3. A Life of Trust
Question 1:
What are some things in life you’ve really come to trust?
THE POINT
We can trust Jesus because He is the way, the truth, and the life.
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
Ten years ago, my wife almost died. She was pregnant for the first time, and the baby was trapped in the wrong place, in a tiny tube. One morning my wife woke up screaming, paralyzed with pain. We didn’t know it, but that tiny tube had ruptured and she was bleeding internally. We were both terrified. I drove her to the hospital, where the doctors were able to save her life, but our baby never had a chance. It was a devastating day.
For the next several months, my wife was barely able to move, and we were both barely able to think. We wondered, What is God doing? Where are we going? Can He really take care of us?
That’s not the only season my family has struggled to trust God. You’ve likely had those seasons too—times when you seemed to have only questions. Thankfully, the work of Jesus is more powerful than our questions and our doubts. Jesus is demonstrably for us. We can trust He is with us, bringing us to the Father, no matter what we face.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
John 13:36–14:1
36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” 37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”
A lot of us can identify with Peter; he was a lot like us. Jesus had just delivered a profound statement about loving one another (John 13:34-35), but Peter was more interested in what Jesus said before that. He pushed right past the command to love and asked Jesus where He was going, which led Jesus to talk about His Father’s house. Peter was more focused on what he wanted to know about God than on what Jesus wanted him to do for God. That might feel familiar to us.
We also see Peter was like us in another way. Peter impulsively asked, “Why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Peter was confident in his conviction. Peter believed in his ability to hold firm to his faith—but Peter was wrong. We, too, often think more highly of ourselves and our strengths than we ought.
Jesus gave Peter’s self-confidence a good shake. “Then Jesus answered, ‘Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!’ ” (v. 38). Brutal. Peter honestly believed he would fight to the death if someone tried to take Jesus from him, but Jesus knew that when the pressure came, Peter would deny even knowing Him.
Question 2:
How have you grown in your trust in God?
Peter believed he was strong enough, passionate enough, experienced enough, and dedicated enough to hold onto his faith in Jesus, no matter what. “I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus said otherwise—and Jesus was right.
When the time came to stand up for Jesus, Peter fell down. He denied, denied, denied, and when the rooster crowed, he remembered that Jesus had told him this would happen. “And he went outside and wept bitterly” (Matt. 26:75).
Who hasn’t been there? At some point, I’m sure we’ve all believed we were strong enough, good enough, brave enough, or wise enough—only to find ourselves trapped under the weight of our sin or fear when we were challenged. Our abilities and efforts aren’t enough. Just like Peter, we must learn, as Peter did, that we can’t trust in ourselves, but we can trust in Jesus.
Peter’s plan was that he would die for Jesus. But Jesus had the opposite plan. Verse 36 points to the idea that Peter’s faith wasn’t strong enough to follow Jesus to death at that moment, though he would, indeed, do so later. Why? Because Jesus would soon take Peter’s sin on Himself, die Peter’s death on a cross, and raise Peter to new life through His resurrection from the dead. Jesus was strong enough to defeat death for Peter and everyone else. Jesus made it possible for Peter to follow Him to heaven later.
So, what should Peter do for the moment? Trust Jesus. The Lord had just delivered an unsettling prediction to Peter, but Jesus also called the apostle to trust. Peter would falter in his own self-confidence, but Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” We need to learn, as Peter did, that any confidence we have is not in ourselves, but in the One we trust. Our hearts do not need to be troubled; even when we do not understand, we can believe in God.
John 14:2-3
2 “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
The disciples had reasons for their hearts not to be troubled. Believing in God could’ve been enough. And then there’s the added call to believe also in Jesus. God the Son was right there; they were in His presence!
But Jesus would soon be leaving. Yet as He prepared His disciples for His departure, He gave them another reason to not be troubled. He promised believers permanent residence in His “Father’s house.” He said His Father’s house contains “many rooms.” The phrase translated “rooms” is sometimes translated “mansions,” which often makes us think of huge houses with an emphasis on opulence and wealth. This misses Jesus’ true meaning.
