Not My Plan

Not My Plan

John 14:1-14

Keith Doster has often said, “That’s not the way I would have planned it.” Those words have echoed in my ears over the years as I have watched heartbreak and sorrow eventually turn into joy and gladness. It’s the broken leg that leads to a conversation with a physical therapist, the conversation leads to the gospel, and God uses the gospel to bring that person to Christ. We would never choose the broken leg, but we rejoice in the salvation of the physical therapist. And looking back we might still say, “That’s not the way I would have planned it.”

The problem is that we often try to interpret the pain before we know the outcome. In the middle of suffering, we can only see what hurts. We cannot yet see what God intends to accomplish through it. Sometimes God graciously allows us to see the fruit later. Other times, we may not understand what He was doing until eternity.

That is where the disciples find themselves in John 14. From their perspective, nothing is going according to plan. Jesus has announced that one of them will betray Him. He has told Peter that he will deny Him. Now Jesus keeps telling them that He is going away and that they cannot follow Him. This is not the way they thought the story was supposed to go. What they cannot yet see is that the very events troubling their hearts are necessary for their salvation. The joy will outweigh the sorrow. 

And some of you may be there this morning. You are in the middle of sorrow, anxiety, disappointment, bitterness, or pain, and you cannot see what God is doing. You would not have planned it this way. You would not have chosen this road. But you cannot judge the goodness of God's plan merely by the difficulty of your present circumstances. God is working all things for the good of His people and for the glory of His name. His plan may not be the plan you would have written, but His plans are always wiser and better than ours.

Someone has said that all of us are in one of three places: we are either going into a trial, in the middle of a trial, or coming out of a trial. Wherever you are this morning, the question is the same: What will anchor your heart when life does not go according to your plan?

Jesus' answer is not that we will always understand what God is doing. His answer is to give us Himself. When the disciples could not understand the plan, Jesus reminded them of the Person they could trust. So let's anchor our hearts this morning in five truths about Jesus.

Jesus Cares for Troubled Hearts ( John 14:1)

Jesus begins by addressing what is happening inside His disciples, John 14:1,

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” 

Their hearts are troubled for good reason. Judas has left to betray Jesus. Jesus has told them He is going away and they cannot follow Him. Peter has just learned that before the night is over he will deny Jesus three times. Everything they thought was going to happen seems to be unraveling, and they have no idea what tomorrow will bring.

And we know how unsettling it is not to know what tomorrow will bring. You don't know if you will have enough money for next month's rent. You don't know if the relationship you are fighting to save is going to make it. You don't know if the child who has walked away from the Lord will ever come home. Beloved, not knowing can produce a whole lot of fear, worry, and anxiety. We want answers. We want to know how the story is going to end. And often, God simply does not tell us. 

Is your heart troubled today? Maybe you walked into this room carrying something that no one else knows about. You are worried, and it is beginning to show. You can't sleep. You can't concentrate. You can't think about anything else. Your mind keeps running through everything that could go wrong, and you feel overwhelmed by fear. Jesus directs your attention away from what you cannot know to the One you can trust

He does more than care for their troubled hearts. He tells them what to do with them: “Believe in God; believe also in me.” He does not explain everything that is about to happen. He calls them to trust Him. We often think we could have peace if God would simply explain what He is doing. Jesus teaches us that we can trust Him even when we do not understand Him. You do not have to understand God's plan in order to trust God's Son.

I remember driving one night when the fog was so thick I could barely see beyond the headlights. I wanted to see farther down the road, but I couldn't. All I could see was the next fifty feet or so in front of me. And yet I kept driving. I didn't need to see the entire road to keep moving. I just needed enough light for the next stretch of road.

There are seasons when following Christ feels like driving through that fog. We want God to show us how this is going to turn out. What happens with my children? Will the marriage make it? What will the doctor say? What will life look like five years from now? And God often doesn't show us. He gives us enough light to take the next step and says, “Trust Me.” Faith means that even when we cannot see the whole road, we trust the One who does.

And what makes Jesus' concern for the disciples even more remarkable is that He knows exactly what tomorrow will bring. He knows He is about to be betrayed, arrested, falsely accused, beaten, mocked, and nailed to a cross. He knows He will bear the judgment of God for the sins of His people. Yet with all of that before Him, Jesus is concerned about their troubled hearts. What a picture of the heart of Christ. Even as He approaches the greatest suffering imaginable, He is still ministering to others.

