If you have your Bible, you can open it up to John chapter 14, John chapter 14.
Last Sunday, we were thinking about Jesus' words to his disciples on the evening of his
betrayal.
And I'm just going to read the first six verses of this chapter again to remind us of what's
going on in the story this morning.
So John chapter 14, verse 1 to 6.
Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God.
Believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many rooms.
If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for
you?
And 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.
You know the way to the place where I am going.
Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?
Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
We considered these words last Sunday from the perspective of the disciples and their
troubled hearts.
And we focused on Jesus' main thrust here, which is that they ought not to worry, but
instead to trust God, to trust Jesus.
Even though he's leaving them, he will be coming back again and they will be together
again.
If you missed last week, you can listen to that audio on the church website.
We have it posted there.
And we started there because it's so important that we hear these words of Jesus in their
context.
The way that the disciples would have heard them as best as we can.
What did it mean to those seated around the table that night?
Well, this morning, we want to consider these words from a different angle.
Some of you may have been wondering last week, Josh, how did you manage to preach a sermon
on John chapter 14, verses 2 and 3, and not even mention heaven once?
Well, that was deliberate because heaven is a big topic in the New Testament.
And I wanted to save that discussion for this morning so that we can talk about it more fully
rather than preaching two sermons last Sunday.
So here we go.
Verses 2 and 3, Jesus says,
These words of Jesus are some of the first that come to mind for many when they think about
the promise of heaven.
But many of our Christian brothers and sisters have understood these words of Jesus in different
ways to mean different things.
Why is that?
Well, one reason people have come to different ideas about heaven from this passage is because
of the differences in Bible translation.
Some of you are probably familiar with the old King James version of the Bible, which
says,
In my Father's house are many mansions.
The word mansions made it into many Christian hymns of the past several hundred years.
Sing the wondrous love of Jesus.
Sing his mercy and his grace.
In the mansions, bright and blessed, he'll prepare for us a place.
Or,
My Jesus, I love thee.
I know thou art mine.
It has a verse in that song that says,
In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright.
Now it sounds wonderful, doesn't it?
The idea that we get from this is that each one of us will have our own mansion.
A large, spacious, beautiful house that puts the million dollar mansions of this earth to shame.
So how is it then that every other Bible translation in English simply says,
Many rooms or many dwelling places?
I mean, come on now.
Well, if we dig into this a little deeper,
we find out that back in the days when they spoke Middle English
and William Tyndale was first translating the first English translation of the Bible,
the word mansion simply meant dwelling place.
It had no implications of being a rather large or lavish or luxurious house.
The word was derived from the Latin word mansions,
which also simply meant dwelling place.
And then, when we finally got around to collecting up all the manuscripts of ancient Greek writing,
we came to see that there too, the Greek word beneath all of this,
simply meant dwelling place or room or abode.
It doesn't mean there's a problem with the King James translation.
It was a good translation for its day.
Mansion meant dwelling place.
The problem is that since then, the English language has changed so much.
So much so that today, when somebody says mansion,
our minds immediately go to large house, luxurious house, spacious, extravagant home.
And so translation differences have affected our ideas of heaven.
I hate to break it to you, but Jesus is not promising the disciples
that they will each get their own large, spacious, beautiful house
that puts the million-dollar mansions of this earth to shame.
Let's look a little closer at the text and what he is saying to them.
He says,
My Father's house has many rooms, dwelling places, living spaces.
If we read carefully, we see that Jesus is not talking about many houses,
one for each of us.
He's talking about one house, the Father's house,
God's house, which has many rooms, many places within it to live.
This should change our idea of heaven completely, shouldn't it?
The point is not that we will all someday get to go live near God,
like just in the house down the road from where he lives.
No.
The point is that we who belong to Jesus will all someday get to live with God,
in his house, in the Father's house.
This speaks of the closeness of relationship that God desires with us.
He doesn't want us just nearby.
He wants us right there with him, in his presence,
in his own place.
And so that's the first reason we get some different ideas from this passage about heaven,
translation differences.
But there's another reason.
It kind of brings us to our next reason for our different ideas of heaven.
Some brothers and sisters in Christ will take these words of Jesus
in a little more of a material sense,
while others, myself included, will take these words of Jesus a little more metaphorically.
