Here Comes Trouble

AM Psalm 93, 98 • PM Psalm 66
Jonah 2:1-9 • Acts 2:14,22-32 or 1 Cor. 15:1-11 • John 14:1-14

Jesus said to his students:

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

On the night he is betrayed, Jesus shares one last meal with his students. Almost a quarter of the Gospel of John focuses on what Jesus says that night. John gives us five chapters of Jesus’ final words to his students. Much of what he says upsets them, confuses them, troubles them. Still, he says:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not your hearts be afraid.

He undresses and washes his friends’ feet. He prays with them and prays for them. He predicts betrayal and abandonment and denial. He speaks of his looming humiliation and death. The students do not know what the Teacher is doing. Imagine the stress and fear they experience at what he is saying.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Also, believe in me.

Jesus is troubled, too.* He is no stranger to trouble. Only a few days prior, after a triumphant entrance to Jerusalem, Jesus stood among a crowd of people and cried out:

Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say-- ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. **

Jesus experiences fear and stress-- he knows trouble. Also, he knows God.

There is comfort in these words knowing they come from a shared experience. This is not a commandment from on high. It is acknowledgement of how hard it is to keep going, to do what is right, to carry a cross.

Jesus calls us little children. He knows how we cry and get upset. He did, too. He knows how hard it is to get up and keep going. He knows we can do hard things.

* 13:21, ** 12:27

Written by Troy Schremmer

Troy works with preschool age children as an enrichment teacher in music and movement. They have a 16-year-old car-driving son(!) and a eight-year-old dog.  They miss hanging out at St. Paul’s a lot.