The emphasis is on the location of the Father’s house—and that location is in God’s presence. God has an eternal place for believers with Him. The grandeur of heaven is the presence of God! Do not fixate on receiving your “mansion,” as if some glorified version of a brick-and-mortar castle is what will make heaven special. Jesus is preparing a place for us to dwell with Him, to be in His presence for all eternity—and that is the ultimate benefit of heaven.
Jesus underscored this priority when He promised, “I will come back and take you to be with me” (v. 3). Jesus promised to come back for His followers, accompany them beyond death, and bring them into His presence as their eternal reward. No stately home—no matter how nice—could possibly be better than dwelling in the presence of Jesus.
Jesus pointed to His impending departure—and its purpose. He said, “I am going there to prepare a place for you,” but in the next breath He assured them, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” These short sentences summarize His upcoming death, resurrection, ascension, and return—events that are essential in making heaven a reality for us. Jesus would make it possible for His people to be with God the Father. And that was His mission from the beginning. Since we were made for a joyful, forever relationship with God, Jesus’ assertion that He can bring people to God is the best news there is.
Question 3:
What are you looking forward to in the future because of your trust in Christ?
John 14:4-6
4 “You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6 is one of the more well-known passages in the Bible, but it is also one that causes a lot of conflict. When Thomas asked how the disciples could know the way, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ ” No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. That means no one finds full satisfaction except through Jesus, no one finds ultimate hope except through Jesus, and no one finds his or her way to heaven except through Jesus.
Question 4:
Why do some people react negatively to the truth that Jesus is the only way to God?
Unfortunately, not everyone accepts this truth. I have friends and family members—and you may also—who believe there are many ways to come to God. Jesus says we have only one way for our emptiness to be filled. We have only one hope for life beyond this life. Only one truth gets people to the God they were created to enjoy.
This truth is heavy when we think of those we love who don’t have a relationship with God through Jesus, but it is a comfort when that truth is aimed at ourselves. Jesus made this statement to His disciples to encourage them. For them, as it is for those of us in Christ, this is a promise that we have what we most want and most need. “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well” (v. 7). There is no better news for any heart.
When we are connected to Jesus, we are going home—headed toward an eternal life with Christ. In one sense, we are already there. Eternal life with Christ is not just reserved for the future. We have it now! As Jesus said at the close of the Gospel of Matthew, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Jesus is the only way to God the Father. The fact that He is the only way should motivate us to share the truth and love of Christ with others. The fact that He is the Way who leads to the Father should cause us to celebrate.
Question 5:
How has our group helped you grow in your trust in God?
Engage
TRUSTING THE TRUTH
Circle the words that describe how you feel when you read that God asks us to trust Him, even in the hardest and darkest of times.
Unsure Nervous Peaceful Curious Happy
Angry Relieved Hopeful Afraid Resentful
Trusting God in the middle of our darkest moments can feel like an impossible task, but the truth is, He never leaves us. Ask God to give you the faith to trust Him more and more each day.
My Prayer:
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
ACTS 4:12
LIVE IT OUT
We can trust Jesus because He is the way, the truth, and the life. Choose one of the following applications:
Consider. Think of an area of your life in which you tend to trust your own abilities. How can you rely more on Jesus and less on yourself in that area?
List. Make a list of 5-10 times you have experienced the trustworthiness of Jesus. Put that list somewhere you can find it and be encouraged by it some day in the future when your heart is troubled.
Connect. Meet up with a friend or family member who doesn’t know Jesus and share your spiritual beliefs with one another. Pray beforehand that you will be gracious and true and that you will trust the result of the conversation to God.
We’ve all had times in our lives when trusting God was really difficult. But as we’ve been reminded in this session, Jesus is always trustworthy. Let’s thank Him for the hope we have right now and forever because of what He’s done.
Teacher Notes:
Video: The
Cokeville Miracle is the true story of the May 16, 1986, incident in Cokeville,
WY, where a lunatic and his wife entered the local elementary school with a
bomb and an objective to blow up its students into a better hereafter.
3. A Life of Trust
When has your life taken an unexpected turn?
