Study the Bible
with Pastor Gregory

"The Promise of Heaven"
John 14:1-3
Theme: Christ will finish what He has begun – fully reconciling us to the Father.

The disciples had been confronted with tremendously distressing news – that one of them would betray Christ, that they would all be offended because of Him, that Peter would deny him before dawn, and that Jesus would be killed.
As a result of these statements by Christ, they were beginning to wonder what these things meant – most likely understanding that Jesus was speaking allegorically or in parables, but certainly (in their minds) not literally.
However, because of Jesus’ comment that they "stop allowing your hearts to be horrified or alarmed" indicates that they were already greatly distressed about the unfolding events as described by Christ Jesus.
Their absolute confidence in Christ was beginning to crumble – they had recently tasted the Firstfruits of their misguided messianic hope - that Christ would provide political deliverance from Rome (ie. The "Triumphal Entry")
Now, Jesus is talking about betrayal, death, denial, scattering, etc….
They were beginning to wonder about how these things could possibly mesh with their expectancies and were coming up more confused.

Essentially, Jesus commands them to reconsider what God had already said about the redemptive mission of the Messiah through the Old Testament prophets – "Believe in God."
He diagnoses their anxieties as resulting from a failure to believe what God has spoken concerning these sufferings and the glory that would result from them.
Essentially, God had clearly laid out what they could expect with prophecies so explicit that many attempt to make them post facto:

Jesus was to be despised and rejected of men – Isaiah 53:3
Jesus was to be wounded for their transgressions and bruised for their iniquities – Isaiah 53:5
After his resurrection, Jesus took two of these men and elucidated how the prophets had spelled it all out – cp. Luke 24:25-26

Jesus stated that not only ought they to believe in God and His Word, they ought to "believe also in Me."
Jesus Himself had given promises concerning the atonement, redemption, and the future kingdom – Matthew 16:21 & 27.
His Word will indeed be fulfilled – any faith that will endure to the end will be based upon a confidence in God’s Word being fulfilled.

The Accommodations Provided by the Father – "In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you;"

Continuing His appeal to His disciples to believe in Him, he assures them that He has not in any way misled them but has told them the truth in every respect.
Essentially he states that He would not have misled them as to their future and ability to enjoy God’s richest blessings in glory.
He assures them that the Father has intended to receive every one of them (and all those who would come to Him through Christ Jesus).
The Father’s provision is a permanent "dwelling places" where those who are brought to Him by His Son will find a welcome entry forever.
There is no indication in this text of the quality of the "dwelling places" – the idea of "mansions" has conjured fanciful ideas, but the point is the permanence of the placement – once there we are there to stay at the welcome embrace and intention of the Father.

The Atonement Provided by the Son – "… for I go to prepare a place for you."

Jesus Christ already belonged to Heaven – having come to earth for the expressed purpose of providing a means by which sinful men could be reconciled to God.
Until such a time as the atonement was accepted – there were no places in Heaven for men.
Although it is a wonderful contemplation to imagine what heaven must be like if its been under construction for nearly 2,000 years when all we know of creation was constructed in six 24 hour days, the emphasis is on the individual preparation that occurs through the atonement of Christ.
It is by means of shedding His blood, dying for our sins and providing a satisfaction of God’s wrath toward sin that places were made available to men.
Once again, the "going" Christ refers to here is the cross of Calvary that culminates in the resurrection and ultimately the ascension into glory triumphant over sin and death.

The Promise of Reunion – "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself,"

My sacrifice and accomplishment of atonement will not be vain – I will not go away and never see those again whom I redeemed.
He states that "If I go through the suffering of the atonement, I will certainly desire to consummate the effort by reuniting with those that are redeemed."
Thus, he states that He would "receive you to Myself" – a clear reference to the Rapture of the saints.

The Permanence of Camaraderie – "… that where I am, there you may be also."

This speaks of the final state of those purchased by the blood of Christ – eternal fellowship and unending blessing in the presence of Christ.
This was something that was promised before – cp. John 12:26
It is also something that Jesus commits to the Father in prayer – cp. John 17:24
It is this point that becomes the believer’s great hope – of seeing Christ and the resulting perfect conformity to the image of Christ Jesus – 1 John 3:2-3.