Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

This sermon is going to be one of my pondering sermons. I've been on the road too much, and when I'm driving down the road by myself, I'm hopefully thinking about where I'm driving, but I'm also kicking around ideas. In the last couple of weeks, I've found myself reading a lot in the latter chapters of Luke, and then also certain key chapters in John. And there was something that was impressed upon me this year as I looked at the Passover that I wanted to share with you. A lot of times as we come to the Passover, our topics rightfully so focus on messages on discerning the Lord's body.

Just thinking through even reliving in our mind what He went through. We think of topics like repentance. We think of forgiveness and reconciliation. We also focus on the meaning of the broken bread representing His body.

We think of the wine that represents His blood that poured out on the ground for us. And rightfully so. We focus on self-examination. I look back. There are times when I have examined myself to the point to where I felt pretty lousy walking in the Passover. We can focus on a certain aspect of it too much.

I've heard it said for years that Passover, like atonement, is one of those bittersweet holy days, or festivals as Passover is a festival, not an annual Sabbath. It's a bittersweet night. It's a sobering night. We're awfully serious that night. And you know we ought to be, because we are remembering our Lord's death until He comes. But we can focus on the bitter side to the point that we overlook the sweet side of that night.

And so I want to take a little time, and let's go over to Luke 19, and I'll bring you up to what I want to leave you with from one chapter in the book of John. In Luke 17, we reach a certain point in verse 11. Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Actually, this is the beginning of His final trip, the trip that is going to end in His death.

And so they're up north, in Galilee, up to the west of the Sea of Galilee, up in that area. And there are a number of roads by which you can travel down. You could follow the central Judean hills, the mountains. You could go over by the coast. But He chose to go over toward the Dead Sea. Sea of Galilee is actually over 700 feet below sea level. So they went down to the Sea of Galilee and then followed the road that went down the Jordan Valley.

But by the time they get down to Jericho, they're well over 1,300 feet below sea level. And so from Jericho, where you turn to God, as the Bible says, go up to Jerusalem, you literally are going up from a minus 1,300 to a plus 2,500. Anyhow, just a side point there. He entered a certain village. This is as they're traveling. It tells the story of the ten men who were lepers.

You know the story. They were healed. The one who was a Samaritan came back and gave thanks. Verse 20, different thought begins. Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, He answered and said, the Kingdom of God does not come with observation. And He goes on. He was asked about the Kingdom of God.

The disciples had preconceptions about the role of Messiah. All they had ever known was the fact that Messiah was to return as a conquering King. They did not perceive the first and then the second coming of Jesus Christ. All they saw was the second coming. Many messianic prophecies back in the Old Testament focused on that coming in power. And of course, Jesus had the challenge of revealing to them, you know, I'm going to die, but I'm going to come back.

And it's the second time when He comes in power. So He was asked about the Kingdom of God. They, too, expected Messiah to come and reign then as King. Chapter 18, just a few highlights here and there. Chapter 18, verse 31, in no uncertain terms, it's not the first time, but another time He again told them clearly of His coming suffering and then death. Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.

For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him, and the third day He will rise again. But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken. The story goes on. The approach Jericho, again, remember, they're going down the Jordan Valley, down toward Jericho, the low point, and a certain blind man sat by the road begging, and those crying out, Son of David, have mercy on us.

Well, let's go to chapter 19, verse 1. Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. So we have the story where Zacchaeus climbed the sycamore tree, and Jesus called to him that I need to go to your house today. Verse 11, now when he had heard these things, he spoke another parable because he was near Jerusalem and because they thought the Kingdom of God would come immediately. Repeatedly, they felt he's here now to reign as king.

And in fact, just before he ascended back to heaven, 40 days after his resurrection, as Acts 1 relates the story, they still ask the question, Lord, will you now restore the Kingdom of Israel? They didn't understand. And so he tells parables to explain, and they still didn't understand. Verse 28, when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. And it came to pass when he drew near to Bethphage, or Bethphage, or Bethphage, some would say it.

But the H is Hebrew, it's a Hebrew name. The H is silent. Beth is house, like Bethlehem. Bethlehem is the house of bread. Only this one's the house of figs. And Bethany, we hear Bethany in other places, at the mountain called Olivet, and he sent two of his disciples. Go into the village opposite you, where as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat.

