“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” (Jn 14:2).
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| Biltmore Estates, Asheville, NC (2005 Wikipedia) |
This verse is part of a conversation Jesus is having with His
disciples in the Upper Room prior to His apprehension in the Garden. Unbeknownst to
the disciples, Jesus is a day out from being crucified. Jesus makes a couple of
announcements. One, there is one among them who was going to betray Him (Jn
13:21). When Judas Iscariot had already left to betray Jesus for thirty pieces
of silver (Jn 13:30), the other eleven were clueless he was of the devil (Jn 6:70;
13:27-30). Then two, Jesus informed them that He was going away (Jn 13:33).
Jesus was acutely aware what was soon coming down the pike with His
arrest. The disciples were going to be devastated, discombobulated, stressed, BP-spiked,
and bewildered to say the least because Thomas revealed the thinking of them
all, “Lord, we do not know where You are going ...?” They are fixing to get
torn out of the frame with what was just up ahead of them. So, the theme of
John 14 is one of comfort, hence the pivot from predicting Peter’s denial (Jn
13:37-38) to “Let not your heart be troubled” in Jn 14:1.
They were commanded to keep on believing in God and in Jesus (Jn
14:1b). When things don’t go like we think they should, do we keep on believing
and trusting in Jesus? What may not seem at the time as little comfort to Jesus’
eleven disciples with His “I go” announcements (Jn 14:1, 2, 4) will
all change for several reasons: (1) Jesus’ third day resurrection, (2) His
forty-day post-resurrection ministry, (3) the promise of His return during His
ascension, and (4) the promise coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. All of these would play a factor in Jesus’ followers not feeling
deserted or like “orphans” (Jn 14:18). The promise of the “Helper” (Jn 14:16)
is identified as “the Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:17) and “the Holy Spirit” (Jn
14:26).
The Greek word (mone) behind
the English translation “mansions” (Jn 14:2) occurs only twice in the NT, and
both are used by John right here in chapter 14. It is also translated “home”
(Jn 14:23). The first occurrence speaks of a place for us in heaven which
houses “many mansions,” which speaks of spaciousness or enough space for all. I
think that is the idea rather than our personal living space being large and
imposing. It could rightly well be, but that is not the sense here other than heaven
is large enough to accommodate all easily.
Note just the opposite of spatiality in the Greek word (mone) being translated “home” in Jn 14:23.
The triune Godhead takes up their abode in us! I do not think we will have to
worry about cramped living quarters in heaven for an eternity; do you? There
will be plenty of room for all in the Father’s house. Mone has also been translated: dwelling places, abodes, rooms, homes,
et al. There is a place or permanent dwelling for every spiritually regenerated
believer in heaven; we have Jesus’ word on it (Jn 14:3)! Look at this last
verse for a very comforting nugget.
In John 14:3, the verb
“may be” is in the present tense (continual, without end, per se), and the mood
is subjunctive, meaning an act or state having contingency or possibility. “Where
I am, there you may be also” is not
conditional but provisional (“I go and
prepare a place for you”); it is predicated on the solid assurance of the
Person making the promise, “I will come again….” In other words, it is not a
fact yet, but it will be! The present subjective looks forward to the literal “resolution
of the contingency.” At that unknowable time, to pinpoint the whereabouts of
any believer, one has only to look for Christ! I like this paraphrase,
“When everything is
ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am” (Jn 14:3, NLT).
How much square footage do you think that you need in order to live
comfortably: 2,500, 5,000, 7,500, 10,000+? More? Okay, how about 179,000 square
feet? Would this be roomy enough for you? Let me take you to the big house in Asheville, NC; you
may have already paid it a visit there at one time or another.
Back in December of 2016, Beverly and I were chatting with our
tour guide directly across from the front door of the Biltmore House in
Asheville, NC. This is the largest privately-owned house in North America. It
is nearly 179,000 square feet in floor space and a massive testament to the Gilded Age (1870ish-1900).
As we were standing directly in front of the Biltmore House with
our guide at the edge of the lawn across from the front door, a lady who looked to be in her early forties approached us, “Excuse
me! Now, is this the Biltmore House?” Reflexively, we all said, “Yes,” without
looking at each other, and the stranger went on. Right after she left, we were all dumbstruck by her question. I broke the silence with, “No she didn’t! She didn’t ask us if this was the Biltmore did she!?” The nodding was consensual.
You are probably thinking that I shouldn’t be making fun of that
poor woman. Perhaps you are right, but she was holding a brochure in her hand
with a picture of the Biltmore house, looming larger than life in all of its
splendor, people streaming in and out of its front doors. Looking at the
picture of the Bilt above, you will understand how astonished the guide, Beverly,
and I were. There’s a better view of this in Part 2.
II had visited the Bilt many years ago, but this time, I had
mixed emotions of awe and vanity as we walked around the big house. We also
took a guided tour of the properties. The wow factor was definitely still
there; it was visually stunning, but my spirit ached of the words of Solomon,
through inspiration, of the emptiness, “Vanity of vanities.” Solomon was
someone who definitely knew a thing or two about building projects.
It took George Washington Vanderbilt II (11.14.1862 – 3.6.1914) six years to build his home; it took Solomon thirteen (1 Kgs 7:1). Like Solomon’s palace, everything was handcrafted, no precast molds like today. So, before driving over to the Biltmore’s 8,000-acre estate from the hotel, I had asked God to help me see this place with spiritual eyes, to look beyond the physical “wow,” of the splendor of man’s imagination and genius, but in the end, it pales to God’s home for us in glory!
It took George Washington Vanderbilt II (11.14.1862 – 3.6.1914) six years to build his home; it took Solomon thirteen (1 Kgs 7:1). Like Solomon’s palace, everything was handcrafted, no precast molds like today. So, before driving over to the Biltmore’s 8,000-acre estate from the hotel, I had asked God to help me see this place with spiritual eyes, to look beyond the physical “wow,” of the splendor of man’s imagination and genius, but in the end, it pales to God’s home for us in glory!
This imposing and most impressive of the four-story
sixteenth-century chateaux-like structure of the Biltmore contained cutting
edge technologies of that day that once provided “heat for 255 rooms, water for
43 bathrooms, three kitchens, a laundry and an indoor swimming pool; and
electricity for 288 light fixtures and 180 electrical outlets.”1
Construction of the house started in 1889. The foundation alone
took two years to construct according to my tour guide. I can remember as a boy
in the 1950’s going to the house of a relative who did not have running water.
An outhouse was in the backyard, and yes, there was a Sears catalog in there. I
tore pages from the linen section thinking it would be softer; it wasn’t. The
Bilt was officially opened to receive family and friends as an escape from
everyday life on December 24, 1895 (construction continued into 1896).
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1.http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/Biltmore-techtour/1316,
quoting Bryan, John, Biltmore Estate: The
Most Distinguished Private Place (New York: Rizzoli Press, 1995), 109-110.
Originally, Vanderbilt had purchased 125,000 acres.
