Rooms In Heaven? (John 14:2)

John 14:2–3 ESV In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ₃ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Jesus’ saying in John 14:2–3 is popularly understood to mean that he was going to Heaven to prepare a place for his disciples in Heaven, so that when they die, their souls will go to Heaven to live there forever.

John 14:2–3 is part of the Upper Room Discourse in the Gospel of John, which began all the way back in 13:31, and spans all the way until 16:33. Already, back in 13:33, Jesus had said that he was going somewhere that his disciples were not able to come, but in 13:36, he assured them that they will follow afterward. Here in 14:2–3, Jesus says that he was going away, but he will come again to take his disciples to himself.

Where was Jesus going, and where was he going to take his disciples? Jesus himself answers this question in the following verses:

John 14:4–7 ESV And you know the way to where I am going.” ₅ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ₆ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ₇ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

In verse 6, Jesus specifies both the way and the destination: He was going away to the Father, and he will come back to bring his disciples to the Father. In the next verse, Jesus specifies that coming to the Father means knowing the Father through him, and he tells his disciples that they knew the Father “from now on”. Hence, “coming to the Father” here does not mean going to Heaven some day in the future, but rather knowing the Father right here and right now.

The Greek word for “rooms” or “mansions” (KJV) in verse 2 is monē (μονή), which means a dwelling place. Jesus used this same word again later on in the same speech:

John 14:23 ESV Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home [monē] with him.

Here in verse 23, the Greek word for “home” or “abode” (KJV, NASB) is monē, which is the same Greek word for “rooms” in verse 2. However, this connection is obscured in many translations, where monē is rendered differently in both verses. Notice that Jesus’ promise was not that we will go to Heaven some day in the future, but that he and the Father will come to dwell with each person who loves him right here and right now.

Jesus continues this theme of God dwelling with believers later on in the same speech:

John 15:4–5 ESV Abide [menō] in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides [menō] in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide [menō] in me. ₅ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides [menō] in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

The Greek word for “abide” or “remain” (NIV, NLT), which is repeated ten times in 15:4–10, is menō (μένω), which is related to monē, the word for “rooms” in 14:2. Notice again that abiding in Jesus and having Jesus abiding in us is not something that we will only experience in Heaven some day in the future, but right here and right now.

Lastly, when will Jesus come back and take his disciples to himself, as he promised in 14:3? Jesus makes this clear in the final part of the same speech:

John 16:22–24 ESV So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ₂₃ In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ₂₄ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

According to Jesus, the day that he comes back to take his disciples to himself is the day that they will ask of the Father in his name and he will give it to them. Jesus then goes on to exhort his disciples to ask from the Father and assures them that they will receive. Clearly, Jesus did not think that this will only be possible in Heaven some day in the future, but right here and right now.

Conclusion

When we read John 14:2–3 in context, we find that Jesus was not talking about bringing us to Heaven, where God literally lives in a house that has as many rooms as there are believers. Rather, Jesus was saying that by his death and resurrection, he has prepared a place for us with the Father so that we can enjoy a close relationship with him—not in Heaven some day in the future, but right here and right now.