Life doesn’t always move in the direction we
hope it will, and often our own plans to steer it in another direction fail. We
are to live with constant trust in God. That is no more evident than in those
moments when life takes an unexpected turn. We can be sure of this: Jesus is
for us, He is with us, and no matter what we face, He brings us to the Father.
The Setting: These few verses are part of an extended conversation Jesus
had with His disciples in the early hours of the evening of His arrest. Most of
the discourse occurred after Judas had left the room. In a sense, his departure
signaled the beginning of the end, at least as far as Jesus’ earthly ministry
was concerned. Jesus’ intent was to prepare his followers for what was about to
unfold, not just in the next several hours but even beyond. Jesus had spoken before
about His death, burial, and resurrection. But they never fully understood.
John 13:36–14:1
36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you
going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will
follow later.” 37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay
down my life for you.” 38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your
life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown
me three times! 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God;
believe also in me.”
Peter would deny Jesus three times before the
rooster crowed to announce the dawn of a new day. To deny is to declare that
one has no acquaintance or connection to another person. Peter bragged he would
die for Jesus. Jesus declared Peter would deny Him.
What is the thing or circumstance in your life
that is difficult to trust God with?
What are some reasons we might want to trust
our own abilities instead of trust God?
What benefits have you received by trusting in
God?
What’s a job or skill where you have a lot of
confidence in your own abilities?
How are we like Peter? How have you grown in
your trust in God?
We are to trust God rather than our own
abilities.
Obedient faith is easy to talk about but not
easy to come by. Our bragging about our relationship to Jesus needs to be
supported by our actions on behalf of Jesus. Believers do not have to live in
fear if they live by faith. Troubled hearts can be overcome by trust. True
belief in God includes believing in Jesus.
Ukraine:
As the violence in Ukraine continues, one unique truth about suffering remains:
in crisis, people put their trust in Jesus. According to the head of the
American Bible Society, the demand for Bibles in Ukraine is currently soaring.
Briggs’ Ukrainian counterpart, Anatoliy Raychynets, shared that while people at
his church are fearful of loss, “he has been sharing Psalm 31 with anyone
searching for reassurance.” He reports that people are often surprised to hear
words that, according to them, sound like they could have been written in Kyiv
in 2022: “Praise be to the LORD, for he showed me the wonders of his love when
I was in a city under siege” (v. 21).
How have you grown in your trust in God?
Who hasn’t been there? At some point, I’m sure
we’ve all believed we were strong enough, good enough, brave enough, or wise
enough—only to find ourselves trapped under the weight of our sin or fear when
we were challenged. Our abilities and efforts aren’t enough. Just like Peter, we must learn, as Peter did, that
we can’t trust in ourselves, but we can trust in Jesus. We need to learn, as Peter did, that any
confidence we have is not in ourselves, but in the One we trust. Our hearts do
not need to be troubled; even when we do not understand, we can believe in God.
Though you and I might never deny Jesus in such
a blatant way as Peter did, I would suggest that we might indeed deny him in
less obvious ways, also because of fear. Have you ever sensed that the Lord was
urging you to do something for his sake, but then you chickened out because you
were afraid? Have you known what it’s like to downplay the significance of your
faith in some conversation because your were afraid of what people might think
of you? Have you ever let fear keep you from experiencing the fullness of life
in Christ? I know I have, too many times to count. What is the antidote to such
fear? It’s trusting God. It’s believing the Word of Christ.
John 14:2-3
2 “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that
were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for
you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you
to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
How do you imagine the place Jesus is preparing
for us?
Jesus made it possible for us to be with God
the Father.
Jesus has prepared a place in heaven for all
who believe. Believers can live in anticipation that He will come again. The
glory and beauty of heaven is in being in the abode of God where we will live
eternally with Jesus.
The disciples had reasons for their hearts not
to be troubled. Believing in God could’ve been enough. And then there’s the
added call to believe also in Jesus. God the Son was right there; they were in
His presence!