Loose it and bring it here. This is the colt of the donkey. The male offspring of a donkey could be anywhere up to two or three years old and still be called a colt. A donkey, pound for pound, can carry much more than a horse. Just the difference in the way they're built. And if anyone asks you, why are you loosing it, thus you shall say to him, because the Lord has need of it.

Well, the story follows. They got the colt. Verse 35, they threw their own clothes on the colt, and they set Jesus on him. And as they went, verse 36, many spread their clothes on the road.

And verse 38, saying, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Again, it was all they could see, that Jesus is coming to be established as King, and to return the glory to Israel, and to reign in power. And that's why from time to time, they argued and they bickered over who's going to be greatest.

Who's going to be at the right hand and the left hand? That's why even at Passover night, one account has it that they were still squabbling. Who's going to be great? He fulfilled the prophecies here of coming into Jerusalem on a colt. Chapter 22, verse 1, the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.

The terms are used in kind of a generic sense, in different ways in the New Testament. And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed as Cariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him to them. And they were glad and agreed to give him money. So he promised and brought opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude.

Verse 24, Now there was also a dispute among them as to which of them should be considered greatest. And Jesus gave his statement, At the lords of the Gentiles exercise great dominion over people, but it shall not be among you.

Any time someone turns down the path of pride, it always destroys, every single time. It always pulls people apart. And Jesus told them, In the kingdom, no one is going to be reigning that way. We're going to be reigning in righteousness. And obviously, you guys aren't ready. I'd like to switch over now to John. Let's go first to John chapter 12. John 12 tells of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as is described in verses 12, 13, 14, 15.

But if we go a little later in the chapter, let's go down to verse 27. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose I came to this earth. Father, glorify Your name. And a voice was heard from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. People heard that voice. They thought it was an angel. Verse 30, Jesus answered and said, This voice did not come because of me, but for Your sake.

Now is the judgment of the world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. Once again, He clearly tells them, I'm going to suffer and then I'm going to die. He also went on and revealed that He would be betrayed to the Jewish leaders who would take His life. In Chapter 13, the foot washing has been focused on.

As the evening transpires, the final Passover meal, as far as in that sense of an Old Testament Passover is taking place. We aren't told, but I would suppose they had lamb and unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They obviously had wine. As the meal took place, of course, custom would have been foot washing first. And as the meal was taking place, notice here in verse 21, when Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit and testified and said, Most assuredly I say to you, one of you will betray Me.

Now He's there with the Twelve and for over three years they've traveled with Him. They've listened to His teaching. They've gone on errands and at times He's sent them out on His behalf and given them great power. Miracles have been performed in Christ's name. And what a shock it must have been to be told, one of you is going to betray Me. Well, this was something that was prophesied long ago. There were a number of prophecies back in the Psalm. You could make a note of Psalm 41 verse 9 where it talks about even My own familiar friend in whom I trusted who ate My bread.

There's a prophecy in Zechariah 11 verses 12 and 13 that even say for 30 pieces of silver. So hundreds of years in advance it had been prophesied. What would happen? Who would be responsible? It would be one of His closest associates. And what the price was, the price of blood that would be paid.

Well, John, he was curious verse 23. There was one leaning on Jesus' bosom, one of His disciples whom Jesus loved. That was John's code for referring to Himself. Then leaning back on Jesus' breast said to Him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus answered, It is He to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it. And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now, after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. You know, maybe we need to keep that in mind. Sometimes we're quick to write off Judas as one who committed the unpardonable sin.

What he did was horrible. But when it got down to the final stages, it was Satan acting through him. Then Jesus said to him, What you do, do quickly. But no one at the table knew for what reason he said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, Buy those things we need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor.

Having received the piece of bread, he went out immediately, and it was night. Judas left, the meal continued, and during the course of the meal, he took bread, broke it, blessed it, passed it. And then one account said at the end of supper being ended, he took the cup, blessed it, passed it, drank from it all of you.

The night goes on, and before we leave chapter 13, Judas has been possessed, and he leaves. In verse 31, Jesus said, So when he had gone out, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man is glorified in God, is glorified in Him. The die is cast. Events are set into motion. The betrayer has gone forth to go find the Jewish leaders who would come later to take Jesus, and the events that would transpire throughout that night would take place. Let's go down a little further to verse 13. You have different ones. He's telling them, You're going to deny Me. Other accounts, other gospels add a little bit more.

