Jesus was a preparer

JESUS WAS A PREPARER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 14:3 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come back and take you to be with me that you
also may be where I am.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Work Of The Ascended Jesus
John 14:2, 3
D. Young
And yet manifestly it is only part of the work. So much is spokenof as needed
to be spokenof here. Jesus tells us that which will best blend with other things
that have to be said at the time. Who canimagine, who can describe, anything
like the total of what Jesus has gone from earthly scenes to do?
I. CONSIDERTHE OCCUPATIONS OF THOSE WHO WERE LEFT. Just
one word gives the suggestionthat these were in the mind of Jesus as he spoke,
and that is the word "mansions." The settled life is thought of rather than the
wandering one. Jesus knew full well what a wandering life his disciples would
have, going into strange and distant countries. They would have to travel as he
himself had never traveled. The more they apprehended the work to which
they had been called, the more they would feelbound to go from land to land,

preaching the gospelwhile life lasted. To men thus constantlyon the move, the
promise of a true resting-place was just the promise they needed.
II. THE FUTURE COMPANIONSHIP OF JESUS AND HIS PEOPLE. To
those who have come into the realknowledge and service of Jesus nothing less
than such a companionship will make happiness; and nothing more is needed.
Jesus needednot to have a place in glory prepared for him; he had but to
resume his old station, and be with his Fatheras he had been before. This is
the greatelement of happiness on earth - not so much where we are as with
whom we are. The most beautiful scenes, the most luxurious surroundings,
count as nothing compared with true harmony in the human beings who are
around us. And just so it must be in the anticipations of a future state. While
Jesus was in the flesh, his presence with his disciples was the chief element in
their happiness; and as they lookedforwardto the future, this was the main
thing desired, that they should be with Jesus. As Paul puts it, "Absent from
the body, present with the Lord."
III. THE PREPARATION OF A COMMON HOPE. Is this to be taken as a
real preparation, or is it only a way of speaking, to impress the promise of
reunion more deeply? Is there now some actual work of the glorified Jesus
going on which amounts to a necessarypreparationfor his glorified people?
Surely it must be so. We are not to go into another state, as pioneers, to cut
our own way. We are not as the Pilgrim Fathers, who had to make their own
houses, and live as best they could till then. It is clearthat a kindly Providence
made the earth ready for the children of men, storing up abundance for all
our temporal need; and in like manner Jesus is making heaven ready. Earth
was made ready for Jesus to come down and live in it, and for him and his
disciples to live togetherin. And when his disciples ascendto a higher state, all
things will be ready then. - Y.
Christ Gone to Prepare a Place for Us
T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.

John 14:1-4
Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me.…
In the days before the railway showeredits sparks upon the darkness ofthe
wilderness, people put out on foot, or in slow cumbrous waggons,from our
Easternhomes, and in the wild thickets of the far Westsought to clearfor
their families a home. Ofttimes leaving their tender little ones in the New
England village, with blanket, and gun, and axe, they dared the forest, terrible
with bear's bark, and panther's scream, and the war whoopcry of scalping
savages. After awhile the trees were felled, and the underbrush was burned,
and the farm was cleared, and the house was built. Then word came back
here, saying that everything was ready. The family would get into the waggon
and start on at a slow pace for a very long journey. After awhile, some evening
tide, the shout of recognitionwas heard, and by the fire of the great black log
the newly-arrived would recount the exciting experiences ofthe way. Well, my
friends, we are all about to become emigrants to a far country. This is no place
for us to stay. Our Older Brother, Jesus, Him of the scarredbrow and the
blistered feet, has gone ahead to build our mansion and to clearthe way for
us, and He sends a letter back, saying He has it all ready; and I break the seal
of that letter and read to you these words: "I go to prepare a place for you." I
might put it in another shape. A young man resolves to build a home for
himself. He has pledged himself in one of the purest of earthly attachments.
He toils no more for himself than for the one who will share with him the
results of his industrious accumulation. After awhile the fortune is made, the
house is built, the right hands are joined, the blessing is invoked, the joy is
consummated. So Jesus, the lover of our souls, has been toiling to make a
place for us. He is fitting up our mansion. He is gathering around it
everything that canpossibly enchant the soul, and after awhile he will say: "It
is all ready now," and He will reachdown His hand and take up to His fair
residence "the Church, which is the Lamb's wife." "I go to prepare a place
for you."

(T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
Christ Gone to Prepare a Place for Us
C. S. Robinson, D. D.
John 14:1-4
I was visiting a friend some years ago, who had just built a new house. It was
beautiful, useful. He took me upstairs. It had wardrobes, toiletglasses, books,
and paintings. It was furnished grandly. And the father turned to me, and
said, "This room is for our daughter. She is in Europe, she does not know we
are arranging it. Her mother and I have fixed up everything we could think of
for her. As soonas the house is fully finished, we are going to Europe to bring
her back;and we are going to bring her upstairs, and open the door and say,
'Daughter, this is yours.' And I thought of the joy it would give her, and I
thought, how kind these parents are! Just then I turned awayand thought,
That is what Jesus is doing for me. He says He is going awayto prepare a
place for me: he will come again, and receive me unto Himself. Then I
thought, This father and mother are rich: but they have not all treasures,
there are a greatmany things they do not know how to get. But Jesus, who is
furnishing my mansion in glory, has every. thing. He has undertaken to
furnish a place for me, and I shall be with Him forever.
(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

Christ Preparing a Place for Us
Bp. Beveridge.
John 14:1-4
I. WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO HEAVEN BY NATURE (Ephesians 2:3).
II. NEITHER CAN WE HAVE RIGHT BUT BY CHRIST (Acts 4:12).
III. THIS TITLE CHRIST PURCHASED FOR US BY HIS DEATH
(Matthew 20:28; Ruth 3:9, 12; Ruth 4:1).
IV. Having purchased it, HE GOES TO TAKE POSSESSIONOF IT AND
HAVE IT SURRENDEREDTO HIM FOR OUR USE. (Hebrews 6:20).
V. Having takenpossessionofit in our names, HE PREPARESIT.
1. By getting us actually admitted or entitled to it; pleading (1 John 2:1) —
(1) That our sins are pardoned (Isaiah53:5, 6).

(2) Our persons justified (2 Corinthians 5:21).
(3) Our lusts subdued (Romans 6:14).
2. By preparing us for it, by —
(1) Enlightening our minds (John 3:8).
(2) Rectifying our wills.
3. Regulating our affections.
(Bp. Beveridge.)
Christ Preparing Heaven for the Believer
A. Maclaren, D. D.
John 14:1-4
It was customary for travellers in those old days to send some of their party
on in advance to find lodging and make arrangements for them in some great

city. Many a time one or other of the disciples had been sent before His face
into every place whither He Himself should come. Christ here takes that office
on Himself.
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Many Mansions
A. Maclaren, D. D.
John 14:1-4
Sorrow needs simple words for its consolation;and simple words are the best
clothing for the largesttruths. Note in these words —
I. THE "FATHER'S HOUSE," AND ITS AMPLE ROOM. There is only one
other occasionin which our Lord used this expression:"Make not My
Father's house a house of merchandise." Its courts, its many chambers, its
ample porches, with room for thronging worshippers, representedin some
poor way the wide sweepand space ofthat higher house.
1. How sweetand familiar this conceptionof heaven!

(1) There is something awful, even to the best souls, in the thought even of the
glories beyond. But how it is all softenedwhen we say, "My Father's house."
Mostof us have left behind us the sweetsecuritywhich used to be ours when
we lived as children in a father's house here. But we may all look forward to
the renewal, in far nobler form, of these early days, where the shyest and
timidest child shall feel at ease and secure.
(2) And considerhow this conceptionsuggestsanswersto so many of our
questions about the relationship of the inmates to one another. Are they to
dwell isolatedin their severalmansions? Surely if He be the Father, and
Heaven be His house, the relation of the redeemed to one another must have
in it more than all the sweetfamiliarity and unrestrained frankness which
subsists in the families of earth.
(3) But, further, this greatand tender name has its deepestmeaning in a
spiritual state of which the essentialelements are the loving manifestation of
God as Father, the perfect consciousness ofsonship, the happy union of all the
children in one greatfamily, and the derivation of all their blessednessfrom
their elder Brother.
2. The ample room in this greathouse.
(1) There was room where Christ went for eleven poor men. But Christ's
prescienteye lookeddown the ages, and some glow of satisfactionflitted
across His sorrow as He saw from afar the result of the impending travail of
His soul in the multitudes by whom God's heavenly house should yet be filled.
Perhaps that upper room, like the most of the roof chambers in Jewishhouses,
was open to the skies, andwhilst He spoke the innumerable lights that blaze in
that clearheaven shone down upon them, and He may have pointed to these
as He spoke. Ah! brethren, if we could only widen our measurement of the

walls of the New Jerusalemto that of the "goldenrod which the man, that is,
the angel" applied to it, we should understand how much bigger it is than any
of these poor communities on earth. If we would lay to heart, as we ought to
do, the deep meaning of that indefinite "many" in my text it would rebuke our
narrowness.
(2) That one word may also be used to heighten our own confidence as to our
own poor selves. A chamber in the greattemple waits for eachof us, and the
question is, Shall we occupyit or shall we not? The old rabbis said that,
howevermany the throngs of worshippers who came up to Jerusalemat the
Passover, the streets and the courts were never crowded. And so it is with that
greatcity. There are throngs, but no crowds. Eachfinds a place in the ample
sweepof the Father's house, like some of the greatpalaces that barbaric
Easternkings used to build, in whose courts armies might encamp, and the
chambers of which were counted by the thousand.
(3) There is only another occasionin this Gospelin which the word here
translated "mansions" is employed — "We will come and make our abode
with Him." Our mansion is in God; God's dwelling place is in us. When
prodigal children go awayfrom the father's house sometimes a heartbroken
parent will keepthe boy's room just as it used to be when he was young and
pure, and will hope and wearythrough long days for him to come back and
occupy it again. God is keeping a room for you in His house; do you see that
you fill it.
II. THE SUFFICIENCYOF CHRIST'S REVELATION FOR OUR NEEDS.
"If it were not so, I would have told you."
1. He sets Himself forward in very august fashionas being the Revealerand
the Openerof that house for us. There is a singular tone about all our Lord's

