“Let not your heart be troubled;
you believe in God,
believe also in Me.”
(John 14:1)
John 14 verse 1 starts
With three statements
And yet there is so much
In each of these statements
Firstly – “Let not your heart be troubled”
We are guilty of reading things quickly
We skim over the words
Looking for the MAIN truth
And in an effort to get to
Where we want to go
We MISS so much in the process
Jesus is speaking, and
In my Bible (NKJV)
The words are in RED
To denote that Jesus is speaking
So He starts by saying
“Let not…”
He could have said:
“Listen up…”
“Pay attention…”
“What I am about to tell you is really important”
But NO He says two words
Followed by a couple more
“Let not – your heart be troubled”
Your “heart” is talking about the REAL you
Where you feel,
Where your emotions are
You believe – in your heart
Your heart can be easily broken
It should and can be soft and sensitive
But in many is hard and calloused
Hurt, broken, abused by so many
So many words and people
“Let not your heart – be troubled”
Protect yourself
Look after yourself
Do not fear…
Have faith…
“Let not your heart be troubled;
you believe in God, ‘
The second statement is:
“you believe in God”
Again, we believe in our heart
But what does it mean to “Believe in God”?
In our Anglican tradition
We state, profess, confess, declare
On a regular basis what we believe in
Through the words of the Creed
But have we ever stopped and asked
The question: “What does it mean…?”
What does it mean to “Believe in God”?
Perhaps we should start with:
What does it mean to “believe in” anything?
I suppose we could say that IT EXISTS
It is REAL and I believe it
And yet no one has seen God
But many would claim
(Myself included)
That they have experienced God
On a close, personal and intimate level
This being the case
Jesus said:
“Let not your heart be troubled;
you believe in God,
believe also in Me.”
IF you believe in God
Then believe in ME also
Now to believe in God
Is a bit different from believing
In anything else
Simply because of the use of the word “God”
A GOD is an ultimate, all powerful
All knowing being
Either to be feared or loved
Depending on which way that God
Relates to and deals with US
Fortunately, we believe in a God
Who reveals Himself as being LOVE
But by knowing Him as a God
Implies a being that should be served
Which we do and is easier
Because He is love
When we think in this way
And give God His proper place
We can then have a better insight
Into what Jesus was saying
YOU believe in God
In LIKE manner then,
BELIEVE also in ME
“Let not your heart be troubled;
you believe in God,
believe also in Me.”
In those three statements
In those short words
Jesus claimed to be GOD, also
NOW, try and let those words sink in
Think about what I have just said
Don’t rush over them
The disciples that Jesus was talking to
Were looking at a MAN speaking to them
And He (Jesus) just identified Himself
As being GOD
Everything within themselves
Was probably screaming at them
Saying this guy is nuts…
How can a man be GOD…
And yet that is exactly what we
Say that we believe
Sunday by Sunday
In many churches
It is impossible to believe
Without FAITH
And without FAITH we
Cannot please God
“Let not your heart be troubled;
you believe in God,
believe also in Me.”
Jesus the MAN
Was also Jesus the GOD
And we, along with the disciples,
Believe it