“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 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 if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:1-6
This passage is most familiar to us because of the last verse, John 14:6:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
It’s an amazing statement and one of the most controversial ever made in the world. Purveyors and followers of the world’s other religions become indignant at the hubris of Jesus. Can you imagine their outrage that a religion as outlandish as Christianity could have a concept so foreign? Don’t all paths lead to God? Well, all except for Buddhism which disavows that there is a God. Let’s try again. Don’t we all serve the same God? Um, not quite. Islam believes in only the oneness of its god; the Trinity is a heretical concept. One more. How about New Age? Not so much. New Agers are big on witchcraft, the occult, and divination. The God of Christianity says those are an abomination. Maybe this doesn’t work so well after all:
All these different ways contribute to the problems in the world. Sometimes it seems like we have nothing but trouble. The teachings of many religions are an attempt to make sense of the ills around us. Some disavow the concept of reality (Buddhism). Others dictate that if we make more trouble by killing others that’s a good thing (Islam). Still others teach that we’ll go around and round through many lives and finally come out perfect in the end (Hinduism and New Age).
Jesus taught that we’ll have trials and tribulations, but in Him and through Him we can persevere. As a result, we’re not to worry and let our hearts be troubled. In Him we have peace. Through our faith in Christ, we also know that our God is not only merciful, He is just.
These troubles we have in this world? When we’re in Christ we are assured that God’s justice will prevail. All around us we see those who hate and despise God and seem to prosper. We also see those who love Jesus and suffer terribly. Those who have riches in this life, unless they know Jesus as Savior and Lord, won’t be so fortunate in the next life. People mistreated and persecuted now but who trust in the Lord have a glorious future.
Jesus is preparing a place for them, and all of us who love Him. The grandeur of such a house will overwhelm us all. I think of the negro spiritual: I’ll Fly Away and of the slaves who endured such suffering, yet with a song like this looked forward to eternity:
Some bright morning when this life is over
I’ll fly away
To that home on God’s celestial shore
I’ll fly away
They had hope, despite the terrible conditions under which they lived and labored. It’s this confident expectation that Jesus brings us in this life.
How will we who live now fly away? We have the anticipation of the Rapture. Jesus says in our verse above that He is coming back for us to take us to His father’s house. These aren’t idle words. This isn’t a promise that’s in some distant, obscure future. This is a promise for NOW!
This age in which we live is coming to an end. All prophetic signs are converging and pointing to the soon-return of Jesus and the coming wrath of God upon an unbelieving world.
That mansion Jesus is building awaits us. His return is near. Soon we’ll take up residence in His Father’s house. Soon, and very soon, we’ll fly away.