The Father’s house

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The Father’s house

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. – John 14:2

John 14:1-6

 1 Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.

 2 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?

 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

 4 And you know the way to where I am going.

 5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

 6 Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Antonin Dvorak, the notable Czech composer, traveled to America in the late 19th century. What he heard and saw, provided some of the inspiration for his greatest work Symphony 9, the New World Symphony. It contains an alluring, hauntingly beautiful Largo, played on the English Horn. The Largo is the outpouring of Dvorak’s own longing for his homeland. He managed to capture a moving expression of nostalgia; the pathos of the human soul “longing for home.”

President Ronald Reagan was so enchanted with this music, that he requested that it be played at his funeral. And it was so.

As the Lord Jesus Christ prepared to go to the cross for us, He knew that His ultimate destination was not the grave. He was going home to be with His Father. He shared the natural human longing for going home. But His thoughts turned towards His disciples. He wanted to share something startling and magnificent. His home would also become the home of each child of the King. His Father had a very big home. There was enough room for each of his children. And they were all invited!

“An earthly house becomes overcrowded; an earthly inn must sometimes turn away the weary traveler because its accommodation is exhausted. It is not so with our Father’s house, for heaven is as wide as the heart of God and there is room for all. Jesus is saying to his friends: ‘Don’t be afraid. In this world, people may shut their doors upon you. But in heaven, you will never be shut out’” (Barclay).

He told His disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you.” He assured them that there would be plenty of room in His Father’s house. He was going on ahead to make everything ready. When He finished with the preparations, He would return for them and bring them back with Him to their new home. And they would be with Him forever.

Most of us have had the pleasure of visiting delightful homes and families. They are all the dearer to us if our backgrounds were less than stellar.

But what would be like to be welcomed into the Father’s home? And not just as a visitor, but as a permanent resident? His place will be our place. His home will become our home. We will enjoy His company forever!

One day we will all have the amazing experience of stepping into the life to come and experience the eternal accommodations that the Lord Jesus Christ lovingly and uniquely prepared for one of us.

And best of all we will dwell in His presence forever!

REFLECT & PRAY

What a fantastic thought. Each child of the King will have a special place prepared for them in the Father’s house forever.

Father thank You for having such a big heart and welcoming me into Your forever family. In your presence are pleasures forevermore, I can hardly wait!

INSIGHT

The disciples were confused. They did not understand where the Lord Jesus Christ was going. Even after being with Him for over three years, there were still a bit dull in their comprehension. And on top of that, if they do not know where He was going, how can they know the way to get there? Thomas asked the natural question.

John 14:5 “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

“Again and again, Jesus had told his disciples where he was going, but somehow they had never understood. ‘I will be with you a little while longer,’ he said, ‘and then I am going to him who sent me’ (John 7:33). He had told them that he was going to the Father who had sent him, and with whom he was one, but they still did not understand what was going on. Even less did they understand the way by which Jesus was going, for that way was the cross.”

“At this moment, the disciples were bewildered men. There was one among them who could never say that he understood what he did not understand, and that was Thomas. He was far too honest and far too much in earnest to be satisfied with any vague, pious expressions. Thomas had to be sure. So he expressed his doubts and his failure to understand, and the wonderful thing is that it was the question of a doubting man which provoked one of the greatest things Jesus ever said. No one need be ashamed of having doubts; for it is amazingly and blessedly true that those who seek will in the end find” (Barclay).

“Jesus’ words made this expectation a certainty. He never would have promised to prepare a place for the disciples if He were not sure that they would reach it. . . Faith in Him was their key to security, no matter how well-grounded their fears for themselves might be.”

“Christ’s presence would make the place glorious. Eternal companionship with Him is the expectation of the saved” (Tenney).

Going home – Bill Gaither

Many times in my childhood when we’ve traveled so far

By nightfall how weary I’d grown

Fathers arms would slip around me and gently he’d say

My child were going home

Going home, I’m going home

There is nothing to hold me here

I’ve caught a glimpse of that Heavenly land

Praise God, I’m going home

Now the twilight is fading, the day soon shall end

Lord, I get homesick, the farther I roam

But the Father has led me each step of the way

And now I’m going home

Going home, I’m going home

There is nothing to hold me here

I’ve caught a glimpse of that Heavenly land

Praise God, I’m going home

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