Biblical descriptions of heaven are varied. I tend to think that most of them are figurative examples of something that we don’t understand literally. Consider the many different snap-shots of heaven. One of them which I want to touch on today is found in the gospel of John.
(Joh 14:2 KJV) 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.One of the legitimate criticisms of the King James Bible is in its beautiful use of words and word pictures. The idea of having a mansion waiting for us in heaven really strikes a chord in peoples minds. We have songs about it. We joke about it. We think it’s a great idea. What gets me going is wondering who is going to clean this mansion that I am going to be living in. If it’s up to me, then I want it to be small enough that I can clean it out with a blower. I am not known for my housekeeping abilities.
On the other hand, I don’t think that it would be appropriate to have angels be my housekeeper. Guardians? Definitely. Messengers? That’s what the name means. Although I assume the angels would have a good attitude, I think it would be a bad attitude on my part to think that they were going to pick up my socks and make my bed.
Part of the mystery is solved when we realized that the word “mansion” is really not the best translation. It comes from a root which means to abide. A non-loaded term would be abode or place. What it means is that there will be a place for you in heaven. What that will be like is up to your imagination. You can rest assured that Jesus prepared it because He said He would. Now what I find mysterious is that He said He told us that He would prepare a place but I can’t find where He is referring to. Could it possibly be the Jesus said things that were not recorded? It seems to me I read that somewhere.
So whatever this “mansion” is, it’s going to be something that Jesus prepared for us which means it will be just right. What we need as a place to dwell depends on what heaven is going to be like. If we are angels with harps and wings, then it will be a cloud. If we are nature lovers, it may be a nice soft bed of leaves under a canopy tree in a place where it never rains. Oh, and no bugs. The possibilities are endless and you need to allow for some flexibility. It may be a module that changes, depending on what we want.
As I have written other places, the term “heaven” is probably not the best term. Eternity with Jesus might be a little bit better, but that would mean that we probably can’t understand what it will be like. If you need to use the word heaven, go for it. I know what you mean even if you don’t. The message here is not that we will have a 40 room mansion, but that we will have a place prepared for us that will satisfy us forever.
Happy dreams.
homo unius libri
Amen!
ReplyDelete