Paul praises this same others-centered spirit in Timothy in Philippians 2:20–21: 

“For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” 

Timothy's concern for others reflected the character of Christ. Suffering naturally turns our attention inward. When we are hurting, it is easy for our pain to become the only pain we see. Yet Jesus reminds us that even in seasons of difficulty, we should continue looking around for people we can love, encourage, and serve.

Some of our troubled hearts come from suffering we never chose. But sometimes our hearts remain troubled because of how we have responded to that suffering. The suffering itself may not be sinful, but suffering can expose sinful responses in our hearts. Let me give you three to watch for.

First, suffering can produce bitterness. Someone hurts us, disappoints us, betrays us, or simply fails to be there when we thought they should have been. The hurt is real, but over time hurt can harden into anger and anger into bitterness. We begin rehearsing the offense, remembering every detail, and quietly holding the person in our debt. Hebrews warns us about a “root of bitterness” that grows up and causes trouble. Trusting Christ means refusing to allow someone else's sin against you to become an excuse for sin in you.

Second, suffering can produce a victim mentality. You may genuinely have been victimized by another person's sin. Someone may have betrayed you, abandoned you, abused you, lied about you, or deeply wounded you. Scripture never asks you to call evil good or pretend that injustice does not matter. But being victimized does not mean victimhood must become your identity. When what has happened to me becomes the controlling lens through which I see everything, my attention increasingly turns inward. Everything becomes about what happened to me, how I have been treated, and what others owe me. Christian, what happened to you matters, but what happened to you does not define you. Christ does. Your suffering will always be part of your story, but it does not have to control your story.

Third, suffering can produce entitlement. When we have suffered, we begin to believe we are owed something. “I deserve life to be easier now. I deserve for people to treat me differently. I deserve to have my expectations met.” And when God does not give me the life I think I deserve, disappointment may lead to anger toward God. We may never say it aloud, but underneath our frustration is the thought, “God, after everything I have been through, You owe me better than this.” Remember, suffering does not put God in our debt.

So how should Christians respond when life hurts? We lament honestly, repent where necessary, forgive those who have sinned against us as Christ has forgiven us, pursue biblical justice when appropriate, and in all things we trust God with what we cannot control. We take our pain to God instead of allowing it to pull us away from Him. We ask not merely, “Why did this happen to me?” but, “Lord, how can I honor You in what has happened to me? What are You teaching me? Where do I need to trust You? How can You use even this to make me more like Christ?” We do not deny our pain, but neither do we allow it to consume us. Your pain may explain some of your struggles, but it does not excuse your sin, determine your identity, or dictate your future. Only Christ does.

And notice the extraordinary claim Jesus makes. He places faith in Himself alongside faith in God: “Believe in God; believe also in me.” The answer to a troubled heart is ultimately not better circumstances or even more information. It is Christ. When life does not go the way you planned, when you cannot see what God is doing, and when you do not know what tomorrow holds, you can still know the One who holds tomorrow. When you cannot understand His plan, you can trust His heart.

Jesus Prepares Our Eternal Home  (John 14:2–4)

Jesus gives His troubled disciples another reason to trust Him, John 14:2-4,

In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.

The disciples are troubled in part because Jesus is leaving. But He is not abandoning them. He is going somewhere that will ultimately secure their eternal future. He describes heaven as “my Father's house.” Heaven is not an imaginary place created to make us feel better about death. It is a real place where God dwells and where Christ promises His people will one day dwell with Him.

When Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you,” He is not suggesting that heaven does not yet exist or that He needs to go build it. Heaven already exists. Jesus' going to prepare a place includes what He is about to accomplish through the cross, resurrection, and return to the Father.  Our greatest obstacle to dwelling with God is not that heaven needs more rooms; it is that we are sinners who cannot stand in the presence of a holy God. Jesus is about to go to the cross, bear our sin, rise from the dead, and return to the Father. He prepares our place by accomplishing everything necessary to bring sinners home to God.

For those who grew up with the King James Version, you may remember Jesus saying, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” That translation has sometimes left us imagining enormous individual houses scattered throughout heaven. But when the King James was translated, the word mansion could simply mean a dwelling place or room. The Greek word monē carries that sense, which is why most modern translations say “rooms” or “dwelling places.” Jesus is not promising every Christian a bigger house in heaven. He is describing His Father’s house with abundant room for all of His Father’s family. The comfort is not the size of our mansion but the certainty that there is a place for us in the Father’s house.

