"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."
These are Christ’s words to his apostles. They had just received
the disturbing news that Christ would be with them only a little while longer. Christ
speaks to the disciples in John 13: 33, "Little children, I am with you only a little
longer." Christ gives them reassurance in John 14 that he is preparing a place for
them, and he will come again and will take them with him.
What a glorious time the apostles must have had with their teacher and
leader. Through Christ they were accomplishing many things. What an exciting time to be
alive, and what an exciting place to be. To be a part of this movement must have been an
exhilarating and vital experience. One can sense the apprehension of the apostles. To
learn Christ would leave them must surely have made them feel bereft.
Christ understood their fears, and made them the promise that he would
come back for them, and take them to be with him always. Christ makes this promise to us
also. Life with Christ, is his gift to us. He is in fact the life. Christ says in John
14:6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No once comes to the Father, except
through me."
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for sending your son to us. Thank you for
the great gift of eternal life you give to those who believe, and for preparing a place
for us. Amen.