few references to the future — a tone of decisiveness. He stands like one on a
mountain top, looking down into the valleys beyond, and telling His comrades
in the plain behind Him what He sees. He speaks ofthat unseenworld always
as one who had been in it, and who was reporting experiences, and not giving
forth opinions. Very remarkable, therefore, is it that with this tone there
should be such reticence in Christ's references to the future. But my text
suggeststo us that we have gotas much as we need, and, for the rest, if we
needed to have heard it, He would have told us. Let the gaps remain. The gaps
are part of the revelation, and we know enough for faith and hope.
2. May we not widen the application of that thought to other matters? In times
like the present, of doubt and unrest, it is a greatpiece of Christian wisdom to
recognize the limitations of our knowledge andthe sufficiencyof the
fragments that we have. What do we geta revelation for? To solve theological
puzzles and dogmatic difficulties; to inflate us with the pride of quasi-
omniscience:or to present to us God in Christ for faith, for love, for
obedience, for imitation? Surely the latter, and for such purposes we have
enough.
My Father's House
J. B. Brown, B. A.
John 14:1-4

The very term changedthe whole characterand aspectof Hades. The invisible
became visible in the form of the most benign and beautiful of all the
institutions that lend charm and joy to life. My Father's house!then for the
first time men dared to think of death as a going home. It seems a vast, awful
world, this invisible which stretches out to the infinite all round us; the
trembling soulmay well shudder as it goes forth to meet its destiny. But the
thought "My Father's house," dissipates alldread. Be it what it may, and
where it may, this vast unknown, it is filled with that nameless benediction, a
Father's presence and lit with the light of a Father's smile. It is this sense ofa
loving Presence, meeting us at life's outer gate, and bringing us into a bright
home full of light and beauty and living joy, which, for the Christian, has so
utterly dissipatedthe terror; and this made death seemto St. Francis a sister
to take him by the hand and conduct him home. It is the activity, the
animation, the joyful tasks, the abounding interest, of the life of the invisible
world unveiled by Christ, which is the characteristic revelationofthe gospel.
It is not a world of shades, but a world of sons in strong immortal forms,
instinct with energy, rich in faculty, busy with the tasks that occupy the
angels;a world glad with work and bright with song.
(J. B. Brown, B. A.)
The House of Many Mansions
A. Raleigh, D. D.
John 14:1-4
From these words we learn —

I. The MAGNITUDE of heaven. Christ's going awaywould naturally seemto
them pure loss. Death, as a natural event, always seems so. ButChrist says
death is not a closing so much as an opening — not a going awayso much as a
coming home. It is the passing of a pilgrim from one mansion to another, from
the winter to the summer residence, from one of the outlying provinces up
nearer the central home. This is not a chance expression, far less a mere figure
of speech. There are many others. "The third heavens";Christ has "passed
through all heavens";"heaven, even the heaven of heavens," a place evidently
of inconceivable grandeur, for even that cannot contain the infinite presence
of God. This idea of immense capacityis a real relief from some of the more
popular conceptions ofthe future life, as that of a temple, etc. The population
of this world is something tremendous. It has been yielding immense numbers
to heaven in every age. Thus "a greatmultitude which no man cannumber,"
has been passing, and will pass, in ceaselessprocession. And we cannot help
wondering how they are all to be provided for!
II. Out of the idea of vastness arisesthat of an endless VARIETY. The variety
existing in God's works here is one of the principal charms of the natural
world. So as there are "many mansions," the adorning of them will be very
various. One will not be as another. We do not go to heaven to lose our
natural tastes, oursinless preferences, but rather to have all these gratified in
a far higher degree. Otherwise heavenwould be plainer, poorer, and less
interesting than earth. And unless our own nature were presseddown into
some kind of mechanicalexactness andshape, weariness wouldensue. There
would be a sighing for the lostseasonsofthe earth, its withered flowers, its
light and shade, its many countries, and its encircling seas. Butno! There will
be places, pursuits, and enjoyments for all.
III. Then, lest this vastness and variety should seem too large to our thought,
we have also in these words a sweetassuranceas to the HOMELINESS of
heaven.

IV. REALITY. ''If it were not so, I would have told you." This life in itself is
shadowyenough. We speak of "long days," and of "long years." But when the
awakenedimmortal soul looks atthose spaces oftime in the light of its own
eternity, how short and shadowy they seem I In those times we feelthat
everything depends on the reality and permanence of the future life! No man
who has not long been untrue to himself and to his God can be pleasedwith
the thought of annihilation. But who can tell him firmly where lies the realm
of life, or whether anywhere? He asks philosophy, and she answers, "Isee
something like it, but I cannotsurely tell. It may be land or it may be cloud."
He asks his own reason, and the instincts of his heart, and they answer"yes"
today and "no" tomorrow, according to the mood, and the aspects ofoutward
life. Then, turning to Jesus Christ, he asks by his sorrow, by his hopes, by all
the struggling instincts that will not die, by that upward look in which the soul
is "seeking a city with foundations," whether such a city is builded — whether
such a life is secure. And the answeris here. Conclusion:The love of heaven
has been derided by some as a selfish passion. No doubt heaven may be
representedand desired by the mind as a place of escape from conflict, of
mere ignoble rest. But if we take it just as it is projectedto our view in the
Scriptures — in its relations to earthly labour, and suffering, and desire; and
as the place where our higher toils and nobler enjoyments shall begin: — then
the desire of heaven is the noblestand purest passionwe cherish.
(A. Raleigh, D. D.)
The Work of the AscendedJesus
D. Young
John 14:2, 3
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 yet manifestly it is only part of the work. So much is spokenof as needed
to be spokenof here. Jesus tells us that which will best blend with other things
that have to be said at the time. Who canimagine, who can describe, anything
like the total of what Jesus has gone from earthly scenes to do?
I. CONSIDERTHE OCCUPATIONS OF THOSE WHO WERE LEFT. Just
one word gives the suggestionthat these were in the mind of Jesus as he spoke,
and that is the word "mansions." The settled life is thought of rather than the
wandering one. Jesus knew full well what a wandering life his disciples would
have, going into strange and distant countries. They would have to travel as he
himself had never traveled. The more they apprehended the work to which
they had been called, the more they would feelbound to go from land to land,
preaching the gospelwhile life lasted. To men thus constantlyon the move, the
promise of a true resting-place was just the promise they needed.
II. THE FUTURE COMPANIONSHIP OF JESUS AND HIS PEOPLE. To
those who have come into the realknowledge and service of Jesus nothing less
than such a companionship will make happiness; and nothing more is needed.
Jesus needednot to have a place in glory prepared for him; he had but to
resume his old station, and be with his Fatheras he had been before. This is
the greatelement of happiness on earth - not so much where we are as with
whom we are. The most beautiful scenes, the most luxurious surroundings,
count as nothing compared with true harmony in the human beings who are
around us. And just so it must be in the anticipations of a future state. While
Jesus was in the flesh, his presence with his disciples was the chief element in
their happiness; and as they lookedforwardto the future, this was the main
thing desired, that they should be with Jesus. As Paul puts it, "Absent from
the body, present with the Lord."

III. THE PREPARATION OF A COMMON HOPE. Is this to be taken as a
real preparation, or is it only a way of speaking, to impress the promise of
reunion more deeply? Is there now some actual work of the glorified Jesus
going on which amounts to a necessarypreparationfor his glorified people?
Surely it must be so. We are not to go into another state, as pioneers, to cut
our own way. We are not as the Pilgrim Fathers, who had to make their own
houses, and live as best they could till then. It is clearthat a kindly Providence
made the earth ready for the children of men, storing up abundance for all
our temporal need; and in like manner Jesus is making heaven ready. Earth
was made ready for Jesus to come down and live in it, and for him and his
disciples to live togetherin. And when his disciples ascendto a higher state, all
things will be ready then. - Y.
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(3) And if I go and prepare . . .—Forthe form of the expression, comp. Notes
on John 12:32, and 1John 2:28. It does not imply uncertainty, but expresses
that the fact is in the region of the future, which is clearto Him, and will
unfold itself to them.
I will come again, and receive you unto myself.—This clause has been
variously explained of the resurrection;of the death of individual disciples;of
the spiritual presence ofour Lord in the Church; of the coming again of the
Lord in the Parousia ofthe last day, when all who believe in Him shall be
receivedunto Himself. The difficulty has arisen from taking the words “I will
come again,” as necessarilyreferring to the same time as those which follow—
“I will receive you unto Myself,” whereas they are in the present tense, and
should be literally rendered, I am coming again. They refer rather, as the
same words refer when used in John 14:18, to His constantspiritual presence
in their midst; whereas the reception of them to Himself is to be understood of