But it gets down to the fact that they're saying we're not going anywhere. We'll lay down our life for you. But in verse 38, Jesus answered him, this is to Peter, Will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times. This brings us to the setting of that night. The disciples went from squabbling over who would be greatest to hearing that Jesus would suffer and die.

They went from observing Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem only days earlier to being told that every one of you will desert Me. They went from dreaming about the power they were going to inherit when Christ began to reign in this life or at that time to being told to watching Jesus take off His outer robe, take some water, and begin washing their feet. It was a puzzling week of contrasts for them. There was so much they could not see. There's so much we still don't see.

But we've got a little extra help that they at that time did not have. Jesus knew what lay ahead for Him. He was going to undergo an assault of abuse.

We know that He knew what it was going to be like because He is the very one who inspired David and so many others to write down bits of prophecy as far as how, as Isaiah wrote, He would be marred more than any man. That He would take our sins. Through David, He even had inspired the very words, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? So He knew what was coming for Him.

He would be betrayed. He would be deserted. He would be spat upon, ridiculed, mocked, scourged, and He knew what a Roman scourging was all about. And ultimately be condemned to death, crucified, and even left alone by His Father when darkness covered the earth. Because His Father turned away when Jesus became sin for humankind. He knew what was ahead. But in chapter 14, we have what is called one of the most comforting chapters in all the Bible. Rather than focusing on Himself, He turns to His disciples and He wanted to give them comfort and strength to be able to get through what they were going to experience.

You see, they were going to be with Him when He was betrayed. And we don't know how many, but some of them were going to see certain things done to Him. You and I would think, well, if I was one of those disciples, I'd sure be somewhere where I could see the crucifixion. But we don't know. We aren't told. We only know that John came with Mary to the very cross itself. Can we, to some small degree, relate to the feelings of consternation, of just simply being lost?

The disciples must have gone through. The whiplash of thinking the Great Power, the Great Kingdom was about to come, and then they find out, no, you're all going to forsake Me and run. You know, we suffer many afflictions in trials. We deal with sicknesses.

We deal with a lot of frustrations, all for the sake of Jesus Christ, for His name's sake. We are called to share in His sufferings. Peter wrote about that decades later, how we are partakers of the sufferings of Jesus Christ. And at times, this life that we live is just simply pain. And by the end of chapter 13, the disciples are confused. They are anxious. They are bewildered. And they have to be just simply scared. And Jesus moved from speaking of Peter's denials. He moved to giving them comfort. And essentially, He gives it to us as well.

And I think it's good for us to focus on the sweet side of the reassuring comfort that Jesus gives to us as we go and prepare to take the Passover. The foundation of comfort is faith. You know what it says in Hebrews 11, verse 1, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11, verse 6 also speaks about faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.

For He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. The foundation of comfort is faith.

In what Jesus taught, I skipped over the place in the Gospels where at this same season of the year, He took a little child and said, unless you become as this little child, you'll never enter the kingdom of God. Simple, yes, even blind, childlike faith, trust, belief, is what is necessary in order to find comfort in the face of living a life that often times clouds up and storms all over us. In John 14, in a nutshell, Jesus reassures them and us by saying, that first of all, even though I must leave for a while, I'll never forget you.

And He tells them, secondly, you can trust every last promise that I've made to you.

And thirdly, He tells them, I am showing you the way to eternal life in the kingdom.

And fourthly, He's telling them, I'm going to send help.

You're not going to be on your own. You're not going to be orphans. I'm going to send help to get you through this.

Again, the only concept they knew was that of a Messiah coming to reign in power and to conquer.

But Jesus told them He was going to die.

Their belief system, their expectations were rocked to the very core.

Their master, the one whom they had followed for these years, didn't fit the mold they had formed in their minds.

And yet, they surely were aware of the prophecy in Isaiah 61, first couple of verses of the coming of Messiah. And one thing, one reason He came for was the comfort, all who mourn.

He was a God of comfort.

They would have been aware of growing up, hearing stories of the great exploits of the children of Israel.

They would have been aware of the stories of when Moses was told, be strong and of good courage.

And then Joshua was told the same thing, be strong and of good courage. No one will be able to stand before you all the days of your life.

And now, Jesus is telling them, you're going to have to be strong.

