John 14:1–3

"In My Father's house are many mansions … I go to prepare a place for you." Notice this: it was in His Father's house — the place He had as Son, where He was at home. There He was going to prepare my place. That is unspeakable blessing! It was a comfort, a joy, to have Christ with them in the world, but that was passing. Think what the home of such a heart as His must be! There all His divine affections would flow out. He is the divine Son, and yet a Man. And this is the place where He is going to take us.

In modern English, the word "mansions" suggests size and ornate display. But in the English of 1611 the word meant only what the original language conveys: "resting-places," "abodes" or "dwellings." The word appears only once more in the New Testament, in verse 23 of this same chapter, and there it is translated "abode." "Many" does not point to a variety of conditions. It points to plenty of room. There would be room not only for the Lord, but room for all of them too. That house will never be overcrowded, as the inn at Bethlehem was at His first coming.

Let us note that the word "mansions" is really "abodes" — a home which, once reached, will never again be left. There we shall stay. On earth we have "no lasting city." We are pilgrims and strangers here. Our lasting home is in the Father's house. What is more, in the Father's house there are "many" abodes. On earth there was no room for Christ, and little room for those who are Christ's. But in the Father's house there is room for all who are Christ's — the great and the small.

These men had trusted that He would redeem Israel... The Father's house had never entered their earth-bound minds, but this is what He talks to them about, not thrones and crowns... To remove all question from their minds He says, "if it were not so I would have told you." Suppose I had nothing better for you than the earth can give, nothing better than your highest expectations. Then I would have told you. I would not have asked you to follow Me and then deceived and disappointed you.

"In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you," He said; and it is equally true that if there had been no hell to dread and avoid, He would have told us. He has told us in definite terms about both heaven and hell, and everyone who takes His words seriously is wise.

A Man entered heaven, as a result of redemption, and so the place was prepared for them. It was not a question of preparing them for the place (that is the subject of chapter 13), but of preparing the place for them. The presence of their Forerunner, where He was going, accomplished it... The entrance of Christ left nothing to be done for them to enter; only those who will share the inheritance with Him still have to be gathered.

Before He went there, the place had no existence. It was a new thing for man to be in heaven. Angels might have been there as servants, but men were to be there as sons... And that place is now prepared. It is not being prepared. The entrance of Christ, as man before the Father's face, has prepared it. He is there for us; not for Himself.

"I go to prepare a place for you" — He Himself is the home-link, so close and precious, between our hearts and the place... So Scripture never speaks of our going to heaven, but of our going to Christ. The person makes the place, even in natural things; how much more in divine things!

He says, "I go to prepare a place for you." It was the eternal thought of the Father that man should be in that place. But Christ had to go in first as our Forerunner. His entrance prepared the place. He entered as Man into the presence of the Father, in the Father's house. He would have us know that that place is ours.

Notice, it was in His Father's house, the place that He had as Son where He was at home — there He was going to prepare my place. That is unspeakable blessing! It was a comfort, a joy to have Christ with them in the world, but that was only along the way. He was going to prepare a place where He was at home. Think what the home of such a heart as His must be!

It is clear that He did not mean death, nor the destruction of Jerusalem, nor the end of the world. He who was going away promised to come again. If the departure of Jesus was real and personal, the return would be just as real and personal. He does not come to reign over them in their place. He comes to take them to His place, so that He and they may be happy together in heaven.

"I will come again, and receive you to Myself." This is the language of affection. He does not say, I will send for you. No, that would not satisfy the heart — "I will come." He would not be content without having them where He is, and without coming to fetch them.

Had we known Him only as a great ruler, splendid in His glory, it would have been fitting for Him to send some noble servant to lead us into His throne room. But it is not glory, or dignity, or splendour of that sort that He shows us here. It is love — yearning, tender love that cannot wait for someone to bring us, and will not send another for us, but must come itself.

Notice, it is the Person here again. It is not "heaven," or "glory," but "to Myself." What joy there is in that! "That where I am you may be also."

He went there to prepare a place where we can be and see the Father in Him. For this He had to enter the Father's house as a human being. That is what the Father's house is all about. The expression "where I am" occurs five times in this Gospel and each time it refers to the Father's house (7:34, 36; 12:26; 14:3; 17:24).

The promise goes on, "that where I am you may be also." This tells us that the need of our hearts is His own need too. Not only for our joy but for His, we must be where He is. And that is the heaven of the Christian's hope. People have imagined a heaven of their own. It suits them, no doubt, but it does not suit at all what Christ desires for us.

One class of passages is found only in the New Testament. These refer to the coming of the Lord for His saints: John 14:3; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 1 Corinthians 15:23. Another set of texts is common to both Testaments. These teach just as plainly the coming with the saints: Jude 14; Zechariah 14:5; Colossians 3:4; Revelation 19:11-14.