And notice that the greatest promise here is not merely a place. It is a Person. Jesus says, “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” The great hope of heaven is not streets of gold, freedom from suffering, or reunion with those who have gone before us, as wonderful as those things are. The great hope of heaven is that we will be with Jesus. Paul could therefore say that his desire was “to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Phil. 1:23).

And to our senior saints, these words should become more precious with every passing year. You have lived long enough to bury people you love. Your body may not do what it once did. You may look around the church and realize that many of the people with whom you began your Christian journey are already with the Lord. But you are closer to home than you have ever been. Jesus has not forgotten you. The Savior who has carried you through all these years will carry you all the way home. And when that day comes, the greatest joy will not simply be seeing those you have missed. It will be seeing Christ. “That where I am you may be also.”

Church, this changes the way we face suffering and even death. Jesus never promised these disciples an easy road. Most of them would suffer greatly for following Him. But whatever happened between this room and eternity could not change where they were going. The same is true for everyone who belongs to Christ. Your present circumstances may be uncertain, but your eternal future is not. Jesus has secured your place with Him.

That is why Christians can face death differently. Death is still an enemy. We grieve when people we love die. But for the believer, death does not have the final word. Christ does. The Savior who says, “Let not your hearts be troubled,” also promises, “I will take you to myself.” We may not know what tomorrow holds, but in Christ we know where eternity leads: home with Him.

Jesus Is the Only Way to God (John 14:5–7)

Thomas hears Jesus talking about where He is going and asks the obvious question, John 14:5-7,

Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

Thomas is thinking about a destination and wants directions. Jesus answers by pointing to Himself. He does not say, “Let me show you the way.” He says, “I am the way.” He is the way because He is the truth about God and the source of eternal life. And then Jesus makes the claim unmistakably exclusive: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” There are not many roads that eventually lead to the same God. Salvation is found in Christ alone.

That claim sounds offensive in a culture that celebrates religious pluralism. We are often told that it does not matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. You hear this whenever someone says, “I think all religions are basically saying the same thing. Christians have Jesus, Muslims have Muhammad, Buddhists have their path, and everyone is ultimately trying to reach the same God.” Jesus will not allow us to say that. We can either accept His claim or reject His claim, but we cannot turn Jesus into one religious option among many when He explicitly says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Regardless of how sincere people are in their beliefs, their sincerity cannot reconcile sinful people to a holy God. And that includes people who were sincere about Jesus at some point in their lives but have since walked away from Him. Maybe you prayed a prayer, walked an aisle, were baptized, joined a church, or can remember a time when you genuinely felt close to Jesus. But you are not walking with Him now. Do not place your confidence in something you did years ago while your present life is moving away from Christ. John writes, “No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him” (1 John 3:6). John is not teaching that Christians never sin, but that genuine faith does not make peace with a life of ongoing, unrepentant sin. Jesus is not merely the way you once started on. He is the way you continue to walk. If your life is presently characterized by turning away from Christ, you should not comfort yourself with a past profession. Turn from your sin and come to Christ today.

And children, Jesus is your way. You may have Christian parents. You may have been coming to this church for as long as you can remember. You may know Bible stories, sing Christian songs, and know the right answers in Sunday school. Those are wonderful gifts, but none of those things can save you. Your mom and dad cannot believe in Jesus for you. Jesus says, “I am the way.” You must turn from your sin and trust Jesus for yourself. And there is no better time to do that than today.

But we should not hear the exclusivity of Jesus merely as a restriction. The amazing truth is not simply that there is only one way to God. The amazing truth is that God has provided a way at all. We were sinners separated from Him, unable to save ourselves, and God came to us in His Son. Jesus is not one path humanity discovered while searching for God. Jesus is God graciously coming to rescue sinners who could never find their own way home.

That is why we must tell people about Jesus. If He is merely one option among many, evangelism and missions make little sense. But if no one comes to the Father except through Him, then telling others about Christ is one of the most loving things we can do. Church, we should never be ashamed to say what Jesus Himself said: there is salvation in no one else. And if you have never trusted in Christ, stop trying to find another way. Turn from your sin and trust in the One who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Jesus Reveals the Father (John 14:8–11)

Philip responds to Jesus with another request, John 14:8-11,

Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.’