You're going to have courage. You have to have courage.

And He left them behind a great deal of comfort.

John 14.

John 14, verse 1. John 14, verse 1. Let not your heart be troubled.

There are times over the years I've had a friend over, usually an email, just spilling something about their life or life's about to choke them out.

And I'll in part reply and I'll say, remember John 14, 1, part A, which means the first phrase, let not your heart be troubled.

As humans, we like to think of the worst-case scenarios, and there's a time for that.

But Jesus was saying, I'm in charge.

The Father and I have a plan that is right on time.

And don't be troubled.

Don't be troubled.

You believe in God.

Believe also in me.

Even though He was going to physically leave them, He would spiritually always be with them.

Verse 2, in my Father's house are many mansions.

Sadly, the new King James has carried that word, mansions, over from the King James version.

It obscures a lot of what is being said here.

Possibly the best translation in English would be runes.

But as archaeologists have discovered a lot more of the last century, they realize that you find some of the old homes.

And the Jewish practice at that time was, you have sons and daughters. Usually the daughter would marry into another family, and she'd go off with her husband's family.

But your sons would grow up.

You need more room?

Add on another room or a suite.

Your next son gets to the point where he marries. You need more room? Add on another room.

Third son, the same.

That's the way it is with family. There's always room for another one, or two, or more.

You think about what it is written about in Revelation 21 with the New Jerusalem. And look at the dimensions of that. It would be room, literally, for hundreds of billions of people, members of the family of God.

If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you.

Again, that was a cultural item in their day.

If a son was going to get married and you needed more room, you go. You build that room. You get it all ready. Then you have a marriage, and they come and move into that extra room there at the house complex, at your father's house.

I go to prepare a place for you.

You, he said, will be in my father's house.

But I've got to go make things ready first.

Verse 3, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again.

He continues to reassure them. I've got to go for a while.

I will be with you, but I'm coming back to you, and you will be where I am.

If I come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.

And where I go, you know, and the way you know.

Well, he kind of said that as a question I'm sure he realized they didn't comprehend. And Thomas, the same one who, after the resurrection, wasn't going to believe until he could inspect and feel and see and all of that.

Thomas said, Lord, we do not know where you are going. And how can we know the way?

Verse 6, Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

So Christ was going to go on ahead, but He was going to come back to them. And in the process of time, He was going to lead them to the Father's Kingdom, the Father's house, where there'd be plenty of room.

He was saying, you don't need a map.

He also said He was the embodiment of truth.

As He prayed that night a little later to His Father, Your Word is truth.

He was the very embodiment of truth itself.

And the truth sets you free.

And Jesus was going to go back to His Father.

They didn't comprehend that at that time.

And in fact, as you read through the book of Acts and a lot of Paul's epistles and some of his latter ones, the early church still felt He was coming back while they were still living.

So Paul in the resurrection chapter said, we shall be changed.

He felt it was going to happen in his lifetime.

But his last book, the second letter to Timothy, he said, I've fought a good fight, and I know there's a crown of life laid up for me, which God's going to give to me when He returns.

But the disciples at this point didn't understand that.

Jesus was going to re-inherit the glory that He had had with His Father for eternity, and then lead His disciples to life eternal.

He was saying, all you have to do is follow and be patient.

And He adds the thought of obeying, the obedience of the later in the chapter. Verse 8, Peter said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.

Well, he had already said during his ministry, I came to reveal the Father.

But he tells them, have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me? Philip, He who has seen Me has seen the Father.

So how can you say, show us the Father?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you, I do not speak of My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

And so, throughout his ministry, the disciples had to have grown in the limited sense they could, grown in the realization that this, our Master, our Lord, truly is God in the flesh.

They saw Him perform miracles.

They saw times when the very demonic spirits had to obey Him.

They saw the power that no human being had.

He was all-powerful, invincible.

And the idea of Him dying was something they could not comprehend.

And so, Jesus took a little time to reaffirm them that I am a part of the very divine God, or I am a member of the God family.

The Father and I worked this out. He's in Me. I'm in Him.

A little later, He's going to tell them that we'll be in you, too.

But in verse 10, we read, I am in the Father.

He used that phrase that He used so many times during His earthly ministry.

Remember how one time when He said, I am, and they fell away backward?

That's the very name of God.

We first find it back in Exodus 3, where Moses came across a bush that was burning but was not being consumed.

