Answer
The night before Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples that He would be leaving them and that they could not go with Him (John 13:33). Peter asked where He was going and why they couldn’t go with Him, and Jesus assured them that they would follow Him eventually (John 13:36–37). Jesus said, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2–3).
This saying of Jesus has confused many because of the King James Version’s use of the word mansions. In the KJV, John 14:2 says, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” The picture conjured by many who read this is based on common ideas of “mansions” in this world. Poems are written and songs are sung about our “mansion just over the hilltop.” But does heaven consist of large, imposing, estates dominated by opulent residences? Do each of us really get our own Monticello, Montpelier, or even greater manse? Such an idea is unwarranted, based on John 14:2.
Jesus was not describing physical characteristics of heaven. He was assuring His disciples that they would have a place—a permanent place—in God’s abode. The Greek word translated “house” means “an abode,” literally or figuratively, and, by implication, “a family.” The word translated “mansions” (KJV) or “rooms” (NIV) means literally “abiding (not transitory) dwelling-places for individuals.” So, putting the Greek words together, Jesus is saying that in God’s home (heaven) there will be many people in the family of God all abiding together. In God’s heavenly household, believers will live in the presence of the Lord as a welcome part of His family. This is quite different from the vision of row upon splendid row of ornate mansions with manicured lawns.
The Lord assures us that He is preparing a place in heaven for His own, those who have come to Him in faith. In the meantime, the Holy Spirit prepares the redeemed on earth for their place in heaven. One day, all those bought with the blood of the Lamb will be part of a “great multitude in heaven that no one could count,” all standing before the throne (Revelation 7:9). Here, again, the imagery is of multitudes of people together, not individuals living separately in personalized mansions.
