Is Yeshua / Jesus in the mansion building business?

We were worshiping and the presence of God fell

Holy Spirit come…..

Perhaps you have heard these statements or even said them yourself at some point. I make it a practice to never say these words. For one, I believe they are an offense to God and for two, I believe they are detrimental to myself.

“The presence of God fell“
Let me explain: To say that the presence of God fell is to say that it arrived. To say that God arrived at a certain point is to say that He was not there before.

If you believe on God then this line of thinking is contrary to the Word and promises of God. The Scriptures clearly reveal to us that when we enter into covenant with God, He places His Spirit inside of us. If we truly believe that God resides in us then we won’t say that God came to us. How could He come to us if He was already with us?

“Holy Spirit come”
For the sake of redundancy, I won’t repeat what I related in the paragraph above. I’ll just say that God makes His home in us through the work of Holy Spirit.

Is Yeshua in the mansion building business?
There is a Scripture in the book of John that I would like to address because it confuses this issue. That Scripture is John 14:1-3

Let not your heart be troubled: ye 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 unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Jn 14:1-3

On the surface, it appears that Yeshua has gone to Heaven to manage the construction project for our permanent mansions in the sky. But is that what is really being said here?

One thing I do when trying to interpret Scripture is I consider how it relates to the immediate context as well as the context of all Scripture. In this case, the above interpretation of John 14:1-3 is contradictory to every other Scripture of which I am aware in which Yeshua relates His Heavenly activities.

Following are several Scriptures that align with every Scripture of which I am aware that reveals what Yeshua’s current activities.

Where is Yeshua and what is He doing now?

Acts 7:55But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at  the right hand of God.”

Acts 7:55-56

But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

Acts 7:55-56 

Rom. 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Eph. 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Col. 3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Heb. 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Heb. 8:1  Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;

Heb. 10:12  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

Heb. 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

1 Pet. 3:22  Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

Rev. 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Psalm 110:1  The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Acts 2:33  Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

So why is understanding John 14:1-3 so important? What does it matter?
Does it matter at all? Yes it does matter. It matters a great deal.

To accept that Yeshua is preoccupied with other business up in the sky building an eternal mansion for you is to create a division between you and Yeshua where Yeshua when the Scriptures clearly relate that there would never be one. Yeshua said “I will never leave you“

Are Yeshua’s words always to be taken literally?

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

So then how are we to understand John 14:1-3?
The context of the verse does not support Yeshua speaking of Heaven. Just a few verses previous, in John 13:37, Apsotle Peter is speaking of laying his own life down so that Yeshua wouldn’t have to suffer.

In John 14:2 the word “mansion” can also be translated “rooms” or “dwelling places”. Many translations interpret it those ways.

When Yeshua said that He was “going to prepare a place for you” He was referring to calvary, not “Heaven”.

This is what Isaiah 43:16-21 says Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, …

In John 14:3, when Yeshua said, “I will come again” He was referring to the resurrection and His post resurrection appearences.

In John 2:19  Yeshua answered and said unto them, “destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”.

When He said that, was He speaking of a literal Temple? No. Everyone agrees that He was speaking of Himself. It was a metaphor. In the same way, Yeshua could have been speaking metaphorically when He said that He was going to build a room for us.

We could also be seeing some translations difficulties. Either way, the issue is easily resolved by reviewing the context, the language, and the rest of the Bible.

For me, this is not difficult. I believe that Yeshua was simply saying that He was just making arrangements to make a way for us to advance the Kingdom of God, through His sacrifice, according to the several Scriptures that are referenced above.

Tomorrow I’ll continue to address the important significance of this issue.

Blessings in Yeshua, 
Parson Rayphe
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