“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” - John 14:1-7What a wonderful passage of scripture! We see Christ comforting the hearts of the disciples during these last hours. Notice how He does it...by speaking of our future hope of eternity, that is granted only through Christ (14:6). A common misconception here is that the comfort comes through the pleasures of bliss in heaven. But what do we see Jesus really tell them? Is the emphasis on the Father's house? I would state the text is emphasizing the who will be in eternity. Notice Jesus words, "if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." The glory of heaven is not the "mansions" or "golden streets" but Christ Himself. What makes heaven, heaven, is Jesus! Want validation...what is Thomas' reply to Jesus? "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Thomas doesn't ask how big the Father's house is, he doesn't ask anything other than how he can be with Jesus! Jesus' answer of how we can be with Him, is only through Him, only by turning from our sin and turning by faith to Christ and His sovereign grace to give us life.
What about you, have you turned from your sin and turned to Christ by faith? If so, Christian where is your joy founded? Where is your hope? Is it in the glorious things of heaven or in the one who gives heaven its glory?
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