In My Father’s House are Many Mansions (John 14:1)

“Let not your hearts be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me. 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. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also!”

To understand this passage we must supply the answer to many questions –

1.      Why were the disciples troubled?

2.      Where is my Father’s house?

3.      If my Father’s house meant heaven, then how did it come to get into a state of being unprepared?

4.      If the souls of people went to heaven at death, then were the souls of all the millions of people who had died before Jesus was born all waiting at some sort of half-way stage, for thousands of years, for Jesus to be born, to die, to be raised again and then ascend into heaven and start preparing it for them? Or were those souls all living in an unprepared heaven?

5.      What are the “mansions” Jesus spoke about?

The answer to the first question is easy enough. The latter portion of John ch.13 shows why the disciples were troubled. Jesus had been speaking about his approaching death and they did not understand the meaning of what he said. They asked him to explain. Jesus delayed his explanation while he dealt with Peter and then encouraged his disciples by telling them to “believe in God.” What he was about to do was part of God’s plan of salvation. He had to die so as to make the way open into the Kingdom of God, bringing forgiveness of sins through his death.

I go to prepare a place for you. It must be obvious that Jesus was not going to prepare heaven. We know already that the Law of Moses gave no forgiveness of sins. Only the perfect sacrifice could do that and until the perfect sacrifice was made, there would be no way into the Kingdom of God. There would be no salvation for anyone. We have also learnt that by being crucified, Jesus also brought forgiveness of sins to those who had died long before he was born. We also know that if we, the Gentiles, are to have our part in the covenant of promise, we must associate ourselves with him in his death, and the only way we can do this, is to be baptised. The only way of salvation is through the death of Jesus, so until he died, the way was not prepared. By going to his death, Jesus would then prepare a place for us. What we have to find out now is where would the prepared place be?

“I will come again.” A clue as to where the prepared place would be, was given in this statement of Jesus. We would get that prepared place when he comes again. This shows that there must be a second coming of Christ. It is important to note that Jesus said that when he came again, he would receive us unto himself and added “that where I am, there ye may be also.” The gathering unto himself is to be wherever he is when he comes. If he comes to the earth again, and that is the only place to which he can come, we shall be received unto him there. That meant only one thing and that is that when he comes, the gathering to him will be on the earth in the Kingdom of God. This is consistent with the promises to Abraham and the covenant with David which formed such an important part of Christianity taught by the apostles. Jesus is the only way to salvation and that way was established through his death on the cross.

Bro. F.G. Nkomelah (Lilongwe, Malawi)