To illustrate the difference, let me ask you,
is Jesus saying that his Father lives in a massive house
that has separate individual rooms within it,
one for each of his people?
Is he talking about an out-of-this-world,
lavish, apartment-style building somewhere in heaven
where we will all have our own room in God's house someday?
Or was Jesus speaking figuratively, as he often did,
to convey in terms that we would understand
that we are someday to live with God in his place,
and that there'll be no shortage of space for all of his people?
Perhaps the disciples were thinking in a little bit more material
and earthly kinds of ways.
Perhaps they heard Jesus say earlier
that he's going away to prepare a place for them,
and the thing that came to their minds was simply,
well, I guess Jesus would take us now,
but there must not be room for us wherever he's going.
So maybe he's going there to prepare a place
and make sure that there's room enough for us to stay,
beds to sleep on, whatever,
and then he's going to come back to get us
and we'll leave Jerusalem
and we'll stay there with him for the next phase of this plan of God
while things maybe cool down a little bit here in Jerusalem.
I don't know.
Jesus seems to be answering this worry
or this concern of the disciples
and to be assuring them,
it's not for lack of room that I'm going to prepare.
It's not because my father's house needs some renovation work done
so that there's space for you to stay there with me.
My father's house has many rooms.
The problem, as we'll see later on in the story,
seems to me that the disciples still don't fully grasp
where Jesus is going.
That he's leaving this earth,
that he's going to his father,
that he's going out of this world
and not just to some distant or remote place here on earth.
And this kind of explains why Jesus would use metaphor here
because the things of heaven,
where Jesus is going,
are not the same as the things of earth.
The disciples are used to the things of earth.
They're used to things like houses with rooms in them
and so these are terms that they understand.
Jesus uses those terms,
just as he often does in other places.
Fig trees and vines and all kinds of other parables.
So whether we take these words in a material sense
or in a more metaphorical sense,
we'll really change our idea of what heaven is like.
And this matters too as we think about what it means for Jesus
to prepare a place for us there.
What does Jesus mean by that?
I'm going to prepare a place for you in my father's house.
If we think of Jesus' words in the material sense,
we might imagine that Jesus is up there,
as I often used to as a child,
in a celestial city somewhere with God the Father,
and that right now he's undertaking
a massive construction project,
building the new Jerusalem with his own two hands
or perhaps renovating or adding rooms
onto the Father's house
and ensuring that each room is furnished
and ready to receive us for when he comes back for us.
Is that the picture that Jesus has in mind?
Or if we take these words a little more metaphorically,
is it that the Father's house already has room enough for all of us?
That there are already many seats around the Father's table,
enough for all of us?
But is it that those seats, those rooms,
cannot belong to us
until Jesus does some very important preparatory work
on our behalf?
I would suggest to you that without Jesus going to the cross
and dying for us
and then ascending into heaven
and doing the work of a high priest for us,
there can be no place for us
at the Father's table.
There can be no place for us in the Father's house.
Is that what Jesus means when he says,
I'm going to prepare a place for you
in my Father's house?
So that's the second reason
why people come to different ideas about heaven
based on this passage.
Some take a more material view,
a more tangible view of what Jesus is talking about
and others a more metaphorical view.
A third reason
that we often come to differing ideas of heaven
from passages like these
has to do with
what we've come to understand about heaven
from all the other passages in the Bible
that speak of it.
And there are a good number of passages in the Bible
that speak of heaven.
And we really, in one sense,
need to, as best we can,
try to consider all of them at the same time
and see how they fit together.
It's kind of like building a puzzle.
And if you've ever worked on a puzzle
with somebody else,
you soon find out that some people
build puzzles differently than you do.
Some of us like to start with the corner pieces
and then the edge pieces.
And then we work our way from the edge
along the discernible features,
the things that really stand out towards the middle.
And we kind of leave those fuzzy looking things
like the grass and the sky for last.
Other people are wired totally different.
They like to look at the shape of the pieces
and just find any random piece
and just start putting them together
and get these little islands of pieces
and start moving them around
and fitting them together
and working their way towards the edge.
It's kind of the same thing
when it comes to the passages
that speak of heaven
and last things in the Bible.