But Jesus would soon be leaving. Yet as He
prepared His disciples for His departure, He gave them another reason to not be
troubled. He promised believers permanent residence in His “Father’s house.” He
said His Father’s house contains “many rooms.” The phrase translated “rooms” is
sometimes translated “mansions,” which often makes us think of huge houses with
an emphasis on opulence and wealth. This misses Jesus’ true meaning.
The
emphasis is on the location of the Father’s house—and that location is in God’s
presence. God has an eternal place
for believers with Him. The grandeur of heaven is the presence of God! Do not
fixate on receiving your “mansion,” as if some glorified version of a
brick-and-mortar castle is what will make heaven special. Jesus is preparing a
place for us to dwell with Him, to be in His presence for all eternity—and that
is the ultimate benefit of heaven. And that was His mission from the beginning.
Since we were made for a joyful, forever relationship with God, Jesus’
assertion that He can bring people to God is the best news there is.
John 14:4-6
4 “You know the way to the place where I am
going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how
can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
How would you explain to someone who says “but
I’m a good person” that being a good person isn’t enough?
How is a person’s life who has hope of eternal
life in Jesus different than a person’s life who believes there is nothing
after this life?
When do you find it hardest to trust in Jesus?
Trusting Jesus is the only way to God the
Father.
Jesus is the only access we have to the Father,
His true and faithful revelation, and the center of the life He gives. If Jesus
is the incarnate Son of God—and He is—then what He says about Himself and the
promises He extends are without a doubt to be accepted as true. We know God the
Father through our faith experience with Jesus the Son.
In these words, Jesus was declaring Himself the
great “I Am,” the only path to
heaven, the only true measure of righteousness, and the source of both physical
and spiritual life. He was staking
His claim as the very God of Creation, the Lord who blessed Abraham, and the
Holy One who inhabits eternity. He did this so the disciples would be able to
face the dark days ahead and carry on the mission of declaring the gospel to
the world. Of course, we know from Scripture that they still didn’t understand,
and it took several visits from their risen Lord to shake them out of their
disbelief. Once they understood the truth of His words, they became changed
people, and the world has never been the same.
So how do we follow Him today?
The same way the disciples did long ago. They
heard the words of Jesus and believed them. They took His words and obeyed
them. They confessed their sins to Jesus as their Lord and God. They believed
that He died to take the punishment of their sins and rose from the dead to
give them new life. They followed His example and command to tell others the
truth about sin, righteousness, and judgment. When we follow Him in “the way,”
we can be assured of following Him all the way to heaven.
Why do some people react negatively to the
truth that Jesus is the only way to God?
Unfortunately, not everyone accepts this truth.
I have friends and family members—and you may also—who believe there are many
ways to come to God.
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there
is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
ACTS 4:12
LIVE IT OUT
If Jesus is the way, the truth, and the
life—and He is—then what is to be our response to His claim? How does His
declaration become effective in our lives? Is it an automatic occurrence? No.
It calls for belief, faith, and trust. The three words are similar in meaning
with some difference in nuance.
Belief denotes an acknowledgement of the facts
about a certain matter. I accept the fact that a chair exists and that a chair
is designed to support me. Faith is the conviction in my mind that a statement
is true and worthy of my confidence. I have faith that the chair before me fits
the criteria of what I believe about a chair. Trust is acting on what I believe
and on that in which I say I have faith. I exercise trust in the chair by
sitting on it.
Similarly, a person can believe Jesus was a
true-life, historical person who claimed to have come to save the world from
sin. Even non-believers can agree to that statement—Jesus existed and made such
a claim. That same person can express faith—agree in his mind—in at least the
possibility that Jesus can do what He claims. The test comes at the point of
trust. Will that person act on the fact of Jesus, and his own conviction about
Jesus to the point of trusting in Jesus in the most personal sense? Trust is
willingly giving one’s self over to Him in assurance that He will save from sin
and provide eternal life.
Perhaps you are or someone you know is
struggling at this point. You haven’t reached the trust stage. Without trust
there can be no saving relationship. Trusting Jesus is the only way to God the
Father. But even for the saved, trust is an essential part of living out one’s
relationship with the Lord. He whom we trusted to save us is more than able to
keep us, sustain us, and support us no matter what happens. Therefore, only
trust Him.
