Note 5 at Jn. 14:2: This is Jesus' last teaching to His disciples before His crucifixion. Jesus' disciples were about to go through the greatest test of their faith that they had ever encountered. According to John 16:1 (which is a part of this same teaching), Jesus said He was saying these things so His disciples would not be offended. Jesus was preparing them for what was to come. Why then speak of preparing them a mansion in heaven?

The reason for this is to comfort the disciples and help them put things in perspective. In 1 Thessalonians 4:18, Paul told us to comfort one another with words about being gathered unto the Lord in the air. Paul said again, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18). Someday, all of our trials will seem like nothing and that can be a great comfort to us now.

Also, thinking about being with the Lord through all eternity helps put things in a proper perspective. It is easy to get fearful in our problems and think all is lost. However, for those of us who are born again, if worse came to worse, we still have the promise of Jesus wiping all the tears from our eyes (Rev. 21:4) and preparing a habitation for us where all the former sorrows will be passed away. This keeps us from despairing and makes us much stronger in our faith.

Note 6 at Jn. 14:2: The Greek word used for "house" is "oikia" and means "a residence, abode, or home." This verse is simply stating that in heaven, there are many dwelling places and Jesus is preparing one for us. The use of the word "mansions" certainly denotes that we will be taken care of in fine fashion, but from this one passage, it cannot be said emphatically that we will all have private residences or exactly what they will be like. We can only see faintly now, like looking through a dark glass (1 Cor. 13:12), but we can be assured that it will be more than we could ever ask or think (Eph. 3:20).