Many people who would never go near a church will be familiar with this passage – it is a much-loved choice for funerals, and you can see why. In a few short verses, Jesus packs in so many wonderful promises: first, a word of comfort to all who feel in distress – as the disciples must surely have felt, after he has told them he is going away, and that where he is going, they cannot come: (v1) ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled…. believe…in me.’ Jesus is the source of peace for all troubled hearts – a wonderful promise we’ll come back to in a few days’ time.
Next there is the promise that there is plenty of room in heaven: (v2) ‘My Father’s house has many rooms.’ In the old translation, it was ‘mansions,’ but is probably best rendered as ‘dwelling places.’ In keeping with the whole message of his ministry, eternal life through him is available to all – and heaven is big enough to have a home for everyone.
Alongside this, he also reassures his friends that what he is about to do is intimately connected with preparing a place for them in this wonderful new eternal home. At this point, they can’t possibly understand how that might work; but, of course, looking back, they could ‘join the dots’ – as, indeed, can we. Jesus’ death and resurrection ‘opens up the gates of heaven and beckons us in,’ to use the words of a lovely modern song.
But what the disciples most needed to hear at this point is arguably the bit we focus on least – certainly in a traditional funeral service. It’s verse 3: ‘I will come back.’ And not just return to resume life as it is now: ‘I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am.’
To grief-stricken friends who have just learned that Jesus is going away, the word they most needed to hear is that this is not the end, they will see him again. Or, as the old saying goes, it is not goodbye, but au revoir. And when they do see him again, their union will be permanent. From that point, they will always be where Jesus is.
2,000 years later, we still await Jesus’ final ‘coming back’; but the promise remains as true today as it was for the disciples. Jesus has prepared a place for all of us, and he is sure to return and take us to be with him, forever. Much as it’s right to focus on Jesus’ presence with us now – constantly, in this life – it’s good to remind ourselves that this is only part of the good news. There is a final home for all of us, of unspeakable joy, unfathomable peace and inexhaustible love. In the meantime, let’s live every day for the Lord until this glorious future is our eternal reality. Thanks be to God!