Preaching Paths 3 May 2026

Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary

John 14 belongs to the collection of sayings of Jesus known as the “Farewell Discourses” (John 13-17). In Eastertide, today’s text (Jn 14:1-14) speaks of the new life that believers in the Risen Lord experience. The text should be read in its entirety in worship; yet, given its sheer theological density, sermons focused on select verses clustered around a single theme will be most beneficial to listeners.
Vv 1-7 are read often at Christian funerals, yet these verses are relevant in any historical moment when our listeners need to hear a message that stills “troubled hearts” (vv 1-3). Jesus is going ahead of his followers to “prepare a place,” but he will return to take us with him, “so that where I am, you may also be” (v 3 ). Jesus declares that they already know “the way” (v 4; cf v 6). Thomas, thinking of earthly geography, brings up the obvious: “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus clarifies that the journey in question is a journey to the Father, hence spiritual.

A somewhat different sermon might focus on v 1, coupled with v 7 or vs 8-11. To know Jesus is to “know” the Father (v 7); to see Jesus is to “see” the Father (v 9). A sermon might reach back to moments in John’s gospel when Jesus’ words and deeds reveal to us the nature of the divine Father.

Vv. 1-7 might also become the basis for a sermon that envisions fellowship with the divine Father and Son as an experience of “home-coming.” People of faith sometimes feel like misfits in a frenzied, secular world preoccupied with amassing wealth, tuning into the right on-line “influencers,” and chasing whatever is “trending,” be that fashion, health food, or a vacation destination. How does Jesus call us to our true “home”? Worldwide, the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” is rapidly widening. How might Jesus be calling us to join in the work of “home-making” for those at risk of literal homelessness?

With careful preparation a preacher might choose to take up the challenge of unpacking the meaning of v 6. Some insist that this verse establishes personal faith in Jesus as the ONLY way to know God. Others question the notion that Jesus invalidates all expressions of faith in God except Christianity. While Jesus is saying that his embodied interpretation of the way [to God], the truth [about God], and true life [as intended by God] is worthy of their trust, he does not say “’I alone am the interpretation of [God’s] way.” While no one comes to the Father by means that conflict with the ways of Jesus, Jesus does not necessarily preclude the possibility that the Father draws others onto this way, into this truth, and into true life, by other Spirit-inspired means. Notably, Paul will contend in Romans that “Abraham believed God,” and this alone was “accounted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3).

Finally, a preacher may wish to focus on verses 12-14. Those who “believe” Jesus’ testimony will “do greater works” than his own (v 12). Whatever Jesus’ disciples ask “in” Jesus’ name, Jesus will do, for the “glory” of the Father (vv 13-14). The thorny question of “unanswered” prayer arises here. Does Jesus promise that every request a believer utters in his name will be granted?
The deeper understanding of “name” in Semitic contexts suggests that to ask “in Jesus’ name” would be to ask in accord with all that Jesus is, all that he teaches, and all that he intends—and, by extension (as established in the preceding verses), all that the Father intends. Yet, to pray in Jesus’ name is to trust that Jesus’ “knowing” of the Father’s intent vastly exceeds our own. Precisely how the Father shall be glorified in and through our lives, as well as other lives, is not ours to dictate, but to discover.