus is fundamentally different

than the local. Jesus does not just explain the way to get to God. Jesus doesn't even just lead you to God. Jesus is the way to God. The way. And so Jesus is fundamentally different than any other person, any other prophet who could say, "The truth is there. Are you looking for truth? There it is. Are you looking for a way to God? Go that way. Are you seeking life? That's where it can be found." Jesus is not just pointing the way, He's

telling them, "It's me. I am the way." The way. "No one," Jesus says, "no one comes to the Father except through me." There is no other way. If you want to go to Milwaukee this summer, you could pick a way to get there. If you want to take the slow way through Chicago traffic, you can drive a car. If you want to take a plane, you can get there by a plane. Or you could even take a boat across Lake Michigan to get you to Milwaukee.

Getting to God is not like getting to Milwaukee. You pick what works for you. You choose. Doesn't matter. It does. There are not many ways to God. There's one, and only one. Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life, and there is no other way to God except through faith in me."

What Jesus is saying here has great, significant, practical importance to your life.

Friend, if you're here this morning seeking truth, or you're seeking a way to God, some way to God, or if you're here and you're looking for life, some kind of joy or fullness of life that other people might have and that you want,

Jesus is it. He is what you are seeking. He is who you are seeking.

Jesus would have you consider all that He has said, everything that He has done that testify to who He is, the only Son of God, the only Son of God in whom the Father dwells.

Who is like Him? There is no one like Him. What else is like Him? There is nothing like Him. Jesus is it. He is who you are seeking, and He calls for you to believe. To believe Him, He says in verse 11. To believe in Him, verse one, and in verse 12. Believe. Believe. Believe. He is the way. You will find in Him all that you are seeking if you will come to Him by faithJust for a minute, I want to say something to probably most of you. To those of you

who believe in Jesus, you believe in this Jesus.

Do you know that what Jesus has said to his disciples is true also of you? Jesus says to them in verse four, "You know the way." You do not need an MDiv from a seminary to know the way to God. You know the way.

So be steadfast and immovable.

There are plenty of trials and tribulations and troubles in this world, and they will come into your life, and maybe they're now already. Sometimes when things get hard, what we want is what Philip wanted, a supplement, something to bolster us, to assure us, to give us renewed confidence that the faith that we have professed is true, that Jesus is who he says he is, that God, in fact, loves you. You might be like Philip.

"Jesus, if you just show us the Father, it will be enough for us."

Be steadfast and immovable, dear friends. You don't need another sign. You don't need another word. You have it here. You have a firm foundation on which to stand, the word of God. This is a sure place to rest your faith.

John wrote this gospel,

recording carefully all of Jesus' words and all of Jesus' works, so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ. He is the one in whom the Father dwells,

and that by believing in him, you would have life in his name. That you would know Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Stand firm.

Be immovable and steadfast, trusting this word. Secondly, would you also be a witness? Be a witness.

You know the way,

but there are millions who do not know the way.

Some are indifferent. Some are ignorant. Some are truly lost and deceived, thinking that there might be another way to God except through Jesus Christ,

and millions are perishing, but you know the way that they may be saved. You know it because you know Jesus Christ.

So be a witness, a witness to his life, his truth, the way to God in Jesus Christ. So how do you get to the Father? By faith and only by faith in Jesus, the Son of God. And then the what question. Finally, the what question. What is the significance or the benefit of Jesus going to the Father? Again, this is a question that's not asked explicitly in our text, but I think we hear it implied in verses 12 through 14. Jesus is explaining the significance.