Which passages that you've heard first
or which passages that you have thought about
more deeply
kind of affect how you fit the rest of them together.
And this too accounts for differences
among us
in our ideas of heaven.
An example of this
is the very meaning of the word heaven.
If we go back to the very beginning of the Bibles
that we have
it says that God created the heavens
and the earth.
Does that mean that there are multiple heavens?
Heavens plural?
Most of us will quickly acknowledge
that the word heavens
can refer to the sky.
It can refer to space.
The place where the galaxies are.
The stars.
The planets.
And so already we've got our work cut out for us
in building this puzzle
because we have to sort out
whether the word heaven
is being used to refer to
planets, galaxies, space kind of heavens
or is it being used to refer to
like the spiritual realm
or the place where God dwells
beyond all that.
And then eventually
we come to the teachings of Jesus
and he often referred to
the kingdom of heaven
and how it has come near.
Well what's the kingdom of heaven?
Is it a celestial kingdom?
Is it the kingdom of the spiritual realm?
Is it a kingdom that has borders
and boundaries somewhere up there?
Is it a destination?
Or does the kingdom of heaven
have more to do with its origin
where it comes from
than its final location?
We might come to
a familiar passage
such as
Philippians chapter 3
verse 20 to 21.
Paul's writing to the church
at Philippi.
He says
but our citizenship
is in heaven
and we eagerly await a savior
from there
the Lord Jesus Christ
who by the power
that enables him
to bring everything
under his control
will transform
our lowly bodies
so that they will be like
his glorious body.
If this was the first
or the only passage
we read about heaven
we might assume
that heaven is a place
that is somewhere up there
to which we belong
if we have Jesus.
A place from which
he will come back
and then take us
to be with him
where we will live forever
with God
as citizens.
But then we also have to consider
how the Bible ends.
It ends with this
spectacular vision
given to John
about what will happen
in the distant future.
There
John describes
what he sees
in this vision
Revelation chapter 21
verses 1 to 3
he says
then I saw
a new heaven
and a new earth
for the first heaven
and the first earth
had passed away
and there was no longer
any sea.
I saw the holy city
the new Jerusalem
coming down
out of heaven
from God
prepared as a bride
beautifully dressed
for her husband
and I heard a loud voice
from the throne
saying
look
God's dwelling place
is now
among the people
and he will dwell
with them
they will be his people
and God himself
will be with them
and be their God.
if this was the first
or the only passage
that you read
about heaven
you might conclude
that heaven
is not so much
a geospatial location
as it is the place
where God is
the place where he dwells
we might conclude
that our
final destination
will not be
in some celestial
city
way up in the galaxies
but instead
perhaps
that our final
dwelling place
will be in this
city that comes
down from heaven
to the new earth
God coming down
to live
with us
among us
on the new earth
already you can see
why Christians
have come to all kinds
of differing ideas
about heaven
perhaps in some ways
we've been a little bit
too influenced
by that sort of
Christian pop culture
that perpetuates itself
in every generation
but perhaps
in other ways
we're all just trying
to fit the pieces
of the puzzle
together
a little differently
trying to make sense
of the various things
that we read
in the Bible
about heaven
and then we come
to a passage
like this
in John 14
verse 3
it seems like
Jesus is basically
saying here
I'm going somewhere
to prepare a place
for you
and then I'm going
to come back
and get you
and then I'm going
to take you
to be there
with me
very naturally
very easily
we might assume
from this passage
