Did you realize that Jesus felt troubled and agitated, but he instructed his followers not to? Isn’t that a curious contrast? Jesus felt troubled outside of Lazarus’ tomb in John 11:33; later he experienced a troubled spirit on Palm Sunday the Sunday before his death (John 12:27). With his disciples, Jesus felt troubled in his spirit when he revealed to his disciples that one of them would betray him (John 13:21). Yet he instructed his disciples to stop their hearts from being troubled in John 14:1. In other words, Jesus experienced trouble in his spirit so that we need not experience it. Afterwards, he explained why they should not feel agitation in their hearts; they were to trust in God and in him, because he was preparing the way for them to God and that they knew the way. His explanation generated questions; Thomas claimed that they didn’t know the way, but Jesus corrected him. They did know the way, because he was the way, the truth and the life, through him all needed to go to the Father. Since they knew Jesus, they knew the way to God their Father. Then, Philip wanted to see the Father, but again Jesus enlightened him. If they had seen Jesus, they had seen God the Father, because the Father was in Jesus and spoke through him.
Situations in this life cause our hearts trouble, we see things, we hear things that disturb us, but Jesus gives us an answer; look to him. He is the solution and will show us the solution out of a troubled spirit, because a troubled spirit is not the answer; Jesus is.
David Freitag 