the complete union which will accompanythat spiritual presence;a union
which will be commenced in this life, advancedby the death of individuals,
and completedin the final coming again. (Comp. John 17:24.)
MacLaren's Expositions
John
THE FORERUNNER
John 14:2 - John 14:3.
What divine simplicity and depth are in these words! They carry us up into
the unseenworld, and beyond time; and yet a little child can lay hold on them,
and mourning hearts and dying men find peace and sweetnessin them. A very
familiar image underlies them. It was customaryfor travellers in those old
days to send some of their party on in advance, to find lodging and make
arrangements for them in some greatcity. Many a time one or other of the
disciples had been ‘sent before His face into every place where He Himself
should come.’On that very morning two of them had gone in, at His bidding,
from Bethany to make ready the table at which they were sitting. Christ here
takes that office upon Himself. The emblem is homely, the thing meant is
transcendent.
Not less wonderful is the blending of majesty and lowliness. The office which
He takes upon Himself is that of an inferior and a servant. And yet the
discharge of it, in the present case, implies His authority over every corner of
the universe, His immortal life, and the sufficiency of His presence to make a
heaven. Nor can we fail to notice the blending of another pair of opposites:His
certainty of His impending death, and His certainty, notwithstanding and

thereby, of His continual work and His final return, are inseparably
interlaced here. How comes it that, in all His premonitions of His death, Jesus
Christ never spoke aboutit as failure or as the interruption or end of His
activity, but always as the transition to, and the condition of, His wider work?
‘I go, and if I go I return, and take you to Myself.’
So, then, there are three things here, the departure with its purpose, the
return, and the perfectedunion.
I. The Departure.
Our Lord’s going awayfrom that little group was a journey in two stages.
Calvary was the first; Olivet was the second. He means by the phrase the
whole continuous process whichbegins with His death and ends in His
ascension. Bothare embracedin His words, and eachco-operatesto the
attainment of the greatpurpose.
He prepares a place for us by His death. The High Priest, in the ancient ritual,
once a year was privileged to lift the heavy veil and pass into the darkened
chamber, where only the light betweenthe cherubim was visible, because he
bore in his hand the blood of the sacrifice. Butin our New Testamentsystem
the path into ‘the holiest of all,’ the realisationof the most intimate fellowship
with heavenly things and communion with God Himself, are made possible,
and the way patent for every foot, because Jesushas died. And as the
communion upon earth, so the perfecting of the communion in the heavens.
Who of us could step within those awful sanctities, orstand serene amidst the
regionof eternallight and stainless purity, unless, in His death, He had borne
the sins of the world, and, having ‘overcome’its ‘sharpness’by enduring its
blow, had ‘openedthe Kingdom of Heavento all believers’?

Old legends tell us of magic gates that resistedall attempts to force them, but
upon which, if one drop of a certain blood fell, they flew open. And so, by His
death, Christ has opened the gates and made the heaven of perfect purity a
dwelling-place for sinful men.
But the secondstage ofHis departure is that which more eminently is in
Christ’s mind here. He prepares a place for us by His entrance into and His
dwelling in the heavenly places. The words are obscure because we have but
few others with which to compare them, and no experience by which to
interpret them. We know so little about the matter that it is not wise to say
much; but though there be vast tracts of darkness round the little spot of light,
this should only make the spot of light more vivid and more precious. We
know little, but we know enough for mind and heart to rest upon. Our
ignorance of the ways in which Christ by His ascensionprepares a heaven for
His followers should neither breed doubt nor disregardof His assurance that
He does.
If Christ had not ascended, wouldthere have been ‘a place’at all? He has
gone with a human body, which, glorified as it is, still has relations to space,
and must be somewhere. And we may even say that His ascending up on high
has made a place where His servants are. But apart from that suggestion,
which, perhaps, is going beyond our limits, we may see that Christ’s presence
in heaven is needful to make it a heaven for poor human souls. There, as here
{Scripture assures us}, and throughout eternity as to-day, Jesus Christ is the
Mediatorof all human knowledge andpossessionofGod. It is from Him and
through Him that there come to men, whether they be men on earth or men in
the heavens, all that they know, all that they hope, all that they enjoy, of the
wisdom, love, beauty, peace, power, which flow from God. Take awayfrom
the heavenof the Christian expectationthat which comes to the spirit through
Jesus Christ, and you have nothing left. He and His mediation and
ministration alone make the brightness and the blessedness ofthat high state.
The very glories of all that lies beyond the veil would have an aspectappalling

and bewildering to us, unless our Brother were there. Like some poor savages
brought into a greatcity, or rustics into the presence ofa king and his court,
we should be ill at ease amidstthe glories and solemnities of that future life
unless we saw standing there our Kinsman, to whom we canturn, and who
makes it possible for us to feelthat it is home. Christ’s presence makes heaven
the home of our hearts.
Not only did He go to prepare a place, but He is continuously preparing it for
us all through the ages. We have to think of a double form of the work of
Christ, His past work in His earthly life, and His present in His exaltation. We
have to think of a double form of His present activity-His work with and in us
here on earth, and His work for us there in the heavens. We have to think of a
double form of His work in the heavens-thatwhich the Scripture represents in
a metaphor, the full comprehensionof which surpasses ourpresent powers
and experiences, as being His priestly intercession;and that which my text
represents in a metaphor, perhaps a little more level to our apprehension, as
being His preparing a place for us. Behind the veil there is a working Christ,
who, in the heavens, is preparing a place for all that love Him.
II. In the next place, note the Return.
The purpose of our Lord’s departure, as setforth by Himself here, guarantees
for us His coming back again. That is the force of the simple argumentation of
my text, and of the pathetic and soothing repetition of the sweetwords, ‘I go
to prepare a place for you; and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come
againand receive you unto Myself.’ Becausethe departure had for its purpose
the preparing of the place, therefore it is necessarilyfollowedby a return. He
who went awayas the Forerunner has not done His work until He comes
back, and, as Guide, leads those for whom He had prepared the place to the
place which He had prepared for them.

Now that return of our Lord, like His departure, may be consideredas having
two stages. Unquestionably the main meaning and application of the words is
to that final and personalcoming which stands at the end of history, and to
which the hopes of every Christian soul ought to be steadfastlydirected. He
will ‘so come in like manner as’ He has gone. We are not to waterdown such
words as these into anything short of a return preciselycorresponding in its
method to the departure; and as the departure was visible, corporeal, literal,
personal, and local, so the return is to be visible, corporeal, literal, personal,
localtoo. He is to come as He went, a visible Manhood, only throned amongst
the clouds of heaven with powerand greatglory. This is the aim that He sets
before Him in His departure. He leaves in order that He may come back
again.
And, oh, dear friends! remember-and let us live in the strength of the
remembrance-that this return ought to be the prominent subject of Christian
aspiration and desire. There is much about the conceptionof that solemn
return, with all the convulsions that attend it, and the judgment of which it is
preliminary, that may wellmake men’s hearts chill within them. But for you
and me, if we have any love in our hearts and loyalty in our spirits to that
King, ‘His coming’ should be ‘prepared as the morning,’ and we should join
in the greatburst of rapture of many a psalm, which calls upon rocks and hills
to break forth into singing, and trees of the field to clap their hands, because
He cometh as the King to judge the earth. His own parable tells us how we
ought to regardHis coming. When the fig-tree’s branch begins to supple, and
the little leaves to push their way through the polished stem, then we know
that summer is at hand. His coming should be as the approach of that
glorious, fervid time, in which the sunshine has tenfold brilliancy and power,
the time of ripened harvests and matured fruits, the time of joy for all
creatures that love the sun. It should be the glad hope of all His servants.
We have a double witness to bear in the midst of this as of every generation.
One half of the witness stretches backwards to the Cross, and proclaims

‘Christ has come’; the other reaches onwards to the Throne, and proclaims
‘Christ will come.’Betweenthese two high uplifted piers swings the chain of
the world’s history, which closes withthe return, to judge and to save, of the
Lord who came to die and has gone to prepare a place for us.
But do not let us forget that we may well take another point of view than this.
Scripture knows of many comings of the Lord preliminary to, and in principle
one with, His last coming. For nations all greatcrises of their history are
‘comings of the Lord,’ the Judge, and we are strictly in the line of Scripture
analogywhen, in reference to individuals, we see in eachsingle death a true
coming of the Lord.
That is the point of view in which we ought to look upon a Christian’s death-
bed. ‘The Masteris come, and callethfor thee.’ Beyond all secondarycauses,
deeper than disease oraccident, lies the loving will of Him who is the Lord of
life and of death. Deathis Christ’s minister, ‘mighty and beauteous, though
his face be dark,’ and he, too, stands amidst the ranks of the ‘ministering
spirits sent forth to minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation.’It is
Christ that says of one, ‘I will that this man tarry,’ and to another, ‘Go!’ and
he goeth. But whensoevera Christian man lies down to die, Christ says,
‘Come!’ and he comes. How that thought should hallow the death-chamber as
with the print of the Master’s feet! How it should quiet our hearts and dry our
tears!How it should change the whole aspectofthat ‘shadow feared of man’!
With Him for our companion, the lonely road will not be dreary; and though
in its anticipation, our timid hearts may often be ready to say, ‘Surely the
darkness shallcover me,’ if we have Him by our sides, ‘even the night shall be
light about us.’ The dying martyr beneath the city walllifted up his face to the
heavens, and said, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!’ It was the echo of the
Master’s promise, ‘I will come again, and receive you to Myself.’
III. Lastly, notice the PerfectedUnion.

