“… I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2)
When you or I are planning to attend an event where there will be a great crowd of people, and there is a chance we may not be there very early, it’s nice to have someone who has promised, “I’ll save you a seat.” No one likes the idea of going somewhere where there is a distinct possibility there won’t be a place for us when we get there. As the old saying goes, “A place for everything; and everything in its place.” Well, that holds true for people, too.
Judas had his own place (Acts 1:25), and since he was called the “son of perdition” (John 17:12), we can be sure it was not the place Jesus is referring to in this verse in John fourteen. But the fact remains, we all will have a place to spend eternity in. None of us will just “continue our journey.” When we take our last breath, we will have arrived. In Luke sixteen, when the rich man died, we are not told that he hovered in some anteroom before being assigned to his final destination. The Bible says he died, was buried, and immediately suffered the torments of hell. Lazarus, the beggar, on the other hand, inhaled his last, painful breath outside the rich man’s gate, and exhaled, cradled in the bosom of Abraham. There was a place for both men, and in the end, they went to their respective places.
Jesus told his disciples (and you and me as believers, by extension) that the place He had in mind for them was the place where He would be (“…that where I am, there ye may be also”). God told Moses, “Behold, there is a place by me” (Exo.33:21). And it becomes obvious as you read through the Word that beyond the acknowledgement by all men and women everywhere that He is Lord of all, the next “business” on God’s agenda was making a way for us to be with Him. Don’t ask me why. To that end, He has overcome every obstacle, including sin, death, and Satan, and made all preparations. Now, to those of us who are both family and friends, he says, “I’ll save you a seat!” And I am more sure there will be a place for me there—by Him—than I am sure there will always be a place for me here. My Savior has prepared the place, and I am prepared to go!
When you or I are planning to attend an event where there will be a great crowd of people, and there is a chance we may not be there very early, it’s nice to have someone who has promised, “I’ll save you a seat.” No one likes the idea of going somewhere where there is a distinct possibility there won’t be a place for us when we get there. As the old saying goes, “A place for everything; and everything in its place.” Well, that holds true for people, too.
Judas had his own place (Acts 1:25), and since he was called the “son of perdition” (John 17:12), we can be sure it was not the place Jesus is referring to in this verse in John fourteen. But the fact remains, we all will have a place to spend eternity in. None of us will just “continue our journey.” When we take our last breath, we will have arrived. In Luke sixteen, when the rich man died, we are not told that he hovered in some anteroom before being assigned to his final destination. The Bible says he died, was buried, and immediately suffered the torments of hell. Lazarus, the beggar, on the other hand, inhaled his last, painful breath outside the rich man’s gate, and exhaled, cradled in the bosom of Abraham. There was a place for both men, and in the end, they went to their respective places.
Jesus told his disciples (and you and me as believers, by extension) that the place He had in mind for them was the place where He would be (“…that where I am, there ye may be also”). God told Moses, “Behold, there is a place by me” (Exo.33:21). And it becomes obvious as you read through the Word that beyond the acknowledgement by all men and women everywhere that He is Lord of all, the next “business” on God’s agenda was making a way for us to be with Him. Don’t ask me why. To that end, He has overcome every obstacle, including sin, death, and Satan, and made all preparations. Now, to those of us who are both family and friends, he says, “I’ll save you a seat!” And I am more sure there will be a place for me there—by Him—than I am sure there will always be a place for me here. My Savior has prepared the place, and I am prepared to go!
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