This is a copy of my talk given at Ayia Kyriaki and Saint Stephen’s in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Sunday 3 May April 2026. The Bible Reading was John 14:1-14.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your word.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
May You speak to my heart,
And change my life.
In the precious name of Jesus I pray.
Amen

Introduction

Jesus’ words in 14:1; ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled‘ is a direct response to Peter’s question at the end of chapter 13 when he asked: “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus’ response to the troubled hearts of the disciples in the Upper Room is to talk to them about heaven. For many of us, the hope of heaven is what keeps our faith alive isn’t it?

What do you think heaven be like? Will the streets be paved with gold?  What will the river of life look like?  What kind of bodies will we have?  Will we recognise anyone? I remember asking those same questions to a Sunday school group and the answers included: Candy Floss clouds, Coca-Cola fountains and Hamburger trees! some of you may think Cyprus is heaven! Let’s look at what Jesus has to say about heaven in these verses:

Heaven is a real place

I always get slightly upset when I see heaven portrayed as a place where people float around on clouds, dressed in white robes playing harps or, sitting around playing chess and eating Philadelphia cheese sandwiches – if you remember the advert! Jesus says: ‘Heaven is a real place, it is my Father’s house.’ Jesus goes onto say: ‘In my Father’s house are many rooms’ (14:2). Jesus is telling his troubled disciples, who were wondering what the future holds for them: Your future is with me in my Father’s house. I want you to know there is room for all of you. ‘If it were not so, I would have told you’ (14:2).

Heaven is a prepared place

‘If I wasn’t going back to the Father, with whom I spent eternity before, would I not have told you? ‘I am going there to prepare a place for you’ (14:2c). Heaven is a prepared place for those who have become disciples of Jesus. Bishop J.C. Ryle commented: ‘Heaven is a holy place. Its inhabitants are holy. To be happy in heaven, it stands to reason we must be prepared for it. Our hearts must be somewhat in tune, somewhat ready for it.’ Heaven, the real place, is a prepared place for prepared people.

Heaven is a meeting place

Jesus said: ‘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’ (vs3). Heaven is a place where we will worship the Lord Almighty with the angels and saints of thousands of years. How wonderful to be in the presence of all those who have come to know, follow and love Jesus, who for the first time in all eternity, worship together! How amazing to see loved ones who have gone before! What an incredible, awe-inspiring experience that will be! Joni Eareckson Tada wrote: ‘Of all the things that will surprise us when we see Jesus face to face, this, I believe, will surprise us most: that we did not love Jesus more before we died.’

Doubting Thomas

Many don’t understand what Jesus was saying, just like the disciple often referred to as ‘Doubting Thomas’ vs5. But Thomas has deep questions to ask. What does Jesus mean by ‘The Father’s house’ and how would the disciples get there? Thomas is a loyal, courageous disciple, even though he was pessimistic and had a tendency to voice his misapprehensions and doubts. But thank God for Thomas’ honesty and his willingness to be convinced, because he solicited a brilliant answer from Jesus in 14:6: ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.’

Jesus is the Way: Giving Direction to a Lost World

Have you ever been in a maze? I haven’t been in one for years, but I have vivid memories of getting lost in one as a child. One moment there are long, straight paths that seem to be leading in the right direction; but then suddenly there’s a bend, and then another, and then you come to a dead end, then you have to retrace your steps, and the same thing happens again. I can remember feeling that I would never get out alive and started to panic, crying and shouting:  Help, mummy, I’m lost.

It’s an awful feeling to think that you are on the right road only to find that you’ve reached a dead end. It’s a bit like following your Sat Nav when you have no sense of where you are going and end up miles away from your destination because you don’t have a map with you! Many people’s lives are a bit like travelling through a maze. It’s an awful feeling to think that you’ve made the right decision only to find that you’ve reached a dead end.

There are the pleasant and exciting times when it all seems to be going right. But the unexpected turns and twists of life must be faced too – as we all know!  Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that he knows the way, is one of many ways, but rather he is the way. Jesus is the way, giving direction to a lost world.

Jesus is the Truth: Bringing Reality in a Confused World

Have you ever heard anyone say: What’s really important is sincerity. It doesn’t matter what you believe so long as you are sincere. I think that’s a dangerous view to take. There is such a thing as being sincerely wrong.  And we only have to look at some of the terrorism which has taken place in recent years to see that sincerity can often be misplaced.

There are so many conflicting voices in our world today, both political and religious, that sometimes we just don’t know where to turn for the answers to the questions we have about life and about death. Why was I born? What happens when I die?  Is there a God?  Jesus is the one who tells us the truth about God and shows us what he is like.

The Bible tells us that God became flesh and lived amongst us in the form of Jesus. John 1:18: No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known. Some people may say, well believing Jesus’ words may be OK for you, but it’s not for me. Oxford Professor C.S. Lewis, writer of the Narnia Chronicles, once said: Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

A few years ago Paloma Faith sang a song: Do you want the truth or something beautiful? Most people choose something beautiful instead of the truth!  Jesus is the truth bringing reality into a confused world.

Jesus is the Life: Giving Light to a Dark World

Freddie Mercury had amassed a huge fortune, as the lead singer in the rock group Queen, and was adored by millions of fans, but he admitted in an interview, shortly before his death, that he was desperately lonely. He said: You can have everything in the world and still be the loneliest man, and that is the most bitter type of loneliness. Success has brought me idolization and millions of pounds, but it’s prevented me from having the one thing we all need – a loving, ongoing relationship.

I was interested in something the actor Jim Carrey once said: ‘I think everyone should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of, so they can see it’s not the answer.’

These are the rich and famous who seem to have everything and want for nothing – but they still have that missing piece in their life. In the midst of fame and fortune they are searching for a reason to live and a purpose to life and are asking that same question: There must be more to life than this.

John wrote in 1:4 that ‘In him was life, and the life was the light of men’. Jesus is the one that comes as the light of the world to shine into people’s lives and show them the truth about themselves: that they are sinners in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Jesus gives us life; the very breath we breathe is given to them by him. Remember Jesus was present at creation, and he sustains life itself – physically and spiritually. Jesus is the life, giving light to a dark world.

Conclusion

Jesus’ answer to the perplexity and confusion in which Thomas found himself, is a personal relationship with him. In a very real sense, his answer to Thomas is the same as the answer to Peter earlier, ‘Trust me and follow me.’ I must ask all of you to think for a moment about your own relationship with God. Because, if Jesus is ‘The way, the truth and the life’ and the only way to the Father’ (John 14:6), there’s an enormous amount of responsibility on our shoulders to respond in the right way.

Being a Christian isn’t a label we wear for convenience. Being a Christian isn’t what church we attend or what country we were born into or being baptised as a child. Being a Christian is having a relationship with Jesus. When we’ve deliberately recognised that Jesus is the Son of God who came to die for all our wrong doing, when we recognise Jesus as Lord and Saviour and are willing to commit our whole lives to him.

Jesus says you will come my Father’s house, which my going will prepare for you and for all my disciples. We do not belong in this world; our home is our Father’s house in heaven. That is where we really belong; that’s where we are going; that is our destiny.  We are to store up our treasures in heaven, not on earth (Matthew 6:19-21).

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon (except where stated) is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name.