The departure for such a purpose necessarilyinvolved the return again. Both
are stagesin the process, whichis perfectedby complete union-’That where I
am there ye may be also.’
Christ, as I have been saying, is Heaven. His presence is all that we need for
peace, forjoy, for purity, for rest, for love, for growth. To be ‘with Him,’ as
He tells us in another part of these wonderful lastwords in the upper
chamber, is to ‘behold His glory.’ And to behold His glory, as John tells us in
his Epistle, is to be like Him. So Christ’s presence means the communication
to us of all the lustre of His radiance, of all the whiteness of His purity, of all
the depth of His blessedness, andof a share in His wondrous dominion. His
glorified manhood will pass into ours, and they that are with Him where He is
will restas in the centre and home of their spirits, and find Him all-sufficient.
His presence is my Heaven.
That is almost all we know. Oh! it is more than all we need to know. The
curtain is the picture. It is because whatis there transcends in glory all our
present experience that Scripture canonly hint at it and describe it by
negations-suchas ‘no night,’ ‘no sorrow,’‘no tears,’‘former things passed
away’; and by symbols of glory and lustre gatheredfrom all that is loftiest
and noblest in human buildings and society. But all these are but secondary
and poor. The living heart of the hope, and the lambent centre of the
brightness, is, ‘So shall we ever be with the Lord.’
And it is enough. It is enough to make the bond of union betweenus in the
outer court and them in the holy place. Partedfriends will fix to look at the
same star at the same moment of the night and feelsome union; and if we
from amidst the clouds of earth, and they from amidst the pure radiance of
their heaven, turn our eyes to the same Christ, we are not far apart. If He be
the companionof eachof us, He reaches a hand to each, and, clasping it, the

parted ones are united; and ‘whether we wake or sleepwe live together,’
because we both live with Him.
Brother! Is Jesus Christ so much to you that a heaven which consists in
nearness and likeness to Him has any attraction for you? Let Him be your
Saviour, your Sacrifice, yourHelper, your Companion. Obey Him as your
King, love Him as your Friend, trust Him as your All. And be sure that then
the darkness will be but the shadow of His hand, and insteadof dreading
death as that which separatesyou from life and love and actionand joy, you
will be able to meet it peacefully, as that which rends the thin veil, and unites
you with Him who is the Heaven of heavens.
He has gone to prepare a place for us. And if we will let Him, He will prepare
us for the place, and then come and lead us thither. ‘Thou wilt show me the
path of life’ which leads through death. ‘In Thy presence is fullness of joy, and
at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.’
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
14:1-11 Here are three words, upon any of which stress may be laid. Upon the
word troubled. Be not castdown and disquieted. The word heart. Let your
heart be keptwith full trust in God. The word your. Howeverothers are
overwhelmed with the sorrows ofthis present time, be not you so. Christ's
disciples, more than others, should keeptheir minds quiet, when everything
else is unquiet. Here is the remedy againstthis trouble of mind, Believe. By
believing in Christ as the MediatorbetweenGod and man, we gain comfort.
The happiness of heavenis spokenof as in a father's house. There are many
mansions, for there are many sons to be brought to glory. Mansions are
lasting dwellings. Christ will be the Finisher of that of which he is the Author
or Beginner; if he have prepared the place for us, he will prepare us for it.
Christ is the sinner's Way to the Father and to heaven, in his personas God
manifest in the flesh, in his atoning sacrifice, and as our Advocate. He is the
Truth, as fulfilling all the prophecies of a Saviour; believing which, sinners

come by him the Way. He is the Life, by whose life-giving Spirit the dead in
sin are quickened. Nor can any man draw nigh God as a Father, who is not
quickened by Him as the Life, and taught by Him as the Truth, to come by
Him as the Way. By Christ, as the Way, our prayers go to God, and his
blessings come to us; this is the Way that leads to rest, the goodold Way. He is
the Resurrectionand the Life. All that saw Christ by faith, saw the Fatherin
Him. In the light of Christ's doctrine, they saw God as the Fatherof lights;
and in Christ's miracles, they saw Godas the God of power. The holiness of
God shone in the spotless purity of Christ's life. We are to believe the
revelation of God to man in Christ; for the works of the Redeemershow forth
his ownglory, and God in him.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
In my Father's house - Mostinterpreters understand this of heaven, as the
specialdwelling-place or palace ofGod; but it may include the universe, as the
abode of the omnipresent God.
Are many mansions - The word rendered "mansions" means either the act of
dwelling in any place (John 14:23, "we will make our abode with him"), or it
means the place where one dwells. It is takenfrom the verb to remain, and
signifies the place where one dwells or remains. It is applied by the Greek
writers to the tents or temporary habitations which soldiers pitch in their
marches. It denotes a dwelling of less permanency than the word house. It is
commonly understood as affirming that in heaven there is ample room to
receive all who will come;that therefore the disciples might be sure that they
would not be excluded. Some have understood it as affirming that there will
be different grades in the joys of heaven; that some of the mansions of the
saints will be nearer to God than others, agreeablyto 1 Corinthians 15:40-41.
But perhaps this passage mayhave a meaning which has not occurredto
interpreters.
Jesus was consoling his disciples, who were affectedwith grief at the idea of
his separation. To comfortthem he addresses themin this language:"The
universe is the dwelling-place of my Father. All is his house. Whether on earth
or in heaven, we are still in his habitation. In that vast abode of God there are

many mansions. The earth is one of them, heaven is another. Whether here or
there, we are still in the house, in one of the mansions of our Father, in one of
the apartments of his vast abode. This we ought continually to feel, and to
rejoice that we are permitted to occupy any part of his dwelling-place. Nor
does it differ much whether we are in this mansion or another. It should not
be a matter of grief when we are called to pass from one part of this vast
habitation of God to another. I am indeed about to leave you, but I am going
only to another part of the vast dwelling-place of God. I shall still be in the
same universal habitation with you; still in the house of the same God; and am
going for an important purpose - to fit up another abode for your eternal
dwelling." If this be the meaning, then there is in the discourse true
consolation. We see that the death of a Christian is not to be dreaded, nor is it
an event over which we should immoderately weep. It is but removing from
one apartment of God's universal dwelling-place to another - one where we
shall still be in his house, and still feel the same interest in all that pertains to
his kingdom. And especiallythe removal of the Saviour from the earth was an
event over which Christians should rejoice, for he is still in the house of God,
and still preparing mansions of restfor His people.
If it were not so ... - I have concealedfrom you no truth. You have been
cherishing this hope of a future abode with God. Had it been ill founded I
would have told you plainly, as I have told you other things. Had any of you
been deceived, as Judas was, I would have made it knownto you, as I did to
him."
I go to prepare a place for you - By his going is meant his death and ascentto
heaven. The figure here is takenfrom one who is on a journey, who goes
before his companions to provide a place to lodge in, and to make the
necessarypreparations for their entertainment. It evidently means that he, by
the work he was yet to perform in heaven, would secure their admission there,
and obtain for them the blessings ofeternal life. That work would consist
mainly in his intercession, Hebrews 10:12-13,Hebrews 10:19-22;Hebrews
7:25-27;Hebrews 4:14, Hebrews 4:16.
That where I am - This language couldbe used by no one who was not then in
the place of which he was speaking, andit is just such language as one would

naturally use who was both God and man - in reference to his human nature,
speaking ofhis going to his Father; and in reference to his divine nature,
speaking as if he was then with God.
Ye may be also - This was language eminently fitted to comfort them. Though
about to leave them, yet he would not always be absent. He would come again
at the day of judgment and gather all his friends to himself, and they should
be ever with him, Hebrews 9:28. So shall all Christians be with him. And so,
when we part with a belovedChristian friend by death, we may feel assured
that the separationwill not be eternal. We shall meet again, and dwell in a
place where there shall be no more separationand no more tears.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
3. I will come again and receive you unto myself—strictly, at His Personal
appearing; but in a secondaryand comforting sense, to eachindividually.
Mark again the claim made:—to come againto receive His people to Himself,
that where He is there they may be also. He thinks it ought to be enoughto be
assuredthat they shall be where He is and in His keeping.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
The particle if in this place denotes no uncertainty of the thing whereofhe had
before assuredthem; but in this place hath either the force of although, or
after that: When, or after that, I have died, ascended, andby all these acts, as
also by my intercession, shallhave made places in Heaven fully ready for you,
I will in the last day return again, as Judge of the quick and the dead, and
take you up into heaven, 1 Thessalonians4:16,17;that you may be made
partakers of my glory, John 17:22. This is called, Romans 8:17, a being
glorified togetherwith him; and elsewhere,a reigning with him. So as this is a
third argument by which our Lord comforteth his disciples as to their trouble
conceivedfor the want of His bodily presence with them, from the certainty of
his return to them, and the end and consequentof his return: the end was to
receive them to himself; the consequent, their eternal abiding with Christ
where he was.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And if I go and prepare a place for you,.... Seeing I am going to prepare, and
will prepare a place for you, of the truth of which you may be fully assured:
I will come again;either by death or in persona secondtime, here on earth:
and receive you unto myself; I will take you up with me to heaven; I will
receive you into glory;
that where I am there you may be also:and behold my glory, and be for ever
with me, and never part more.
Geneva Study Bible
{2} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will {c} come again, and receive
you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
(2) Christ did not go awayfrom us with the intent of forsaking us, but rather
that he might eventually take us up with him into heaven.
(c) These words are to be understood as being said to the whole Church, and
therefore the angels saidto the disciples when they were astonished, Why do
you stand gazing up into heaven? This Jesus will so come as you saw him go
up, Ac 1:11. And in all places ofthe Scripture the full comfortof the Church
is consideredto be that day when God will be all in all, and is therefore called
the day of redemption.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek Testament
John 14:3. Neither will He prepare a place and leave them to find their own
way to it.—καὶ ἐὰν πορευθῶ … ἦτε. “If I go”;that is, the commencementof
this work as their forerunner was the pledge of its completion. And its
completion is effectedby His coming againand receiving them to Himself, or
“to His own home,” πρὸς ἐμαυτόν. Cf. John 20:10.—πάλινἔρχομαι καὶ
παραλήμψομαι, “Icome againand will receive”. The presentis used in
ἔρχομαι as if the coming were so certain as to be already begun, cf. John 5:25.
For παραλήμψομαι see Song ofSolomon8:2. The promise is fulfilled in the
death of the Christian, and it has changedthe aspectof death. The personal