And He asked God, well, if you're going to send Me to Egypt, who's sending Me? Tell them that I am, that I am.

Tell them I am sent you.

And Jesus is connecting once again Himself with that name, that name of God, I am.

He's telling them that I have divine power and authority.

He's telling them that He was with the Father, and yet He was distinct from the Father, and yet they were perfectly unified.

And again, sadly, this night before His death, the disciples could not comprehend fully.

Satan can counterfeit miracles, you know.

Satan can counterfeit spiritual phenomena.

Christianity is all about believing.

Christianity is about walking by faith and not by sight.

But some of the disciples, like Philip, was saying, show us the Father.

They wanted to see with their eyes what God was like.

Verse 12, most assuredly I say to you, He who believes in Me, the works that I do, He will do also. And greater works than these He will do, because I go to My Father.

Well, think of what Jesus did during His ministry when it was all said and done, even though there were thousands who followed Him at times, thousands came to see or to hear His message.

When it got down to it in Acts 1, about verse 14-15, it says there were about 120 gathered together.

And yet, these 11 at this point of the night, but it would become 12 again with Matthias, these 12 would fan out to the world, fan out mainly to the children of Israel in their calling.

And as Peter preached on that day of Pentecost, 3,000 were added to the church.

In different places in the book of Acts, it says the numbers of the disciples were multiplied.

And that story has continued for 2,000 years.

Jesus was one human being. Yes, God in the flesh, but one human being.

And He only was working in one place at one time.

But the disciples would become many and go forth to all the world. 1,13, Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

And it's not that we just go through the routine when we have a prayer here or we say our own personal prayer.

We hope, hopefully it's never just something that becomes habit to end by saying, and we ask this or I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.

Hopefully we always know the power, the person behind that.

If you ask in My name, He's telling them, I'm going to be gone awhile, while I'm gone, whatever you need, ask in My name.

And I'll give it to you.

Now, obviously, this understands that you ask in a right way, right reason, right purpose that coincides with the will of God.

In verse 15, He begins reminding them of the need to obey, but He also gets to the point where He tells them, I'm going to send you help. I'm not deserting you.

While I'm gone, you're going to have help.

Verse 15, if you love Me, keep My commandments.

Yes, tying in with the sermon up there.

We show our love by the way we live.

The way we live will be in harmony with the commandments of God.

And I will pray the Father and He will give you another helper.

That's the way the new King James has it. The old King James, I like it, used the word comforter.

I will send the comforter that He may abide with you forever. The new Revised Standard uses the term advocate.

I'm going to give someone, I shouldn't say someone, I'm going to give you help.

The Greek word paracletos, different forms.

Para meaning alongside, kleetos from the root kaleo.

And I said that, I'm drawing a blank called. Someone called to go along to help, to comfort, to serve as an advocate for you.

You will not be left alone is what He is saying.

In essence, we have two paracletes working for us.

We have the Spirit of God who is called the comforter, the helper, the advocate. And we also have Jesus Christ, our High Priest.

When this same disciple, John, wrote his first epistle, look at 1 John 2 verse 1.

He referred to how we have this advocate who is with the Father, and His name is Jesus Christ.

Verse 17, speaking of this helper, this comforter, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

It is the Spirit of Truth.

As we yield to the Holy Spirit, we are safeguarded and we stay within the realm of truth.

If we get out there feeling like we're some lone ranger coming in out of the sunset, we get derailed every time.

The church is the pillar and stay of the truth.

He will be in you.

It is the living essence of God that guides you into truth.

Verse 18, I will not leave you orphans.

I will come to you.

Well, within 24 hours, well, not even that long, Jesus is going to be dead.

But here He guarantees His disciples that He would once again rise from the dead and live again, and not just that, but that He would come back to them.

He appeared to them for 40 days after His resurrection.

And then He explained, I've got to go to my Father, but I'll be back.

I'll be back.

19, a little while longer in the world, we'll see me no more, but you will see me because I live.

You will live also, and He's speaking here about living eternally.

He will show them the way.

He will lead them on the path they must walk, that we must walk in being about our Father's business.

Verse 20, at that day, you will know that I am in the Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

God will live in us.

He tells them, God will live in you. You will be the very temple of the Spirit of God.

You will be the temple of God.

God will dwell in you. His very essence will be given to you.

