many dwellings

 

Jesus said, ‘In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’

These words are often read at funerals, but I do not think they are concerned with what happens to us when we die. I believe Jesus was speaking about what would happen for his apprentices after his death, mighty resurrection, and glorious ascension.

‘In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places’ may be understood in this way: ‘In my Father’s household, there are many dwelling-places’ or ‘In God’s family, there are many places where God is found at home.’

Jesus said, ‘the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.’ That is, when Jesus was walking around Galilee, Samaria, and Judea, he was the dwelling place of God on earth, the place where God resided. He was at home in God, and God was at home in him.

But now, Jesus was returning to the Father (to God) to prepare for the sending of the Holy Spirit so that all God’s children would be at home in God, and God in them.

I do not think this is a partisan thing. I believe that everyone you meet is, at least potentially, someone on and with whom God rests. I do believe that it is possible to choose, in ways that become habitual, to live your life in such a way that God departs; but even then, I believe God longs to be able to return home.

But I also believe that many of the people we meet, including many Christians, live their lives unaware of the reality that they are a place where God dwells.

Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ That is, his life both reveals that a human life can be God’s home and also teaches or (better) trains us how to live such a life.

Where does God reside? With you, in your life. And also with me.

In a world where many have lost a sense of significance or worth, or are anxious about what the day might hold, we can wake every morning saying, ‘I am at home in God, and God in me. I am at rest in God, and God in me.’ And because of this, we can extend hospitality towards others.

The point is not that there is a place for you in heaven when you die, but that there is a place for God in you (and you in God) while you live.

 

John 14.1-14

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.’