secondcoming of Christ is not a frequent theme in this Gospel. The ultimate
objectof His departure and return is ἵνα ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγώ, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἧτε. Cf. 1
Thessalonians 4:17, 2 Corinthians 5:8, Php 1:23. The objectof Christ’s
departure is permanent reunion and the blessednessofthe Christian.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
3. And if I go]The ‘if’ does not here imply doubt any more than ‘when’ would
have done: but we have ‘if’ and not ‘when’ because it is the result of the
departure and not the date of it that is emphasized (see on John 12:32).
I will come again, and receive]Literally, I am coming again and I will receive
(see on John 1:11 and John 19:16). There is no doubt about the meaning of the
going away; but the coming againmay have various meanings, and
apparently not always the same one throughout this discourse;either the
Resurrection, orthe gift of the Paraclete, orthe death of individuals, or the
presence ofChrist in his Church, or the SecondAdvent at the last day. The
last seems to be the meaning here (comp. John 6:39-40).
Bengel's Gnomen
John 14:3. Ἐάν, if) A mild particle, used for ὅταν, when.—ἔρχομαι, Icome
[am coming]) The Present, as concerning His speedy coming: John 14:18, “I
will not leave you comfortless;I come to you.” It is a peculiar idiom of speech,
that the Lord is not wont to say, I will come, but I come, even when another
verb in the future tense is added. Comp., however, also Matthew 17:11
concerning the forerunner [Ἡλίας ἔρχεται, καὶ ἀποκαταστήσει πάντα], and
the LXX., 2 Samuel 5:3 [ἔρχονται—οἱ πρεσβύτεροι—καὶ διέθετο αὐτοῖς ὁ
βασιλεύς].—καί, and)The end of My departure infers [carries with it] this
very consequence,that I am to come again.—πρὸς ἐμαυτόν, to Myself) An
expressionfull of majesty. The house of the Father is the house of the Son: ch.
John 16:15, “All things that the Fatherhath are Mine;”
Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - And if I go and if I prepare a place for you - a simple condition,
soonto be realizedby the event - I come again;I am evercoming, as I am now
about to explain to you,
(1) in my resurrection(John 16:16, 17);
(2) in the bestowmentof the Comforter (Vers. 17, 25, 26;John 16:7, etc.);
(3) in the intimate relations which, through the power of the Spirit (Vers. 18,
23),
shall prevail betweenus. I am coming to you, in my glory and power, and in
my victory in you as well as for you over death and Hades, to receive you unto
myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. The full perspective of the
Lord's approachto faithful souls is given in the extraordinary pregnancy of
the "I am coming." Not until he comes m all his glory will the words be
perfectly fulfilled; but the early Church, on the basis of communion with
Christ himself in the power of his Spirit, expectedthat Christ had come and
takento himself one by one those who died in the faith (1 Thessalonians4:14).
Thus Stephen expectedthe Lord to receive his spirit (Acts 7:59); and the
dying thief was to be with him, in Paradise;and Paul knew that to be from
home, so far as body is concerned, was to be "athome or present with the
Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). "To be with Christ" was "far better" than to labor
on in the flesh (Philippians 1:23). The highest thought of peace and love was to
the apostles union and presence with Christ. Our Lord asserts here that by his
very nearness to them he will make their heavenfor them. How soonthis
wonderful idea spreadamong men! Within twenty years, Thessalonianswere
comforted about their pious dead, with the thought that they slept in Jesus,
and would togetherwith them be "foreverwith the Lord."
Vincent's Word Studies

If I go (ἐὰν πορευθῶ)
Πορεύομαι, go, ofgoing with a definite object. See on John 8:21.
I will come again(πάλιν ἔρχομαι)
The present tense;I come, so Rev. Not to be limited to the Lord's secondand
glorious coming at the lastday, nor to any specialcoming, such as Pentecost,
though these are all included in the expression;rather to be takenof His
continual coming and presence by the Holy Spirit. "Christ is, in fact, from the
moment of His resurrection, ever coming into the world and to the Church,
and to men as the risen Lord" (Westcott).
And receive (παραλήψομαι)
Here the future tense, will receive. Rev., therefore, much better: I come again
and will receive you. The change of tense is intentional, the future pointing to
the future personalreception of the believer through death. Christ is with the
disciple alway, continually "coming" to him, unto the end of the world. Then
He will receive him into that immediate fellowship, where he "shallsee Him as
He is." The verb παραλαμβάνω is used in the New Testamentoftaking along
with (Matthew 4:5, note; Matthew 17:1, note; Acts 16:33, note): of taking to
(Matthew 1:20; John 14:3): of taking from, receiving by transmission; so
mostly in Paul (Galatians 1:12; Colossians 2:6;Colossians4:17;1
Thessalonians 2:13, etc. See also Matthew 24:40, Matthew 24:41). It is scarcely
fanciful to see the first two meanings blended in the use of the verb in this
passage. Jesus, by the Spirit, takes His own along with Him through life, and
then takes them to His side at death. He himself conducts them to Himself.
Biblical Illustrator

If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice, becauseI said I go unto the Father.
John 14:28-29
The death of the gooda reasonfor joy
D. Thomas, D. D.
Note the view which Christ had of His death. "I go."
1. Whence? Fromthe world.
2. Whither? To the Father, not to destruction, eternal solitude, nor to
fellowship with minor souls.
3. How? Not driven. Other men are sent to the grave; Christ freely went. The
generaltruths of the text are these: —
I. THAT GENUINE LOVE REJOICESIN THE HAPPINESS OF ITS
OBJECT.We find illustrations of this in —
1. Creation. Love made the universe in order to diffuse happiness.
2. Christ's mission. Christ came to make happy the objects of infinite love.
3. Christian labour. Happiness is the end of all church work.
II. THAT THE HAPPINESS OF MEN DEPENDSUPON FELLOWSHIP
WITH THE FATHER.
1. Happiness is in love.
2. The love, to produce happiness, must be directed to the Father. His
perfection delights in it; His goodnessreciprocatesit.
3. Love for the Fatheryearns for fellowshipwith Him. Love always craves the
presence ofits object.
III. THAT DEATH INTRODUCESTHE GOOD INTO A SPECIALLY
CLOSE FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER. There were obstructions to
the fellowshipof the Man Christ Jesus with the Father.

1. The body with its infirmities.
2. The sinful world.
3. The influence of principalities and powers of darkness. These interfere with
the fellowshipof goodmen and God, and in addition they have what Christ
had not.
(1)Worldly cares.
(2)Inward depravity.
(3)Corrupt habits.At death, however, all these are removed, and the soulof
the goodman goes into the immediate presence ofGod. We need not, then,
sorrow for the departed good.
(D. Thomas, D. D.)
Joy and faith the fruit of Christ's departure
A. Maclaren, D. D.
I. THE DEPARTURE OF THE LORD IS A FOUNTAIN OF JOY TO
THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.
1. Christ's going is Christ's coming. The word "again" is a supplement, and
somewhatdestroys the true flow of thought. But if you strike it out and read
the sentence as being what it is, a description of one continuous process, you
get the true idea. "I go away, and I come to you." There is no moment of
absolute absence. To the eye of sense, the "going away" was the reality, and
the "coming" a metaphor. To the eye enlightened to see things as they are, the
dropping away of the visible corporealwas but the inauguration of the higher
and the more real.
2. Christ's going is Christ's exaltation. Hitherto we have been contemplating
Christ's departure simply in its bearing upon us, but here He unveils another
aspectof it, and that in order that He may change His disciples'sadness into
joy.(1). What a hint of self-sacrifice lies in this thought, that Christ bids His

disciples rejoice with Him because the time is getting nearerits end, and He
goes back to the Father! And what shall we say of the nature of Him to whom
it was martyrdom to live, and a supreme instance of self-sacrificing
humiliation to "be found in fashionas a man"?(2)The context requires that
for Christ to go to the Father was to share in the Father's greatness.Why else
should the disciples be bidden to rejoice in it? or why should He say anything
about the greatness ofthe Father? The inferiority, of whatever nature it may
be, to which He here alludes, falls awaywhen He passes hence. Now these
words are often quoted triumphantly, as if they were dead againstthe
doctrine of the Divinity of Christ. But the creedwhich confessesthatis not to
be overthrown by pelting this verse at it; for this verse is part of that creed,
which as fully declares the Father is greaterthan the Son as it declares that
the Sonis One with the Father. We candimly see that the very names
"Father" and "Son" imply some sort of subordination, but as that
subordination is in the timeless and inward relations of Divinity, it must be
supposedto exist after the Ascension, as it existedbefore the Incarnation; and,
therefore, any such mysterious difference is not that which is referred to here.
What is referred to is what dropped awayfrom the Man Jesus Christ when
He ascendedup on high. As Luther has it, "Here He was a poor, sad, suffering
Christ"; and that garb of lowliness falls from Him, like the mantle that fell
from the prophet as he went up in the chariotof fire, when He passes behind
the brightness of the Shekinahcloud that hides Him from their sight.
Therefore we, as His followers, have to rejoice in an ascended Christ, beneath
whose feetare foes, and far away from whose human personality are all the
ills that flesh is heir to.
3. On both these grounds Christ's ascensionand departure is a source of
icy.(1) There can be no presence with us, man by man, through all the ages,
and in every land, unless He, whose presence it is, participated in the absolute
glory of Divinity.(2) And surely if our dearestone was far awayfrom us, in
some lofty position, our hearts and our thoughts would ever be flung thither,
and we should live more there than here. And if we love Jesus Christ, there
will be no thought more sweetto us than the thought of Him, our Brother and
Forerunner, who has ascendedup on high; and in the midst of the glory of the
throne bears us in His heart, and uses His glory for our blessing.

