One House, Many Rooms

There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?   John 14:2

When Jesus began to speak about his Father’s house, the disciples must have wondered what that had to do with Judas’s defection, Christ’s departure, and Peter’s denial, but he had asked them to trust him, so they listened carefully.

If you’re familiar with the King James Version of the Bible, you would have learned the phrase, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” This has led many people to picture heaven as an upscale housing project with very large estates. Others, who think they’ve lived less worthy lives, have the idea that they’ll find themselves in second-class accommodations—heaven’s equivalent of a garden shed!

But there is really no basis for this in the Bible. Jesus spoke about one house with many rooms. The picture is of a great extended family being brought into the Father’s home. The idea is not that everyone will be given a building plot, but that all of God’s family will be together in the Father’s house.

The irony is that when Jesus was born, there was no room for him in Bethlehem. There must have been a smile on his face as Jesus said, “Don’t worry; when you come to my home, it won’t be as it was when I came to yours—in my Father’s house are many rooms!”

Later that evening, Jesus said, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them” (John 14:23). Literally, “We will room with him.” Jesus was telling the disciples that God would move in with them by the Holy Spirit, until one day they move in with him!

Jesus emphasized the absolute certainty of the disciples’ future: “If it were not so, I have told you” (John 14:2, KJV). If the future of the disciples was in doubt, he would have told them. But a magnificent destiny lies ahead, not only for them, but for all who love Jesus. That’s why you don’t need to be troubled, even when the bottom seems to be falling out of your world. Put your trust in Christ.

For further reading, see 1 Thessalonians 4