that heaven
is a place
way up there
and that's
what Jesus
is getting ready
for us
he's going to
come and get us
he's going to
take us back there
and we'll be up there
somewhere
forever
with God
and with Jesus
after he returns
but then we probably
should consider
what will this new earth
that God's making
at the end
before
is it just something
for us to admire
from up in heaven
as we kind of
look down at it
or
will this new earth
be our final home
is that what's meant
by this new Jerusalem
the city where God dwells
coming down
from heaven
to this new earth
so that now
the dwelling of God
is with man
with his people
again we should pause
and consider
two possibilities
one is the more
tangible
that Jesus is promising
to make heaven
ready for us
and then come back
and take us to be there
in heaven
and live with him
forever there
the other
more metaphorical
that Jesus aim
and goal
is to get us
into
the father's house
the place
where he dwells
so that we are
part of the family
so that we are
close
perhaps that this is
not so much about
going to a geospatial
place
but about being
received into a
close intimate
relationship with the
father where we
live with him
and he with us
never to be
separated again
it's probably obvious
to you all
which view I take
but here are a
couple details
in Jesus'
own words
in this passage
that lead me
that way
notice
the language
of Jesus
we're going to do
a little fill in
the blank here
and if I go
and prepare a place
for you
I will come back
and take you
to
what do we want
to put in that
blank
heaven
that place
what does
Jesus say
to be
with me
to be
with me
he finishes
the sentence
in terms of
relationship
more important
than the location
is the relationship
that Jesus
is coming back
to have with
them
that's the big
goal here
for Jesus
it's not just
to get you
to a place
it's to get you
to be with
him
I'm going to
take you
to be
with me
and what
surprises me
every time
I read this
is that
Jesus
doesn't stop
there
he goes on
to say
essentially
the same
thing again
let's read
the rest
of the verse
he says
I will come
back
and take
you
to be
with me
that you
also
may be
what goes
in the
blank
heaven
in heaven
in that
place
no
that you
also
may be
where
I
am
it's
not
about
location
it's
about
whose
presence
we're
in
it's
about
relationship
with
Jesus
relationship
with
the
father
that's
what
makes
wherever
he's
going to
take
us
worth
being
there
it's
that
he's
there
not
that
we'll
all
have
mansions
or
all
the
stuff
of
earth
that
we
could
never
attain
here
I
mean
if
that's
really
what
we're
in
for
I
mean
that's
idolatry
that's
greed
the
treasure
of
heaven
is
not
having
all
kinds
of
created
things
to
worship
and
love
more
than
God
when
we
get
there
the
treasure
of
heaven
is
having
the
creator
himself
it's
being
with
him
it's
being
in
that
place
where
he
is
nothing
to
separate
us
from
him
think
about
this
the way
the
disciples
are
probably
thinking
about
this
they
hear
Jesus
say
the
house
of
my
father
where
is
the
house
of
God
well
back
in
those
days
it
was
the
temple
that
was
the
place
where
God
lived
among
his
people
in
earlier
times
it
was
the
tabernacle
God
would
cause
his
own
presence
to
appear
right
there
in
the
most
holy
place
of
the
temple
and
everything
about
the
temple
and
the
tabernacle
was
a
reminder
that
we
cannot
come
close
to
God
as
sinful
human
beings
but
now
Jesus
is
saying
I'm
going
to
go
away
and
make
preparations
so that
you can
live
in the
house
of
God
my
father
not
just
come
occasionally
with a
sacrifice
making
sure to
keep
your
distance
and do
all
the
stuff
right
no
I'm
going
to
make
preparations
so that
you can
take up
residence
in the
very
dwelling
place
of
my
father
permanently
like a
member
of
the
family
living
in
the
same
house
so that
you
can
be
with
me
and
with
the
father
where
I
am
that's
what
heaven
is
all
about
and
so
when
I
read
these
words
I
may
be
a
little
weird
bird
but
I
don't
hear
Jesus
telling