II. HIS DEPARTURE AND HIS ANNOUNCEMENT OF HIS DEPARTURE
AS THE GROUND AND FOOD OF FAITH (ver. 29). He knew what a crash
was coming, and with exquisite tenderness He gave Himself to prepare the
disciples for the storm, that, forewarned, they might be forearmed. And when
my sorrows come to me, I may say about them what He says about His
departure. Aye! He has told us before, that when it comes we may believe. But
note —
1. How Christ avows that the greataim of His utterances and of His departure
is to evoke our faith. And what does He mean by faith?(1) A grasp of the
historic facts, His death, resurrection, ascension.(2)The understanding of
these as He Himself has explained them.(3) And, therefore, as the essenceof
faith, a reliance upon Himself as thus revealed, sacrifice by His death, victor
by His resurrection, King and interceding Priestby His ascension — a
reliance upon Himself as absolute as the facts are sure, as unfaltering as His
eternal sameness.
2. These facts, as interpreted by Himself, are the ground and the nourishment
of our faith. How differently they lookedwhen seenfrom the further side and
when seenfrom the hither side. "We trusted," said two of them, with such a
sad use of the past tense, "that this had been He which should have redeemed
Israel." But after the facts were all unveiled, there came back the memory of
His words, and they said to one another, "Did He not tell us that it was all to
be so? How blind we were not to understand Him!"
3. Faith is the condition of the true presence ofour absentLord.
Love's importance
C. H. Spurgeon.
1. Jesus'love makes Him use the disciples'love to Himself as a comfort for
themselves when they are distressedabout His going away.

2. He appeals to the warmestfeeling in their hearts in order to raise their
spirits.
3. It is well when grace has put within us principles which are springs of
consolation. Fromour text learn —
I. THAT WE SHOULD TRY TO SEE THINGS IN CHRIST'S LIGHT.
1. He sees the whole of things. He says not only, "I go away," but also, "I come
againunto you."
2. He sees through things. He does not say, "I die," but He looks beyond, and
says, "I go unto the Father."
3. He sees the true bearing of things. The events which were about to happen
were in themselves sad, but they would lead to happy results. "If ye loved Me,
ye would rejoice." To see facts in His light we must dwell with Him, live in
Him, grow like Him, and especiallylove Him more and more.
II. THAT OUR LOVE SHOULD GO FORTH TOWARDS HIS PERSON. "If
ye loved Me." All about Him is amiable; but He Himself is altogetherlovely
(Song of Solomon5:16). He is the source ofall the benefits He bestows. Loving
Him: —
1. We have Him, and so His benefits.
2. We prize His benefits the more.
3. We sympathize in all that He does.
4. We love His people for His sake.
5. Our love endures all sorts of rebuffs for His sake.
6. The Father loves us (John 14:23)
7. We are married to Him.Love is the sure and true marriage-bond whereby
the soulis united to Christ. Love to a personis the most real of emotions. Love
to a person is the most influential of motives. Love to a person is, in this case,
the most natural and satisfying of affections.

III. THAT OUR SORROW OUGHT NOT TO PUT OUR LOVE IN
QUESTION. Yet, in the case ofthe disciples, our Lord justly said, "If ye loved
Me." He might sorrowfully say the same to us —
1. When we lament inordinately the loss of creatures.
2. When we repine at His will, because ofour severe afflictions.
3. When we mistrust His wisdom, because we are sore hampered and see no
way of escape.
4. When we fearto die, and thus display an unwillingness to be with our Lord.
Surely, if we loved Him, we should rejoice to be with Him.
5. When we complain concerning those who have been takenfrom us to be
with Him. Ought we not to rejoice that Jesus in them sees ofthe travail of His
soul, and has His prayer (John 17:24)answered.
IV. THAT OUR LOVE SHOULD MAKE US REJOICE AT OUR LORD'S
EXALTATION, THOUGH IT BE OUR PERSONALLOSS.
1. It was apparently the disciples'loss for their Lord to go to the Father; and
we may think certaindispensations to be our loss —
(1)When we are tried by souldesertion, while Christ is magnified in our
esteem.
(2)When we are afflicted, and He is glorified, by our sorrows.
(3)When we are eclipsed, and in the result the gospelis spread.
(4)When we are deprived of privileges for the goodof others.
(5)When we sink lowerand lowerin our own esteem, but the kingdom of God
comes with power.
2. It was greatlyto our Lord's gain to go to His Father. Thus He —
(1)Left the field of suffering forever.
(2)Reassumedthe glory which He had laid aside.

(3)Receivedthe glory awardedby the Father.
(4)Became enthronedfor His Church and cause.Conclusion:
1. It will be well for us to look more to our love than to our joy, and to expect
our joy through our love.
2. It will be well for us to know that smallness of love may dim the
understanding, and that growth in it may make us both wiserand happier.
3. In all things our Lord must be first. Yes, even in those most spiritual
delights, about which it may seemallowable to bane strong personaldesires.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
For My Father is greaterthan I.
Christ's equality with and subordination to God
Canon Liddon.
It is contended that our Lord here abandoned any pretension to be a person
internal to the essentiallife of God. But this saying can have no such force if
its application be restricted, as the Latin Fathers do restrict it to our Lord's
manhood. But even if our Lord is here speaking, as the Greeks generally
maintain, of His essentialDeity, His words express very exactlya truth
recognizedand required by the Catholic doctrine. The subordination of the
everlasting Son to the everlasting Father is strictly compatible with the Son's
absolute Divinity; it is abundantly implied in our Lord's language:and it is an
integral element of the ancientdoctrine which steadily represents the Father
as alone unoriginate, the Fount of Deity, in the eternal life of the ever-blessed
Trinity. But surely an admission on the part of One in whom men saw nothing
more than a fellow creature, that the everlasting Godwas greaterthan
Himself, would fail to satisfya thoughtful listener that no claim to Divinity
was advancedby the Speaker. Suchan admission presupposes some assertion
to which it stands in the relation of a necessaryqualification. If any good man
of our acquaintance should announce that God was greaterthan himself,

should we not hold him to be guilty of something worse than a stupid truism?
And should we not peremptorily remind him that the life of man is related to
the life of God, not as the less to the greater, but as the createdto the
Uncreated, and that it is an impertinent irreverence to admit superiority of
rank, when the realtruth can only be expressedby an assertionofradical
difference of natures? And assuredlya sane and honest man, who had been
accusedofassociating Himself with the Supreme Being, could not content
himself with admitting that God was greaterthan himself. Knowing himself to
be only human, would he not insist again and again with passionate fervour
upon the incommunicable glory of the greatCreator?
(Canon Liddon.)
END OF BIBLEHUB RESOURCEWS
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Thread: What did Jesus meanin John 14:3?
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Jun 10th 2011, 06:56 PM
#1
Heeves23
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What did Jesus meanin John 14:3?
In John 14:3 Jesus to his disciples "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come againand will take you to myself, that where I am you may be
also." So I have researchedthis a bit and some think Jesus is talking about
returning through the holy spirit at pentecost, and some think he is talking
about him returning to his disciples after he was resurrectedwhen he
appearedto all of them and some think he was referring to him returning for
the church at the rapture. Mostpeople think he is referring to the rapture in
this verse, but if he is, then why does he tell the disciples that he will come
back since the rapture obviously didn't happen in there lifetime? We know
Jesus was sinless, so whatdid he mean when he told his disciples he will come
back and take them to be with him? It sounds like an unfulfilled promise, but
we know that Jesus wouldnt do that.... so what did he mean in this verse?
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Jun 10th 2011, 10:49 PM
#2
nzyr
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Re: What did Jesus meanin John 14:3?
Well I believe his disciples are with him in heavenright now. (Philippians
1:21-23)Remember Jesus didn't know himself when he would return. (Mark
13:32)Maybe Jesus takes everyChristian when they die to heaven. And
maybe some like Enoch and Elijah go without dying. So I believe he is talking
about the rapture or the secondcoming. Or maybe when a Christian's life
here is over.
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Jun 11th 2011, 02:45 PM
#3
RockSolid
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Originally Postedby Heeves23
You will probably hear 5-10 different futurist interpretations for these verses.
So if you want to stayfuturist, you cannever be sure if your interpretations of
these verses are correct, you just have to pick one and go with it.
As a preterist, it means just what it says. Jesus came againwithin their
lifetime. No need to change the meaning.

