In My Father's house are many mansions

 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  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.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."  Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me. 

"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

- John 14:1-14

On Saturday, we read that when Judas had gone out from the Passover Supper to betray Him, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.  If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.  Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer.  You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you.  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?"  Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward."  Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now?  I will lay down my life for Your sake."  Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake?  Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times."

 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  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.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And where I go you know, and the way you know."   My study bible comments that many mansions is a word-picture.  It illustrates for us an abundance of living accommodations around a central courtyard.  "Mansions" also speaks of the multitude of blessings, it adds, that await those who enter the Kingdom of God. 

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."  My study bible comments on Jesus' teaching here that the way we reach the Father is forever established in the Person and work of the Son.  The Son is the truth because HE is the unique revelation of the Father.  It says that Christ is the life who became Man so that we might have life, and as He is our life, not even death can hinder us from coming to Him.  It is only in Christ that we can come to know the Father -- because Christ is the Person who is truth, and He is life.

"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."  Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?  The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves."  Jesus says that he who has seen Me has seen the Father.  My study bible comments that this means that our own response to Christ will determine our relationship to the Father.  In other words, if we reject Christ, then we will not find the Father.  If we believe in Christ and follow Him, then we ourselves will become "children of God," who live eternally in the love of the Father (1:12).   Although human beings are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), the incarnate Son is Himself the precise image of the Father (Colossians 1:15).  Christ does not declare Himself to be the Father; He is not the Father.  Instead, He is declaring here that He and the Father are one in essence, and undivided in nature.  At the same time, they are distinct Persons in the Trinity.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."   My study bible comments that Jesus' remarks citing greater works that will be done indicates that Christ's working through human beings after Pentecost is greater than His performing sings and wonders directly.  These works, which are testified to in the Book of Acts, include spreading the gospel throughout the world, miraculous healings, and raising the dead. 

"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."  My study bible says that to pray in Christ's name doesn't just mean that we attach the phrase "in Jesus' name we pray" at the end of prayers.  But to pray in Christ's name means to pray in accordance with His will.  My study bible uses the example of an emissary of a king.  Such an emissary or representative can only be said to be speaking in the name of the a king if he is indeed saying what the king would want him to say.  So it's the same with the name of Christ:  to pray in His name is to pray in accordance with what He wants.  My study bible adds that the purpose here is not to get God to do our will, but rather for us to learn to pray properly, according to God's will (Matthew 6:10). 

Jesus speaks of how those who have seen Him have seen the Father.  Over and over again, and particularly in His disputes with the leadership in Jerusalem, Jesus has emphasized His union with the Father.  He is, for us, the revelation of the Father to the world.  Through Christ, we know that God is love (1 John 4:8).  Surely the Psalms and the Old Testament Scriptures also testify to a loving and merciful God.  But Christ embodies in human form the reality of the Father for us, His Person -- although, He is not the Father.  Through His living actions, His choices, and especially His words, He reveals to us the Father.  How does this happen?  Here in today's reading, Jesus tells us Himself:  "The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works."   Through what He says and what He does, Christ reveals the Father.  He is in intimate communion with the Father, and lives His human life -- meets all its challenges and demands, makes every decision, and does every work -- in accordance with the will of the Father, within that communion.  Jesus goes on to promise that we also, through faith, may in fact do the same.  In today's reading, He asks Philip, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?"   In chapter 6, Jesus taught, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him" (6:56).   In other words, as He teaches here that He abides in the Father, so He also offers us to abide in Him.  The entire substance of His Farewell Discourse can in some sense be summed up in this theme, and particularly when we get into the verses in the next chapter.  But here is the promise, not only that we have indeed seen the Father:  we have Christ's words and His works which are given to do by the Father.  But also there is the command that extends this promise, that we may abide in Him.  We may also ask in His name, as my study bible explains, by living in accordance with His will, and do even greater works also by abiding in Him and living according to His word, so that God is glorified and revealed even through us as His disciples.  Let us consider the communion into which we are invited as we allow His words to sink down into us, and their implications for our own lives.  This is His Farewell Discourse given to the disciples, and by extension to all of us who come and seek to dwell in His house with Him, and abide in Him as well.