The world is full of troubled hearts. It is also full of reasons for our hearts to be troubled – from the personal to the impersonal, from national to global – sickness and famine and conflict and heartbreak abound.

That is the context of John 14:1-11, the passage we are meditating on for this devotional. Jesus had just told his beloved disciples that he was going to be leaving them, and that they would not be following him. To the disciples, who had come to treasure Jesus as friend (John 15:13-15), trust him as their good shepherd (John 10:11), and worship him as Lord (John 13:14), the news of their impending separation would have thrown their world into turmoil.

Jesus responds to the trouble in his disciples’ hearts by telling them to not let their hearts be troubled (John 14:1a, cf 14:27). And that is what we try to tell ourselves too – we respond to the trouble in our hearts by telling ourselves not to be troubled. Growing up in Singapore, I remember how much striving was directed to this end, labouring hard at school so that we could accumulate income and power to inoculate ourselves against the troubles that will come our way.

However, our self-made, home-brewed remedies for soothing troubled hearts don’t last. When trouble hits, we learn that neither asceticism nor achievement, riches nor reputation will bring lasting calm to the troubled soul. Which is why Jesus does not just tell his disciples not to be troubled, he tells them how.

Later on in the passage, Jesus proclaims, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The path to true life (and solution for troubled hearts) is not found in success in the world or even detachment from the world but reconciliation with the Lord of the universe. Every other path leads to a dead end. To paraphrase the meditation of Thomas à Kempis, Jesus came to be the way which we must follow, the truth which we must believe, and the life for which we must hope. Without Jesus there is no going, there is no knowing, and there is no living.¹

The disciples’ troubled hearts are not the only important context for today’s passage. In John’s gospel, prior to 14:1, the only person who is described as “troubled” (greek: tarassō) is Jesus. Jesus is “greatly troubled” at the death of Lazarus and the despair and grief of those around him. (John 11:33). Jesus declares his soul to be “troubled” at the looming hour of his death (John 12:27). And Jesus is described as “troubled in his Spirit” as he declares that one of his own disciples would betray him (13:21).

Jesus came not just to tell us not to be troubled, he came to take our troubles upon himself. Holy Week is the annual reminder of this great and glorious and utterly undeserved exchange. As we recount Jesus’ road to the cross, we remind ourselves of the deep trouble that Jesus wrestled with and the excruciating agony He endured. All for our sake. As the words of Isaiah 53:4-5 soberly describe,

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.

Holy Week reminds us that the path to everlasting life is not found on a map, but through faith in a person, Jesus Christ, who came to redeem us and left to prepare a place for us. When Jesus told his disciples of his departure, he assured them that they would see him again and their separation was not going to be permanent. Rather, Jesus was going to prepare a place for them to join him. That promise holds for all who follow Jesus. And as we wait for Jesus to come again, we wait with expectant hope. Our hope is anchored in the truth of the Gospel, the abundant life we have in Christ, and the certainty of our future resurrection, when we will be with our saviour in the place he has prepared for us. So let not your hearts be troubled. Put your faith in God, and let’s look forward to the day our faith becomes sight.

Samuel is currently leading a church plant, Covenant City Church, in Richmond, British Columbia. Originally from Singapore, he is married to Jessica, and they have two boys, Josiah and Ezra. He holds a ThM (New Testament) and MATS (Biblical Languages) from Regent College, and a BA (Economics) from the University of Cambridge. Samuel is passionate about bridging biblical scholarship with the local church.