He says, "Because I am going to the Father, here's what will happen." And so here's what I want to do. I want to answer this question for two groups of people. First group of people is the disciples, the original disciples. Those 11 disciples who are hearing Jesus make these promises, and then I want us to hear the answer to this question. The answers are similar, but they're not exactly the same. What's the significance or the benefit of Jesus going to the Father for the

disciples? Well, you see in these verses, Jesus makes several grand promises to his disciples. Why? He wants to fill them with courage, to fill them with hope that all is not lost when Jesus dies. That all is not lost when Jesus is raised from the dead and then ascends to the Father. He wants to bolster their faith and encourage them, and these promises that Jesus is making in these verses are tailored specifically to them,

and they're fulfilled in their lives. That's what the Book of Acts shows us and tells us. Just briefly, I want to give you a quick tour of the Book of Acts, just so that you see howHow Jesus fulfills these promises to his disciples. The book of Acts begins in chapter 1. Jesus ascends to the Father. The disciples are looking to where Jesus has gone.

Chapter 2, Jesus sends the Spirit, along with the Father, to empower the disciples to do what he has promised they will do, the same works and even greater works. Acts 3, John and Peter heal a lame man in the name of Jesus, and that man goes on to give praise to God, glorifying the Father through the Son. In Acts 9, the residents of Lydda and Sharon turn to the Lord after they see Aeneas, who had been paralyzed, healed in the name of Jesus.

In Acts 10, Peter prays, and a woman named Tabitha, who had died, is raised from the dead. Many works that Jesus did, they do. And many believe in the Lord, and give glory to God the Father, through Jesus Christ.

But they didn't only do amazing works. They did greater works. The Spirit empowered them to be witnesses for Christ, from Judea to Samaria, and all the way to the ends of the earth. And as the gospel goes forth, people believe in great numbers. 3,000 were added to the church in Acts 2. In Acts 4, it says the number of those who heard the word and believed came to about 5,000. Great ingathering into the church. And do you know, dear friends, how the gospel

advanced with such power? Prayer. Prayer, that is the constant refrain and testimony of the book of Acts. As they prayed in Jesus' name,

Jesus accomplished, through them, all that he had promised to do. Jesus fulfilled his promise, his promises to them. So that's the significance for the disciples. What is the significance for us? And you might ask, is there any significance for us? Does it benefit us that Jesus has gone to the Father? And the answer is yes. The answer is yes.

I want you to hear how Heidelberg Catechism 49 puts it. Question and answer 49 in the Heidelberg Catechism. Question is this, how does Christ's ascension, going to the Father, benefit us? It presupposes that there is a benefit to Jesus going to the Father, that Jesus has ascended to the Father, and what is the benefit? Three benefits. First, Jesus is our advocate in heaven, in the presence of his Father. Jesus is with the Father, interceding

for you. He's praying for you at the Father's right hand. Second, and this is what we've been hearing all along in John, chapter 14. Second, we have our own flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that Christ, our head, will also take us, his members, up to himself.

Third benefit, Jesus sends his Spirit to us on Earth as a corresponding pledge. By the Spirit's power, we seek not earthly things, but the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at God's right hand.

Dear friends, Jesus will later go on to say in this farewell discourse, "In this world, you will have trouble."

Some of you are facing that trouble now. Discouraged, perplexed, sad, confused, afraid.

Jesus means to comfort you with these words. He exhorts you, "Believe in me. Believe in my promises. Believe what I have said is true." And he also means for us to draw encouragement from his going to the Father, from his ascension. Jesus has gone to the Father for your benefit. He is preparing a place for us. And if he is going to prepare a place for us, he will surely come again to take us to be with him, that where he is,

we may be also. Isn't that good news? Isn't that encouraging? Amen. Let's pray. Oh, Father, we do thank you for your Word, for how it teaches us, for how it encourages us, for how it comforts us, for how it assures us. And we thank you, oh Father, for sending the Son, that he might bear witness to you, that he might save us and finish his work of redemption for us. We thank you that he is sitting even now at your right hand,

interceding for us, reigning over us and all the world. We thank you for his promise to return for us, and we ask, oh Lord, come quickly for us. And we thank you, oh God, for your Spirit, to help us to understand, to be a corresponding pledge that Jesus will return, that we belong to you, oh Father. We pray that your Spirit would encourage us through this word, and bring it to mind. Comfort us as our helper. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.