Fifth Sunday of Easter
John 14:1-14
May 3, 2026
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Jesus speaks these words to 11 troubled souls, troubled on Maundy Thursday because of the events that had happened over the past couple days and because of what Jesus has said over the past couple of days.
Judas walked out in the middle of the Passover meal after Jesus said someone was about to betray Him. Jesus also told Peter that he’d deny Him three times before morning. Jesus, for a third time, told them that He’d be handed over to sinners and be beaten and crucified. The disciples are full of fear and trepidation to be sure. Their Shepherd was about to leave them, and they could not go with Him.
And into this, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He doesn’t then say, “Don’t worry, be happy” or “It’ll all work out” or “Try harder to believe,” but He says, “Trust in God; Trust in me.” And then Jesus gives an exhaustive reason why trusting in God and His Word is at the heart of what it is to be a follower.
When trouble comes, what do we do? Where do we run? The modern world runs from trouble. To have pain or discomfort or fear or anxiety is seen as weakness in a society like ours that is always looking for the right medication, the right exercise technique, the right religion or church denomination, the right job or the right self-identification – all to escape trouble or insecurity. Today it’s all about identity, “Who am I,” and the answer people seek often has more to do with the flesh and the desires of the flesh than it does finding our identity in the Lord. People fear the Lord and so, like Adam and Eve, they try and put on airs. They cover themselves and hide themselves because they know, deep down, that they deserve His wrath.
They wrap themselves up in worldliness, in worldly endeavors and principles with the hope that they can escape, that God will overlook their sins.
And even we who are chosen by God and set apart to be His holy people, we fear; our hearts are troubled. The 11 disciples heard the news that Jesus was leaving them, and they did not know how they’d go forward without Him. And like them, our hearts are troubled because sometimes Jesus seems so distant. Prayers seem to go unanswered, suffering and health issues come, the church isn’t growing as we think it should, money is tight, no one steps up to help. Where is God in all this trouble?
A better question is, what do we do when trouble comes? Perhaps we fall into the sin of self-reliance. Rather than believing, trusting in God and His Word, we trust ourselves and our clever programs and ways. Perhaps we do as, sadly too many believers do, and we say, “Everything happens for a reason” and we try to find comfort in optimism. But have you ever stopped to ask yourself if faith is about optimism? Many Christians today embrace the vague, spiritual idea of “many paths.” They’ll say, “find a Christian path that you like and that fits your life and God will bless you.” Jesus actually confronts such a false understanding of the faith head on because of how the Rabbinical religion of the Pharisees who themselves believed that there were “many interpretations” or “many paths.” They were very tied to the “oral tradition” and every rabbi, every pharisee had his own spin on things.
Of course, there’s the big lie that things will be good if we just live moral lives – the legalistic lie that keeps finding footing in the church.
And yet how many hearts continue to be troubled? None of it seems to work. We rely on ourselves and our church programs and ideas and we fail. We put forth the optimistic notions of “everything happens for a reason” and there is just no comfort for us. We “pick our personal path” which fits our lifestyle and still so many dead ends and pitfalls show up along the way. We try hard to be good, moral, disciplined people and yet we still sin and we still come up short.
This is why our Lord’s words are so important. He does not want us looking into ourselves for comfort and purpose, but to look outside of ourselves, to Him and His cross, to unchanging, absolute things where sure salvation is given. “Trust in God, trust in me,” says the Lord. He is not some vague abstraction or an idea to be pursued, a kernel or nugget of spiritual advice given by the eclectic guru, but He is the Lord, the Savior, the Good Shepherd, the righteous teacher whose words offer eternal hope and comfort.
He says to the 11, “In my Father’s house are many rooms…I go to prepare a place for you.” What does this mean? It’s life with God, right? When you live in the house with others, you are part of that family, and the house of many rooms which Jesus now prepares for us means that we are forever part of God’s family.
How does Jesus prepare our rooms in God’s house? He gives His life for us and bears our sin so that we are made His brothers and sisters and therefore children and heirs of His Father.