You can almost hear the disappointment in Jesus' question: “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?” Philip has spent three years with Jesus. He has heard His teaching, watched Him heal the sick and feed thousands, seen Him give sight to the blind, and recently watched Lazarus walk out of a tomb. Yet Philip still says, “Show us the Father.” He wants something more, but Jesus tells him that God's supreme revelation has been standing in front of him all along.

Jesus makes an astonishing statement: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” Jesus is not saying that He and the Father are the same person. The Father is the Father and the Son is the Son. But the Son perfectly reveals the Father because He shares the divine nature with the Father. John told us at the beginning of his Gospel, “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known” (John 1:18). If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

Don't miss how extraordinary this claim is. No prophet could say this. Moses could tell Israel what God had said. Isaiah could describe what he had seen of God's glory. John the Baptist could point to Jesus and say, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” But none of them could say, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” Jesus can say that because He is not merely another messenger from God. He is the eternal Son of God, fully divine, one with the Father in the divine nature. When Jesus speaks, God speaks. When Jesus acts, God acts. When we look at the Son, we see the perfect revelation of the Father.

Imagine someone describing a person you have never met. One person says he is harsh. Another says he is gentle. Someone else says he is distant. Eventually you would want to say, “Can I just meet him for myself?” In Jesus, God has not left us dependent upon other people's guesses about what He is like. The invisible God has made Himself known in His Son. We don't have to construct God from our fears, experiences, or imagination. We look at Jesus and say, “That is what God is like.”

That means we should never build our understanding of God primarily from our circumstances or feelings. When life is painful, we may be tempted to conclude that God does not care. When our prayers seem unanswered, we may wonder whether God is listening. When suffering continues, we may question His goodness. But our circumstances do not define God's character. Jesus does. Look at His compassion toward the hurting, His patience with sinners, His hatred of sin, His love for His people, and ultimately His willingness to go to the cross. Jesus shows us exactly what God is like.

Philip's request also exposes a temptation we still face. Sometimes we think we need something more from God. If only He would give us a sign, answer this prayer, explain what He is doing, or show Himself in some extraordinary way, then we could trust Him. Jesus' answer to Philip reminds us that God has already given us His supreme revelation in His Son. We do not need something beyond Jesus. We need to see Jesus more clearly.

Jesus Continues His Work in and Through Us (John 14:12–14)

Jesus now tells His disciples something remarkable, John 14:12-14,

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Don't miss those words, “whoever believes in me.” We have heard language like this throughout John's Gospel. “Whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life” (John 5:24). “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38). “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). Now Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.”

That means this promise is not merely for apostles, pastors, missionaries, or unusually gifted Christians. Jesus intends to continue His work through ordinary people who believe in Him. If you belong to Christ, He has saved you and He intends to work in you and through you while you live.

What does Jesus mean when He says we will do “the works that I do”? Think about the works we have seen throughout John. Jesus turned water into wine. He healed the official's son. He fed five thousand people. He walked on water. He gave sight to a man born blind. He raised Lazarus from the dead. These works demonstrated His compassion and power, but John repeatedly tells us that they were signs. They pointed beyond themselves to the identity of Jesus.

And that is exactly the context here. Jesus has just told Philip in verse 11, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” The works reveal who Jesus is. They testify that the Son has come from the Father and that to see the Son is to see the Father. 

And now Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” Jesus is leaving, but His witness to the world is not ending. He will continue making Himself known through His people. We cannot raise “Lazarus” from the grave or repeat the unique signs by which Jesus revealed His messianic identity, but through our words and our lives, we continue bearing witness to the same truth those signs proclaimed: Jesus is the Son of God, He is one with the Father, and eternal life is found in Him. 

Jesus then makes an even more astonishing promise: “Greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.” Greater does not mean more spectacular. How do you get more spectacular than raising a man who has been dead for four days? Jesus Himself tells us why they will be greater: “because I am going to the Father.”

And how does Jesus go to the Father? By way of the cross, the empty tomb, and His ascension. When these disciples begin their ministry, they will no longer be announcing a Savior who is moving toward the accomplishment of salvation. They will announce a Savior who will say, “It is finished.” The disciples will proclaim that the Christ has died for sinners, the Christ has risen from the grave, the Christ has ascended to the Father. Salvation has been accomplished.

