Funeral Sermon - John 14:1-6 comfort and assurance
The passage from John’s Gospel is a familiar one to many, o it is a message of assurance.
· I hope that all here gathered today to share in this ceremony celebrating the life of .................... , will hear the reassuring message of Jesus Christ … the messiah … the saviour
o words that were first given to a small group of close followers
· But written to be included in the bible for everyone for the rest of time to hear.
· To understand this message fully you must first see in the context in which they are said.
· Jesus is coming to the end of his life on earth, in fact - this from the night right before he was to be crucified
· Jesus knew of his near future - and He set out his final instructions to his closest friends
· first he sets an example of service for them by washing their feet
o a job that usually was only done by the slaves.
· Then he gives them a New Commandment and He says
o 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
· This is followed by Jesus Foretelling of Peter’s Denial
o The cock crowing three times…
· Then our passage for today with two short but very comforting thoughts.
o The message of assurance starts off by Jesus saying clearly - “Do not let your hearts be troubled…”
· And the first comforting thought is that Jesus is going ahead to prepare a place in heaven for them.
o preparing a dwelling place
o a place that is meant not for them to rest eternal
§ but a place for them to live
§ and to live with God the Father,
§ in his house
· It is a “living space,” not a dying space,
· Jesus is not abandoning them then, but inviting them to stay in union with Him
· The next comforting thought that he has told us is … How…
o He has set before us an example
§ That he is the way, the truth and the life
(Pause)
· Now just before this Jesus foretold of Peter’s denial and in the passage you see Thomas uncertain of what Jesus is saying - questioning where He is going· both stories we have two of the closest of Jesus friends, who had been with him all along, who had watched his every move, heard every word
o Yet are not sure of what Jesus is telling them
o Why in the crucial moment in the final night of Jesus life
§ Why do we have these two - just not get it?
· I believe their story is there for us
o In their mistakes we can take comfort in the mistakes that we make
§ We don’t always understand
§ we don’t always get it right…
· Yet Jesus assures us…
· On his final night we are told through the message to the disciples - simply…that that there is a place in heaven for us despite our mistakes
· and the second message is that Jesus is the way - the truth and the life
· Jesus as - the way - the truth and the life - sets out for us a model in which we are to live in his new commandment - to love one another as He loved us
o In service to one another
§ One can clearly see this from what was said today of the love that .................... had for her family
· We can clearly see Christ example lived out in her life
· John's gospel talks about eternal life as a present reality
o that begins when Christ dwells in us
§ and we live in him.
· Eternal life isn't just something that happens to us after this earthly life, up in some heavenly realm.
o It is something that begins in love for one another as Christ has shown us to love
§ … As we see Christ’s love from the love that .................... has shared with her family
· Be assured as Christ is the way, the truth and the life
o that there is a dwelling place for those that follow his new commandment of love for one another as Christ has loved us.
· Amen