Jesus “goes away” to a place you cannot go, by suffering and dying on the cross, being sealed in a tomb, and rising again for you so that you may now join Him in His resurrected life. And it’s not so much about going to a place. The Christian faith is most importantly about being with someone, being with Jesus, being in communion with Him eternally.
If you’ve ever been to a funeral, what you discover is that most funerals, sadly, are about the dead. They’re more about looking backward and trying to find comfort in the life the deceased loved one lived, even if their life was anything but comforting or worth talking about. And to be sure, none of us want to leave behind a legacy where our loved ones don’t have much good to say about us.
And so, we fill our lives with all sorts of stuff in order to make ourselves worthy in death, worthy of the praise of others. But if you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you worry about today? Legacy? Giving people something to talk about as they gaze into your coffin? Is that really what life is all about? Having people compliment you in death?
No. And in fact, the futility of such thinking – it’s almost funny.
But in a Lutheran funeral, it’s never about the dead but about the living. We do not mourn the past; we celebrate the eternity, the gift of resurrection and eternal life given in Christ and we even envy the deceased’s rest whose spirit is with the Lord. So, if you were to die tomorrow, what would you want your children and grandchildren to say? “Thank the Lord that my loved one is with the Lord, and that because of their praying for me and helping me and teaching me the catechism and reading Scripture with me, I will see Jesus too. Because they bothered to bring me to the baptismal font, bring me to church, raise me in a Christian home, now I too live forever with Jesus.” That’s a legacy!
Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” It’s not that Jesus merely shows the way or teaches the truth or makes a map pointing to life, but that He IS the way, truth, and life.
See, the Christian faith is not a path to follow or “a” truth among many or “a” way of life as if it’s some opinion among many. The Christian faith is not eclectic or postmodern. Jesus is not merely a way among many or a truth among many different truths or a lifestyle among many lifestyles.
For truth is not subjective; we don’t each have our own truth or truths. There are not many ways or paths which lead to the same destination. And life is not about living for ourselves or our own principles or convictions or goals.
Jesus, and only Jesus reconciles the world to God and there just is no other way. And I’m not just saying this because I happen to be a Christian who preaches a Christian perspective, no. But what Jesus says and what I preach is the truth – universally. It is so difficult for people to understand today, but truth is universal. There is only one truth and His name is Jesus. Truth isn’t about what feels right or what most people think or what the government declares. Truth is what God says, and what He says never changes, and God’s truth, the only truth, is revealed in Jesus and His death and resurrection.
And His truth, the only truth, is what gives life, true life, eternal life. Jesus is the source of life, the author of life and without Him there is only death. It’s the whole point of the two great trees in the Garden of Eden. Jesus is the Tree of Life from which we feast and there is no other life, no other tree of life besides Him.
This is hard for our postmodern, rationalistic, “enlightened” world to accept, that there is only one way, one truth, and one life. Even some Christians take offense at such words because it seems exclusive. Fact is that it’s very exclusive because Jesus doesn’t allow for other religions or other views or other opinions. Yet, it is the most inclusive because Jesus and His cross is for all, not just Americans, not just Lutherans, not just people with a certain skin color, and this Christian faith isn’t ethnic or cultural or national, but it is universal. But it must be by faith, not by works, and not by a continued pursuit of the wrong ways, the deceitful truths, and false living.
Jesus has come and He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and for all who believe on Him, who receive Him, they are the children of God. Without Jesus, without faith, there is no path that leads anywhere, there is nothing but lies and deceit, and there is no life, no sustenance, no light. But faith in Christ and His cross brings everything we need for life. A seed sitting out on a dry and dark table doesn’t do anything but degrade and get blown away. But a seed lovingly planted in the soil of God’s Word with the waters of baptism and the light of the Son, it sprouts and grows into a mighty tree.
Therefore, dear children of God, remain steadfast to He who is the way, the truth, and the life, for He has prepared for you a home and a purpose, a life lived with God your Father free from sin and fear. You have it now, but just not yet, but when Jesus returns, you will have it fully and it can never be taken from you.
So, do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust in Christ Jesus for He’s got it handled. Amen.
