Peter had said "That be far from Thee, Lord!" and had, like the other disciples, dismissed the fear from his thoughts.
It had only been a few days before this Passover night that Mary, the sister of Lazarus, had poured the sweet-smelling spikenard ointment on our Lord's Head at the supper table; and He, knowing all things that were coming to pass, said she had anointed His Body for His burial. But still, the listening disciples paid no heed.
But now the last evening had come.
The Passover supper was over, and Judas had left them and gone out into the darkness. If no one else expected the death of the Lord of Glory, Judas knew in his heart that he had sold his Lord for thirty pieces of silver, and that the Jews would surely kill Him!
But Judas was gone out; and now our Lord turned to the eleven who were left, and began to comfort them, with words of strength and hope.
He had just told His over-confident disciple, Peter, that before the cock should crow in the morning he would thrice deny Him! And all the disciples were full of dismay at such a possibility.
So our Lord's first words, in His talk with His own, we read in the 14th of St. John's Gospel; and they come as a wonderful comfort to all sorrowing and fainting ones, from that holy hour down to this time which seems so hard to us! He said these words to His eleven disciples and to all who love Him: "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me."
And then, because of the coming trials which He knew His disciples would have soon to pass through, He gives them the wonderful promise, which has comforted thousands and thousands of weary hearts since then: "In My Father's House are many Mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
He seems in these words to say something like this: "My Father's House" is safely Above, where no storms can touch its security. It is an Everlasting abode—one that will not pass away with the ravages of time, or the thunders of war. It is an Everlasting Home; and I go to get it ready for each one of you.
And then He points them on to another great thought—