Well, the disciples, as we know, were puzzled and did not comprehend, but when we get a few weeks down the line, when the events of Acts 2 transpire, they do understand because we see the most dramatic change in Peter, whose story we read the most about.

Let's go on down. Let's go down to verse 21.

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is He who loves Me, and He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love Him and manifest Myself to Him.

Well, once again, we have another disciple who asks a question.

This is Judas, not a scariot. Judas is sometimes called Levius, sometimes called Thaddeus, the other Judas. He said to him, Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us and not to the world? And Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.

So again, loving God and living by every word of God is connected throughout the Bible.

And My Father will love Him, and we will come to Him and make our home with Him.

Again, speaking of that very essence of God, called the Holy Spirit, that would be poured out.

He who does not love Me does not keep My words, and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father who sent Me.

These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. I'm not telling you anything new. I've already told you this.

Verse 26, But the Helper, the Comforter, the Advocate, the Pericletos, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send, and it was going to happen on the next day, Pentecost, will send in My name, there's that phrase again, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you.

I mean, these men are sitting here, and sometime years down the line, Matthew is going to start writing out what we know is the Gospel of Matthew, and John's going to write one.

And you've got Mark, you have Luke probably written at the behest of Peter and Paul, but at any rate, you're going to be able to remember everything I said.

And then in verse 27, notice here, Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.

You see, the world has this concept of peace as being the absence of adversity.

We see the world's so-called peace all over the world today.

But there's so much more intended there. That's a topic for another time, I suppose.

Not as the world gives do I give to you. And then again, as He began the chapter, He said, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

You have heard Me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. So He's recanting what He covered there at the room because they're just about to leave. And they're going to head toward the garden of Gethsemane. But He's recamping.

If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said I am going to the Father, for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me, referring to Satan, the present God of his age.

But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandments, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

And chapter 15 takes place as they've left the, well, it's called the Upper Room.

I think it's fascinating to think about. Now, I am the true vine. My Father is the vine-dresser.

And in that nearly full moon clear night, now I guess I added the word clear, didn't I? But in an arid climate, at least in my mind's eye and vision, that way, looking across the Kedron Valley toward Herod's Temple, beautiful temple, nothing, no way to compare to Solomon's, but along either side going up, was this gold, or this grapevine, up, over, and across in Boston gold.

And in that setting, as they look across, and it would seem that they could see the moon reflecting, the light reflecting off of that grapevine, he's telling them, it's not what is over in that building. I am the true vine. My Father is the vine-dresser.

And chapter 15 is a topic for another time.

As we gather for the Passover, a week from Thursday, it will be sober. It will be a somber, serious night, and rightfully so, because, as Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, you are remembering, you are memorializing the Lord's death till He come. It has the atmosphere of a funeral, and it sobers us. Again, think of the disciples that night, the whiplash they had been through that final week, of thinking that their master was coming to reign in power, but finding out, being told, maybe beginning to get a little glimpse that He's going to die. And then, in the next hours, they watched so much take place. But as we come to the Passover, we examine our life. Sometimes that self-examination can be disappointing to us. We probably all think, I should have gotten further. And maybe we're relying too much on the I part of that, instead of relying upon the One who has all power, the One who is the way. And sometimes we reflect on the mistakes and the sins that we commit so often, in times that we go back to God again for the same old thing. And we focus this week and next on the sufferings of Christ, as we in our mind try to relive and envision what He went through. We remember the suffering He went through, hour upon hour. And finally, the soldier's spear opened up the wound that allowed his life's blood to pour forth. And He said, it's finished. It's accomplished. It's over. So, a bittersweet night. But let us remember the sweet side. The forgiveness. The victory over sin. The comfort. Because life happens.

Life storms all over us. We can get down and discouraged. Maybe scared, like I envisioned the disciples were that night. And just like He told them, Jesus tells us, even though I haven't come back yet, I will never forget you. I'll never leave you nor forsake you.

You can trust every last promise I ever made. I will remember them. I will come back.

I will show the way, all the way, into the kingdom. I will continue sending you the help you need to endure. And with that helper, you can overcome the world as I did.

Two times that night, verse 1 and verse 27, He said, let not your heart be troubled.

And in verse 27, He added the thought, neither let it be afraid.

Have a wonderful Sabbath, and we'll see you on the Pass overnight.