Daily Manna · Day 242 · August 30
Many Mansions
“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.”
When you read this verse, which question are you bringing to it? Maybe you are asking whether there is a place in heaven for someone you have buried. Or maybe you are asking whether there is a place there for you.
Jesus speaks these words in a borrowed upper room, to men who are only hours away from losing Him. The proof He offers is unusual: "if it were not so, I would have told you." He rests the promise on His own honesty, on nothing they could go and check for themselves. Then He tells them what He is going to do: "I go to prepare a place for you." The word translated "mansions" simply means a dwelling, a place to stay. The house belongs to His Father, and Jesus says the rooms are many.
So here is the answer to the first question. The house is bigger than your fear, and the Son of God is getting the rooms ready Himself. The answer to the second question is harder and better. The men listening to Him that night would all run away before morning, and Peter would deny Him three times. Jesus knew exactly what they were, and He promised them a place anyway.
Father, I have counted the rooms and left myself out, and I have wondered whether there is a room for the one I miss. Your Son said "many," and He said "prepare." I will take Him at His word today, for them and for me. Amen.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 242 is Wherewith Shall I Come (Micah 6:8).