them
about
a
place
way
up
there
in
the
galaxies
that
he's
coming
back
to
take
us
to
not
a
destination
but
a
relationship
a
change
of
household
a
family
something
Jesus
will
do
that
will
see
us
welcomed
into
the
very
dwelling
place
of
God
forever
to
be
with
him
and
to
be
with
the
father
one
more
detail
that
leads
me
this
way
comes
in
verse
four
Jesus
probably
with a
twinkle
in his
eye
says
you
know
the
way
to
the
place
where
I'm
going
Thomas
said
to
him
Lord
we
don't
know
where
you
are
going
so
how
can
we
know
the
way
Jesus
answered
I
am
the
way
no
one
comes
to
the
father
except
through
me
these
words
probably
deserve
a whole
sermon
but let's
stay on
target
for this
morning
the
way
to the
place
where
Jesus
is
going
it's
not
a set
of
travel
directions
it's
not
a set
of
coordinates
in
relation
to
this
universe
it's
not
about
travel
or
dimension
it's
here
that
Jesus
seems
most
obviously
to be
speaking
in
metaphor
he
says
the
way
to
the
place
that
I
am
going
is
a
person
I'm
standing
right
in
front
of
you
I
am
the
way
again
it's
all
about
relationship
and
to
drive
this
whole
emphasis
on
relationship
home
he
states
it
yet
another
way
in
terms
of
relationship
he
says
no
one
comes
to
the
father
except
through
me
so
where
is
Jesus
going
the
location
is
kind
of
besides
the
point
it's
the
person
he's
going
to
the
father
yes
he
is
going
to
heaven
I'll
acknowledge
it
says
that
in
other
passages
but
what's
the
beauty
of
it
what's
the
point
of
it
that's
where
the
father
is
that's
where
God
is
why
to
prepare
a
place
for the
people
I need
to make
preparations
so that
they can
dwell
with him
and how
do
sinners
get
to
the
father
Jesus
says
I
am
the
way
you
need
to
come
to
me
you
need
to
come
through
me
it's
only
through
relationship
with
Jesus
that
anyone
can
be
welcomed
into
the
father's
house
that
anybody
can
be
made
part
of
the
family
of
God
to
stay
to
live
with
him
there's
no
other
way
says
Jesus
doesn't
matter
what
similarities
there
are
between
other
religions
and
this
Jesus
says
unless
you
come
to
me
through
me
you
can't
get
to
the
father's
house
you
can't
take
up
residence
in
one
of
those
many
rooms
that
are
there
what
an
exclusive
claim
why
so
exclusive
I
would
suggest
it's
exclusive
because
the
preparation
that
Jesus
is
going
to
make
at
the
cross
and
before
the
throne
of
God
is
essential
it's
required
without
it
we
can't
come
anywhere
near
where
God
lives
he
must
atone
for
our
sins
first
he
must
enter
heaven
and
he
must
intercede
for
us
at
the
greater
and
more
perfect
tabernacle
first
according
to the
author
of
Hebrews
that's
why
Jesus
must
go
and
do
this
without
the
men
at
the
table
that's
why
they
can't
come
with
so
what
do
we
do
with
all
this
well
if
you're
here
this
morning
and
all
of
this
is
kind
of
new
to
you
I
hope
what
you
hear
most
from
Jesus
is
that
he
desires
to
be
with
you
he
desires
a
relationship
with
you
he
wants
you
to
be
with
him
have
that
close
intimate
forever
relationship
with
him
and
with
God
the
father
forever
and
there's
no
other
way
to
have
it
except
through
Jesus
have
you
come
to
put
your
faith
in
Jesus
your
trust
in
Jesus
have
you
repented
of
your
sins
this
promise
that
Jesus
will
come
back
for
us
and
take
us
to
heaven
it's
for
those
who
belong
to
Jesus
do
you
belong
to
him
have
you
done
this
if
you
haven't
come
talk
to
me
if
you're
looking
for
help
how
to
do
this
come
talk
to
me
talk
to
anyone
in
this
church
room
that
you
see
that
you
know
knows
Jesus
we'd
be
happy
to
talk
with
you
to
pray
with
you
help
you
figure
out
what
you
need
to
do
for
those
of
us
who
have
already
done
this
for
those
of
us
who
believe
already
with
all
of
our
hearts
Jesus
is
the
Lord
he
is
the
savior
he
is
the
way
let
me
encourage
you
sometimes
we might
get
discouraged
when we
see
other
Christians
coming
to
different
conclusions
about
heaven
about
the
end
times
about
the
rapture
about
other
controversial
matters
from
the
scriptures
but
let
me
encourage
