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The Blue Letter Bible

Chuck Smith :: Sermon Notes for John 13:36

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I. PETER SAID UNTO HIM, "LORD, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"
A. Jesus had been saying to them that He was only going to be with them a little while longer. And as He said to the Jews, where He was going they could not come.
1. Peter's question is a natural response to the statement that Jesus made.
B. We now enter into what is commonly know as the Pascal Discourse which is the conversation between Jesus and His disciples, which basically consists of questions and answers.
1. It begins with this question of Peter, "Lord, where are you going?"
C. Jesus answered Peter, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me later."
D. Peter presses the issue and asks, "Why cannot I follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake."
1. I do not have the slightest question of the sincerity of Peter.
a. Later on in the garden, as the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter drew his sword and was ready to give his life in defending Jesus.
b. In reality, Peter later on did indeed lay down his life for the sake of Jesus.
c. Foxe, in his Book of Martyrs tells us that according to some of the accounts, when Nero decided to find a cause to put Peter to death, that some of his friends convinced him to flee from the city, and he through their importunity was at last persuaded to do so. However, when he came to the gate of the city he met Jesus and worshipping Him, he asked quo vadis, or "Where are you going?" And Jesus responded, "I have come again to be crucified." With that Peter returned to the city and Jerome said that he was crucified, his head being down and his feet being upward, himself so requiring, because he was (he said) unworthy to be crucified after the same form and manner as the Lord.
2. Peter's statement expresses a lot of confidence in the flesh.
a. The other gospel writers tell us that Jesus said to His disciples, "All of you are going to be offended this night because of Me." And Peter responded, "Though all of them may be offended, I will never be offended." It is then that Jesus prophesied his denial.
b. It is not good to have confidence in our flesh. Paul said, "We are they that have no confidence in the flesh." Again he said, "I know that in me, that is in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing."
c. Be careful of that boasting that says while condemning another's actions, "I would never do that."
d. Jesus further in this conversation is going to tell the disciples, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing."
e. Wise king Solomon said, "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."
E. Jesus said, "Will you lay down your life for My sake? I tell you the truth, the cock will not crow until you have denied Me three times."
1. Again the other gospels record that at this prediction Peter objected saying, "Lord even though they slay me, I would never deny you."
2. Peter is making a cardinal mistake, and that is arguing with the Lord.
3. If you ever find yourself arguing with the Lord, you are wrong. He is always right.
F. In the original gospel of John there is no break here with a new chapter and verse. It just reads, "I tell you the truth, the cock will not crow, until you have denied Me three times, let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me, 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, that where I am, there you may be also."
1. Peter had asked the question, "Where are you going?" And Jesus is now answering that question declaring that He was going to prepare a place for them. Jesus said, "Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow Me later." Now He is declaring that "If I go away, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."
II. RECOGNIZING THE TIE BETWEEN CHAPTERS 13 AND 14, LET US GO BACK NOW AND LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT THE WORDS THAT JESUS SAID. "LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED."
A. We read that Jesus was troubled in His spirit, but now He is telling His disciples, "Let not your heart be troubled."
1. The very fact that He told them not to let their hearts be troubled, indicates that their hearts were troubled.
2. They were troubled because of the things that He was saying to them.
a. Their concept of the Messiah was that of a reigning monarch.
b. He was speaking of leaving them, going where they could not presently come.
c. For the past six months He had been speaking about His being crucified, put to death by the Romans.
d. They were thinking that he was going to defeat the Romans, and banish them from the land.
e. Now that He is making it more clear that He is going to be put to death, and that very soon, their hearts would be troubled.
3. Our hearts are always troubled by our failures. We as Peter often think that we are better than we really are. Stronger and more committed to the Lord than others. It is always a troubling thing to recognize our weaknesses.
a. Peter, before the morning sun comes over the horizon of the mountains of Moab, you will have denied Me three times, "Let not your heart be troubled."
4. What is the cure for a troubled heart? "Believe God, believe Me." Some have translated this as an indicative and an imperative, but I believe that the revised version is probably correct in this case where it translated it as a double imperative. "Believe in God, believe in Me."
5. When your heart is troubled because you cannot understand what the Lord is allowing to happen, "Believe in God, and believe in Jesus."
III. "IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS." MANY ABIDING PLACES. "I AM GOING TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU."
A. Paul speaks of this body in which we presently live as a tent. He declares that when this tent is dissolved, that is, my body decays and returns to dust, I have a building of God not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
1. This eternal building of God not made with hands, I believe is the new body that the Lord has prepared for me. If you please, the mansion in heaven.
2. I do not believe that we will be dwelling in houses such as we know here on the earth. Can you imagine angels living in houses? You surely will not need a bedroom there. I do not believe that our new bodies will require sleep.
3. We will not have need of electrical systems and lights, for the Lamb will be the light thereof.
4. I do not believe that there will be supermarkets.
5. I do not believe that we have even perceived or imagined what heaven will be like.
6. It is a body that cannot know decay or aging, as Paul refers to it as eternal.
B. "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."
1. Again remember the context, the question "Where are you going and why cannot I follow you now?"
2. "I am going to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."
3. When Stephen was about to be martyred he cried, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God." I believe that He was standing to receive this martyr into glory. He was coming to get him.
4. This coming again to receive them unto Himself no doubt is a reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ.
5. This we know, He is coming again.
Sermon Notes for John 13:36 ← Prior Section
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