Matt 16:27 For the Sonof Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of
his Father, and then he will repay eachpersonaccording to what he has done.
28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
According to this verse, Jesus came with His angels in the glory of His Father
and repayed eachpersonaccording to what he has done before some standing
there tasted death.
Matt 10:23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I
say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israelbefore the
Son of Man comes.
According to this verse, He came before the apostles had gone through all the
towns of Israel.
Jesus predicted a first century return, the apostles taught a first century
return, therefore Jesus returned in the first century.
For some reason, futurists rejectthat this happened in the first century and
come up with all kinds of fanciful interpretations for these verses.
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Jun 11th 2011, 03:33 PM
#4
quiet dove
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Just because it might not have been fulfilled yet, we need not worry that it will
be, regardless ofthe correctunderstanding, it will be fulfilled according to the
purpose of God. Then we will all look back and OOOOOOhhhhhhhhh, thats
what He meant we He said that. A lot do apply it to the rapture, and while I
am pre trib, I am not sure about this verse really.

The rapture relation, and this is just a guess as I have not actually studied it in
regards to this verse so much, but according to Jewishtradition, after an
agreementwas reachedregarding a bride, the price was paid, and the groom
would go back to his fathers house and prepare a place for himself and his
bride to be. Then the groom would return for the bride and take her to his
fathers house, where they were then married.
If this is the case,there is strong support for the rapture in that the price has
been paid for the bride, and now the groom is at His Fathers house preparing
a place for her and will return for her at some point.
But at any rate, regardless ofthe correctunderstanding, we can rest confident
that the promise will be kept.
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Jun 11th 2011, 03:38 PM
#5
Uncle Bud
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Originally Postedby RockSolid
You will probably hear 5-10 different futurist interpretations for these verses.
So if you want to stayfuturist, you cannever be sure if your interpretations of
these verses are correct, you just have to pick one and go with it.
As a preterist, it means just what it says. Jesus came againwithin their
lifetime. No need to change the meaning.
Matt 16:27 For the Sonof Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of
his Father, and then he will repay eachpersonaccording to what he has done.
28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.
According to this verse, Jesus came with His angels in the glory of His Father
and repayed eachpersonaccording to what he has done before some standing
there tasted death.
Matt 10:23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I
say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israelbefore the
Son of Man comes.

According to this verse, He came before the apostles had gone through all the
towns of Israel.
Jesus predicted a first century return, the apostles taught a first century
return, therefore Jesus returned in the first century.
For some reason, futurists rejectthat this happened in the first century and
come up with all kinds of fanciful interpretations for these verses.
So now we have no Heaven to look forward to? I'm a partial preterist, but I
think the verse refers to death or the SecondComing (future).
"What then? ſhal we ſinne, becauſe we are not vnder the Law, but vnder
grace? Godforbid."
Romaines vi.15 - 1560 Geneva Bible
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Jun 11th 2011, 03:51 PM
#6
Beckrl
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Here's a excerptfrom a thread of mine in this I gave some reasons and verses
in support of Jesus indicating his death and comng unto his desciples again.
That thread canbe founded here.
Well, lets examine that passagefrom Acts 1:11 of which stated'shall so come
in like manner'.
11 who also said, “Menof Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus, who was takenup from you into heaven, will so come in like
manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Strong's G5158 - tropos τρόπος (like manner) Strong's G3739 - hos ὅς (as)
Now one cantakes this literally or figuratively, and one example would be
that it is as figurative canbe found in the use that Jesus referred to himself as
a hen that would gather her chickens under her wings.
Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and
stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children
together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not
willing!

But more than this Jesus spokeofleaving to allow the Holy Spirit to come. It
is in this 'manner' that I believe the ones speaking to the Disciples were using.
John 16:7 “NeverthelessI tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go
away:for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I
depart, I will send him unto you.”
John 16:16, 18-20 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and againa little
while, and you will see Me, because I go to My Father.
18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see
Me. Because Ilive, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in
My Father, and you in Me, and I in you
Looking closelyat the above verses it becomes clearthat Jesus is speaking of
going awayand coming back in the same context as sending the Holy Spirit.
He says He is going awayso that He can send the Holy Spirit, then He says He
is coming back to them and that He and the Fatherwill make their home with
them. So from that context it appears that the particular “coming” that Jesus
is talking about to the Disciples is the “coming” of the Holy Spirit.
And if one wantedto view the manner in which Jesus was takenthat of a
cloud it could also be said of the coming of the Holy Spirit coming as a mighty
wind.

Acts 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting
So his abode [home/place/room]is with the heart of man. That God may dwell
with man. As indicated by John 14:3 that 'we'shall come and make our
home/place/roomwith him. Abode or Dwelling place of the heart of man.
Strong's G3438 - monē Yet the only way to redeem us back to God was for the
Messiah[anointedone] to come and take on our sins. Therefore Jesus saidno
one comes to the Fatherbut by him. In the given of the Holy Spirit 'we' shall
abode with man.So the place/roomthat Jesus was to go and prepare was
through his going to the cross andpreparing our hearts so that 'we' can come
and abode with man with the given of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:23Jesusansweredand said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep
my words:and my Fatherwill love him, and we will come unto him, and make
our abode with him
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Jun 11th 2011, 04:35 PM
#7
Ta-An
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Think Jewishcustom
Parable of the wise/un-wise virgins and their lamp-oil.... the Bridegroom
(Jesus)goes to prepare a place for his (His) Bride (Those who belong to Him).
The Fatherwill decide when the place is ready, and then the Groom will come
and fetch the Bride..... as is described in 1 Thess 4 and Rev1.....
Here are two excellent sites to read about that.... This one is written by a
Monk, but I think he understands and This one on JewishMarriage Customs
Enjoy the read
The LORD is my Miracle
G_d was gracious He has shownfavor
Hope is a seed
God plants in our hearts

to remind us
there are better things ahead.
-Holley Gerth
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Jul 18th 2011, 09:54 AM
#8
jhardy35862
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God has purposed that a limited number of faithful followers ofChrist,
totaling only 144,000,will be resurrectedto heavenly life as spirit sons of God.
(Revelation14:1,*3)These form a heavenly government with Christ for the
blessing of mankind on earth.
The first ones to learn about this were Jesus’faithful apostles, to whom he
said: “In the house of my Father there are many abodes. Otherwise, I would
have told you, because I am going my way to prepare a place for you. Also, if I
go my way and prepare a place for you, I am coming againand will receive

you home to myself, that where I am you also may be.” (John 14:2,*3)Those
apostles and other early Christians died and had to wait unconscious in death
until Jesus’coming to reward them with a heavenly resurrection. Thatis why
we read that the first Christian martyr, Stephen, “fell asleepin death.”—Acts
7:60; 1*Thessalonians 4:13
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Jul 18th 2011, 09:52 PM
#9
nzyr
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Originally Postedby jhardy35862
Sleepis sort of a poeticalway of saying death. And maybe more so for
Christians. When people are sleeping they're also resting. I believe this sleep
only refers to their bodies. BecausePaulsaid he would go to be with Jesus
upon his death. (Philippians 1:23)
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Jul 19th 2011, 03:14 AM
#10
DDGresham1
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Let's assume that the 144, 000 is an actualnumber and not just meant to
mean "a lot." Those that are written in the book of life will be with Christ on
earth:
Revelation20
The ThousandYears
1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the keyto the Abyss
and holding in his hand a greatchain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient
serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He

threw him into the Abyss, and lockedand sealed it over him, to keephim from
deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After
that, he must be set free for a short time.
4 I saw thrones on which were seatedthose who had been given authority to
judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because oftheir
testimony about Jesus and because ofthe word of God. They[a] had not
worshiped the beastor its image and had not receivedits mark on their
foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a
thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand
years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessedandholy are those
who share in the first resurrection. The seconddeath has no power over them,
but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a
thousand years.
The Judgment of Satan
7 When the thousand years are over, Satanwill be releasedfrom his prison 8
and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog
and Magog—andto gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand
on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and
surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down
from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceivedthem, was
thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beastand the false prophet
had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
The Judgment of the Dead
11 Then I saw a greatwhite throne and him who was seatedonit. The earth
and the heavens fled from his presence, andthere was no place for them. 12
And I saw the dead, greatand small, standing before the throne, and books
were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead
were judged according to what they had done as recordedin the books. 13
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the
dead that were in them, and eachpersonwas judged according to what they

had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The
lake of fire is the seconddeath. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written
in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
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Jul 29th 2011, 11:52 AM
#11
MichaelSnow
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totaling only 144,000,will be resurrected...

144,000 is not a literal number but a number of completion, rootedin the
twelve tribes of Israel. [12 times 12 is 144 for the math challenged, times 1000]
Anyone who has no graspof the symbolic use of numbers in Revelationwill
not getvery far in understanding it.
...now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,... and try to discern
what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works ofdarkness,
but insteadexpose them.
Ephesians 5
WELCOME to my homepage http://mikesnow.org/
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Jul 29th 2011, 06:48 PM
#12
David Taylor
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This verse has nothing to do with any endtime rapture doctrine.
This verse is simply comforting believers in telling them that Jesus is about to
leave the Earth and return to Heaven; but that He will not be leaving His
believers alone; in the harsh world, without hope and whithout help.
Paul later told us that to be absentfrom the body, is to be present with the
Lord.
Stephen told us that just as he was about to die from being stoned, he saw
Jesus in heaven, calling his spirit home.

