John 14:1-2. 1“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”
John 14 is part of Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse.” Jesus is headed toward his final moments on earth and he is preparing his disciples for what is to come. Of course, the traditional view of this passage is that Jesus has gone up to Heaven to build a literal mansion for us. Right now he is measuring the drapes and picking out carpet. Or maybe something more masculine, like plumbing the kitchen or putting up drywall. I don’t mean to make light of this, it could very well be the correct interpretation of the passage. I’ve preached it this way myself, especially at funerals. But I must admit I’ve always wondered how this interpretation of John 14:2 meshes with the idea of the New Heavens and the New Earth. Why do we need a mansion in the sky if we won’t even live up there? Especially physically. At the resurrection of the dead will our glorified bodies be taken up to Heaven to live in a home in the clouds, or will we follow Christ back down to Earth to rule and reign over creation as was intended from the beginning? I think the latter is true.
OK, so if Jesus isn’t up in Heaven building us houses, then what does this passage mean? What is our place? When will all his happen? If we’re this confused, imagine his disciples in the moment.
In John 13, Jesus tells his disciples that where he is going they cannot go (the cross). Then in John 14, he says that he is going away to prepare a place for them. He conjures up a beautiful image of God’s home. Don’t be troubled, he says. Trust in God and in me.
But what if Jesus isn’t talking about a future home in Heaven at all? What if he’s talking about a present home with God as the temple of God? Let’s take a look:
My Father’s house – throughout John’s gospel the house of God has been the Temple (see especially John 2), and then Jesus calls himself the temple (“destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it”). What if the Father’s house in John 14 is also Jesus himself and now the body of Christ?
I go to prepare – where is Jesus going? To Heaven? Yes, but first to the cross. Jesus’ death on the cross will prepare the new temple of God for us. Again this is the body of Christ, the church, the spiritual temple made of living stones. Jesus isn’t building mansions in the sky, he has already built the house of God on Earth, the church.
A place for you – our place is in Christ. He’s the Temple of God and we are the many rooms. There’s room for everyone in the church.
Many rooms – the Greek word mone meaning room, place, dwelling, home. This noun is used only one other time in John. Here it is:
John 14:23. Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home (mone) with him.
Notice in this verse that it is not us going to a heavenly room or home, but rather it is God the Father and Christ the Son coming to us making their home in us. Then, if you keep reading into John 15, Jesus talks about abiding (the verb form of mone) in him and he in us. None of this is about going to Heaven. Instead it’s about “Heaven” coming to us in the form of the Spirit, who turns us into God’s home. His place.
Wow! Our place is in Christ the Temple, and Christ’s place (and God’s) is in us.
So no mansions in the sky?
Probably not.
But there is something far better – life in Christ here and now and forever. Christian, you are already living with God. You’ve already found your place. It’s already prepared for you. In the Father’s temple there is room for many more. All are welcome, so spread the news!
You: How do you see your eternity? In a heavenly mansion?
You in Christ: In Christ, we are the temple of God by the Spirit. We are God’ home. How does seeing your life this way, especially your life in the church, give you hope for today and for the future?
Christ in you: How should knowing that we are already in your final place (Christ) already, affect how we make daily choices?
Prayer: Father, your place is already prepared by your Son, and I have been welcomed into it by your mercy and grace. Cause me to see myself as your dwelling place and you as mine. Let this truth transform my heart and mind. Amen.
To Live is Christ 