you
God
has
made
each
one
of
us
different
he
has
led
each
one
of
us
through
a
different
life
story
up
until
this
point
in
our
lives
and
so
it's
inevitable
that
sometimes
we
will
try
to
fit
the
pieces
of
the
puzzle
together
a
little
differently
than
one
another
some
things
are
crystal
clear
in
the
Bible
the
core
doctrines
of
our
faith
the
things
that
we
require
for
membership
in
the
church
other
things
are
more
like
the
puzzle
maybe
not
so
clear
what
heaven
will
be
like
and
the
precise
order
of
all
those
events
at
the
end
so
let
me
encourage
you
to
be
humble
to
be
gracious
to
be
kind
to
your
brothers
and
sisters
who
think
differently
than
you
do
about
these
things
let
me
encourage
you
to
really
think
about
what
they
say
and
what
they
see
in
the
Bible
I
don't
know
if
you've
ever
had
that
experience
I
know
I
have
where
you're
building
a
puzzle
and
you're
sure
that
these
two
pieces
fit
together
you've
got
them
sitting
there
and
then
someone
just
walks
by
and
they
look
at
that
piece
and
they
look
at
this
one
no
that
doesn't
go
with
that
one
over
here
it
that
kind
of
thing
can
happen
in
our
midst
and
it's
good
when
it
does
if
we're
humble
if
we're
quick
to
listen
we
can
learn
from
each
other
we
can
see
wonderful
things
that
we
may
have
missed
if
we
just
tried
to
do
it
all
by
ourselves
we
can
receive
correction
and
we
can
correct
one
another
some
of
you
may
be
wondering
whether
we
should
stop
singing
some
of
those
all
these
songs
are
precious
to
us
they've
been
around
for
hundreds
of
years
I
don't
think
we
need
to
none
of
our
songs
is
perfect
but
I
think
it
is
important
that
we
understand
what
Jesus
said
and
what
the
scriptures
say
and
what
he
meant
yes
it
says
mansions
but
it
means
dwelling
place
these
are
opportunities
for
us
to
reflect
on
what
heaven
will
be
like
what
the
scriptures
say
our
children
in
that
way
too
and
get
them
thinking
one
of my
favorite
songs
back
in
the
day
was
somewhere
in
outer
space
God
has
prepared
a
place
you
probably
know
that
one
the
countdown
song
you
get
in
the
rocket
countdown
blast
off
to
heaven
I
still
love
that
song
it's
so
catchy
it's
so
wonderful
it's
kind
of
wrong
I
think
let's
sing
it
anyway
and
let's
teach
our
kids
not
just
somewhere
in
outer
space
and
that
going
there
is
not
like
a
flight
in
a
rocket
ship
Jesus
is
coming
back
to
take
us
there
finally
I
just
want
to
press
home
to
our
hearts
the
main
truth
of
these
words
for
us
who
believe
we
have
a
great
and
wonderful
hope
and
that
great
and
wonderful
hope
goes
so
far
beyond
created
things
and
stuff
it
transcends
the
most
beautiful
of
places
our
hope
our
glory
our
greatest
joy
will
be
to
be
with
God
forever
now
don't
get me
wrong
I
believe
that
heaven
will
be
full
of
created
delights
full
of
beautiful
things
and
all
of
those
things
will
reveal
more
and
more
of
God's
goodness
they
will
point
to
his
power
and
his
love
I
don't
expect
that
we'll
spend
eternity
just
sitting
on a
cloud
and
singing
if
the
old
earth
is
as
good
and
beautiful
as
it
is
surely
the
new
earth
will
surpass
the
old
but
all
of
it
will
serve
to
glorify
God
to
magnify
how
wonderful
he
is
and
to
increase
our
enjoyment
of
him
and
inspire
our
worship
of
him
it's
relationship
with our
great
and
glorious
God
that will
make
heaven
and
so
I
encourage
you
in
your
thoughts
of
heaven
think
mostly
about
him
being
with
him
being
with
Jesus
he's
what
heaven
is
all
about
let's
pray
Lord
Jesus
we
thank
you
for
this
precious
promise
that
we're
not
all
left
to
ourselves
but
you're
coming
back
and
you're
going
to
take
us
and
from
that
day
on
we
will
be
with
you
forever
as
close
as
we
possibly
can
be
no
more
sin
no
more
struggle
no
more
frustration
no
more
anxiety
oh
we
long
for
that
Lord
I
pray
and
ask
that
you
would
fill
our
hearts
with
that
truth
that
promise
that
you
gave
your
disciples
that
evening
I
will
come
back
and
take
you
to
be
with
me
come
soon
we
pray
Lord
Jesus
Amen
after
next
can
own
if
I
did
come
to