We know Jesus will never leave or forsake us....notevenin death.
That is the hope of John 14....Jesus is going away, but we will never be alone;
He is preparing a home in heavenfor us that is unbelievable. As Paul longed
to die and depart and be with Christ, when we die likewise, we willreturn to
Jesus like Stephen did, and be with Him forevermore!
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Jul 31st2011,12:20 AM
#13
Adrianne
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...some think Jesus is talking about returning through the holy spirit at
pentecost, and some think he is talking about him returning to his disciples
after he was resurrectedwhen he appearedto all of them and some think he
was referring to him returning for the church at the rapture. Mostpeople
think he is referring to the rapture in this verse, but if he is, then why does he
tell the disciples that he will come back since the rapture obviously didn't
happen in there lifetime?
According to Genesis 1:1, the Holy Spirit was already presentfrom the
beginning.
Even though He was here, the Holy Spirit did not function as our comforter
until
after the resurrection.
When the rapture takes place, the dead in Christ will rise first to meet Him in
the air (I Thess 4:16-17). When Jesus returns to earth, He is coming back for
both dead and living believers.
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Jul 31st2011,04:04 AM
#14
Rufus
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Originally Postedby Gilligan
So now we have no Heaven to look forward to? I'm a partial preterist, but I
think the verse refers to death or the SecondComing (future).
Hey, Gilligan, I was beginning to think there weren't any partial preterists out
there. But even so, you guys must be as rare as a hen's tooth.
Question:Good PP sites are also very difficult to find. Can you recommend
any?
Many moons ago, I started out as a Dispenbut shortly after I was savedI
came to see that there were far too many problems with the system. So, then I
subscribed to Amillennialism. But this system, too, has problems, most
especiallywith Matthew 24 and the parallel passages in Mark and Luke, as
well. I can definitely see two comings in Matthew 24, which would certainly
reconcile the incongruities that exist with the 8 signs Jesus gave to the apostles
pertaining to the destruction of Jerusalemand the temple -- very specific
things they were to look for on the one hand, yet from v.36ff, he tells them that
no man would know the day or hour of his return and that mankind would be
spiritually complacentas they were in the days of Noah. This has long stymied
me and has left me scratching my head because I'm thinking: How in the
world would the believing Jews be complacentwhen they hear about or see

the armies of Rome marching on the city and they witness the very specific
signs Jesus gave unfolding before their eyes?
And of course, I have long wondered about the fanciful interpretations that
both Dispens and Amils have given for the phrase "this generation" in
Matthew 24. All of a sudden, we can't take this phrase at face value and
understand it as we normally would in numerous other passagesin the gospel
accounts. But I digress. I just wantedto tell you why I'm seeking
recommendations. I'm very interested in studying the PP system out in detail.
Thanks in advance,
Rufus
https://bibleforums.org/showthread.php/227697-What-did-Jesus-mean-in-
John-14-3
I Go to Prepare a Place forYou - John 14:1-3
JOHN 14:1-3
Jesus’Parting Words to His Disciples
"Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me.
There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would
have told you. I am going awayto make ready a place for you. And if I go and
make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so
that where I am you may be too.
The three verses we have now read are rich in precious truth. For eighteen
centuries they have been peculiarly dear to Christ's believing servants in

every part of the world. Many are the sick rooms which they have lightened!
Many are the dying hearts which they have cheered!Let us see whatthey
contain.
We have, first, in this passagea precious remedy againstan old disease. That
disease is trouble of heart. That remedy is faith.
Heart-trouble is the commonestthing in the world. No rank, or class, or
condition is exempt from it. No bars, or bolts, or locks cankeepit out. Partly
from inward causes andpartly from outward causes--partlyfrom the body
and partly from the mind--partly from what we love and partly from what we
fear, the journey of life is full of trouble. Even the best of Christians have
many bitter cups to drink betweengrace and glory. Even the holiestsaints
find the world a valley of tears.
Faith in the Lord Jesus is the only sure medicine for troubled hearts. To
believe more thoroughly, trust more entirely, rest more unreservedly, lay hold
more firmly, lean back more completely--this is the prescription which our
Masterurges on the attention of all His disciples. No doubt the members of
that little band which sat round the table at the lastsupper, had believed
already. They had proved the reality of their faith by giving up everything for
Christ's sake. Yetwhat does their Lord say to them here? Once more He
presses onthem the old lesson, the lessonwith which they first began--
"Believe!Believe more! Believe on Me!" (Isaiah. 26:3.)
Neverlet us forgetthat there are degrees in faith, and that there is a wide
difference betweenweak andstrong believers. The weakestfaith is enough to
give a man a saving interest in Christ, and ought not to be despised, but it will
not give a man such inward comfort as a strong faith. Vagueness anddimness
of perception are the defectof weak believers. Theydo not see clearlywhat
they believe and why they believe. In such casesmore faith is the one thing
needed. Like Peter on the water, they need to look more steadily at Jesus, and
less at the waves and wind. Is it not written, "You will keephim in perfect
peace whose mind is stayed on You"? (Isaiah. 26:3.)
We have, secondly, in this passagea very comfortable accountof heaven, or
the future abode of saints. It is but little that we understand about heaven

while we are here in the body, and that little is generally taught us in the Bible
by negatives much more than positives. But here, at any rate, there are some
plain things.
Heaven is "a Father's house,"--the house of that God of whom Jesus says, "I
go to my Father, and your Father." It is, in a word, HOME--the home of
Christ and Christians. This is a sweetand touching expression. Home, as we
all know, is the place where we are generallyloved for our own sakes,and not
for our gifts or possessions;the place where we are loved to the end, never
forgotten, and always welcome.This is one idea of heaven. Believers are in a
strange land, and at school, in this life. In the life to come they will be at home.
Heaven is a place of "MANSIONS"--oflasting, permanent, and eternal
dwellings. Here in the body we are in temporary lodgings, tents, and
tabernacles, andmust submit to many changes. In heavenwe shall be settled
at last, and go out no more. "Here we have no continuing city." (Heb. 13:14.)
Our house not made with hands shall never be takendown.
Heaven is a place of "MANY mansions." There will be room for all believers
and room for all sorts, for little saints as well as greatones, for the weakest
believer as well as for the strongest. The feeblestchild of God need not fear
there will be no place for him. None will be shut out but impenitent sinners
and obstinate unbelievers.
Heaven is a place where CHRIST HIMSELF SHALL BE PRESENT. He will
not be content to dwell without His people--"Where I am, there you shall be
also." We neednot think that we shall be alone and neglected. Our Savior--
our elder Brother--our Redeemer, who loved us and gave Himself for us, shall
be in the midst of us forever. What we shall see, and whom we shall see in
heaven, we cannotfully conceive yet, while we are in the body. But one thing
is certain--we shall see Christ.
Let these things sink down into our minds. To the worldly and carelessthey
may seemnothing at all. To all who feel in themselves the working of the
Spirit of Godthey are full of unspeakable comfort. If we hope to be in heaven
it is pleasantto know what heaven is like.

We have, lastly, in this passagea solid ground for expecting goodthings to
come.The evil heart of unbelief within us is apt to rob us of our comfort about
heaven. "We wish we could think it was all true." "We fear we shall never be
admitted into heaven." Let us hear what Jesus says to encourage us.
One cheering word is this--"I go to PREPARE a place for you." Heaven is a
prepared place for a prepared people--a place which we shall find Christ
Himself has made ready for true Christians. He has prepared it by procuring
a right for every sinner who believes to enter in. None canstop us, and saywe
have no business there. He has prepared it by going before us as our Head and
Representative, andtaking possessionofit for all the members of His mystical
body. As our Forerunner He has marched in, leading captivity captive, and
has planted His banner in the land of glory. He has prepared it by carrying
our names with Him as our High Priestinto the holy of holies, and making
angels ready to receive us. Those who enter heaven will find they are neither
unknown nor unexpected.
Another cheering word is this--"I will come againand receive you unto
myself." Christ will not wait for believers to come up to Him, but will come
down to them, to raise them from their graves and escortthem to their
heavenly home. As Josephcame to meet Jacob, so will Jesus come to call His
people togetherand guide them to their inheritance. The secondadvent ought
never to be forgotten. Greatis the blessednessoflooking back to Christ
coming the first time to suffer for us, but no less greatis the comfort of
looking forward to Christ coming the secondtime, to raise and reward His
saints.
Let us leave the whole passagewith solemnized feelings and serious self-
examination. How much they miss who live in a dying world and yet know
nothing of God as their Father and Christ as their Savior!How much they
possesswho live the life of faith in the Son of God, and believe in Jesus!With
all their weaknesses andcrossesthey have that which the world can neither
give nor take away. Theyhave a true Friend while they live, and a true home
when they die.
TechnicalNotes:

1. Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2. 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. 3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come againand receive you to myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also.
1.--[Let not...troubled.] We must carefully remember that there is no break
betweenthe end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th chapters. Our Lord is
continuing the discourse He began after the Lord’s Supper and the departure
of Judas, in the presence ofthe elevenfaithful disciples. A slight pause there
certainly seems to be, since He turns from Peter(to whom He had been
speaking individually) to the whole body of the Apostles and addressesthem
collectively. But the place, the time, and the audience are all one.
Our Lord’s great objectthroughout this and the two following chapters seems
clearand plain. He desired to comfort, establish, and build up His downcast
disciples. He saw their “hearts were troubled” from a variety of causes—
partly by seeing their Master“troubled in Spirit” (13:21), partly by hearing
that one of them should betray Him, partly by the mysterious departure of
Judas, partly by their Master’s announcementthat He should only be a little
time longerwith them and that at last they could not come with Him, and
partly by the warning addressedto Peterthat he would deny His Masterthree
times. For all these reasons this little company of weak believers was
disquieted and castdown and anxious. Their gracious Mastersaw it and
proceededto give them encouragement:“Let not your heart be troubled.” It
will be noted that He uses the singular number “your heart,” not “your
hearts.” He means “the heart of any one of you.” Hengstenberg gives the
following list of the grounds of comfort which the chapter contains, in
systematic order, which well deserves attention.
(a) The first encouragementis: to the disciples of Christ heaven is sure (v.2,3).

Jesus was a preparer

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