And when Jesus returns to the Father, He sends the Holy Spirit. In just a few verses He will promise “another Helper” who will be with His disciples forever. The disciples who are frightened and confused in this upper room will soon be filled with the Spirit and sent into the world to bear witness to the risen Christ. Peter will preach at Pentecost and three thousand will believe. The gospel will move from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and eventually to the ends of the earth. The works are greater because they take place on the other side of the finished work of Christ, in the power of the Spirit, as the gospel spreads to the nations.

And the Spirit doesn't merely give us words to speak. He gives us lives that testify that Jesus is alive. We love one another with the kind of self-giving love Jesus described in John 13:34–35, so that the world sees something of Christ in His people. We pursue holiness because the apostle John says, “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6). Peter tells us to keep our conduct among unbelievers honorable so that they may “see your good deeds and glorify God” (1 Pet. 2:12). Our love, holiness, generosity, forgiveness, compassion, and good works do not save anyone, but they adorn the gospel we proclaim. We testify with our mouths that Jesus is alive, and we demonstrate with our lives what the risen Jesus does to people He saves. And in this age of greater works, the risen Christ continues to make Himself known through the words and lives of His Spirit-empowered people.

So church, this is how Christ intends for us to live in the world. He has placed us in neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, and families filled with people who need to know the Father. And Jesus has already told us how they can know the Father: they must know the Son. So let's work to know our neighbors. Let's invite people into our lives. Let's speak about Christ at work. Let's share the gospel with our children. Let's invite people to church. Let's live such holy and loving lives that people see something different in us, and then let's open our mouths and tell them why. Our mission is to make Jesus known so that through Jesus people might know the Father.

And then Jesus gives us an extraordinary promise for that mission: “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do.” That promise makes sense in its context. Jesus is not handing us a blank check to pursue our own desires. He has just given His people a mission that they cannot possibly accomplish in their own strength, and now He promises to provide what they need as they carry it out. We cannot open blind eyes, soften hard hearts, or raise spiritually dead sinners to life. So we ask Him. “Lord, give me courage to speak. Help me love my neighbor. Make me holy. Save my child. Open a door for the gospel at work. Use our church to make Christ known.”

And notice the purpose of it all: “that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” That brings the entire passage together. Jesus reveals the Father, and now we bear witness to that revelation with our words and deeds. Beloved, Jesus has not left us here merely to wait for heaven. He has left us here to make Him known. And He has given us His Spirit, His gospel, His people, and the privilege of prayer so that the world might see our lives, hear our message, believe in the Son, and come to know the Father.

Conclusion

“That's not the way I would have planned it.” I imagine if we could have asked the disciples that night how they thought the next few days should unfold, none of them would have planned what was coming. They would not have chosen betrayal. They would not have chosen arrest. They did not want to see Jesus beaten and crucified. 

Thankfully, our ways are not God’s ways. What troubled their hearts was actually God accomplishing His plan of salvation. Without the cross there would be no payment for sin. Without the resurrection there would be no victory over death. Without Jesus returning to the Father there would be no outpouring of the Spirit and no worldwide advance of the gospel. Their greatest sorrow was about to become the means of their greatest joy.

Maybe you are looking at your life today saying, “This is not the way I would have planned it.” You would not have chosen this sickness. You would not have chosen this loss. You would not have chosen this family struggle, disappointment, or uncertainty. And I cannot promise you that someday you will look back and understand exactly why God allowed it. Some things we may not understand until heaven.

But John 14 reminds us that we do not have to understand everything God is doing in order to trust Him. When you cannot understand the plan, anchor your heart in what you know about Jesus. Jesus cares for troubled hearts. Jesus prepares our eternal home. Jesus is the only way to God. Jesus reveals the Father. And Jesus continues His work in and through us.

So when your heart is troubled, do what Jesus told these disciples to do: believe in Him. Trust Him when you can see what He is doing, and trust Him when you cannot. His plans may not be the plans we would have written, but His plan is always best.

Beloved, you may not know what tomorrow holds. You may not understand what God is doing, but you can know Jesus. So hear His words again: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” He is the way, the truth and the life and anyone who believes in him can come to the Father.