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John 14:1–3 – Jesus’ Forgotten Ministry

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Jesus warned the disciples the night He was arrested that He would have to leave, but promised them He’d return. His promise was straightforward: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1–3). He told them that He needed to prepare a place for them and promised that once those preparations were finished He would return.

This is an often memorized promise that brings hope in these dark days. Yes, Jesus will return! However, this promise has made some wonder, what is taking so long? The seemingly long time since Jesus’ promise is because He has a lot to do to prepare a place for us.

When I was younger, I imagined Jesus with a tool-belt and a hammer pounding nails into the newly added walls in our heavenly mansions. As if the “preparations” for us were physical. Of course, if Jesus went to heaven to simply build a few rooms for those going to Heaven, why couldn’t He just speak them into existence? He’s done it before! He would have been there and back in only moments. It became apparent to me that the preparations were greater than simply making a few (or even many) more rooms.

So what is Jesus doing that seems to take forever? We have already read this reminder: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). We may perceive the long delay as slowness, but in reality He is patient. He’s not trying to rush salvation. He wants to save as many as possible.

You see, Jesus had a much greater work in mind when He left to “prepare a place for us.” We find it described in Hebrews 9: “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by  means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11, 12).

Verse 24 explains where Jesus entered: “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” Jesus entered into the holy places of heaven on our behalf. To do what? Reading on tells us: “Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:25, 26).

These verses paint a fascinating image. It is one of Jesus as our High Priest. It parallels a heavenly ministry of Christ with that of the earthly High Priests. According to the book of Hebrews, when Jesus entered heaven, He entered into the Most Holy Places of heaven as our Hight Priest. This is a major part of His ministry that many have forgotten.

You see, the only reason the High Priest went into the Most Holy Place was for the yearly Day of Atonement (see Leviticus 16:1–30). It was the only time, and only reason, anyone entered into the Most Holy Place. To the people of Israel, it was the day the sanctuary would be cleansed of their sins. In other words, when that day was over, those who had trusted in God and the sacrifice for their sins were at peace with God—cleansed completely from all their sins (Leviticus 16:30). It is a concept heard in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” It was also seen as a day of judgment for them—whatever sins were not confessed and cleansed from the sanctuary that day, were then the responsibility of the person (guilty).

Why is this important? Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” Some believe this means that we will all have to stand physically in some heavenly courtroom—typically after we die. However, the Bible says that Jesus is “the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42; see also 2 Timothy 4:1). Furthermore, Acts 17:31 says that God has “selected a day” to judge the world through Jesus. Thus, while the Bible says that our lives are judged after we die (Hebrews 9:27), it also says that the final judgement will occur at a specific time and will concern both those living and those dead. Basically, the day of judgment will come and we will be judged—for those living in that day, it will be while they are still alive.

In addition, Jesus said that when He returned, He would reward everyone according to their works (Matthew 16:27, see also Revelation 22:12). According to what we just read, we must appear before the judgment seat of Jesus so that we can receive our reward, yet Jesus is coming with His reward. How can this happen? Remember what Revelation 14:7 said: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come” [emphasis mine]. Part of Jesus’ ministry as High Priest is taking part in the judgment. Therefore, the judgement of the dead and the living will take place at a specific time before Jesus returns.

This means, when Jesus returns, our judgment has already been decided—whether or not we have accepted His sacrifice on our behalf—and our reward is coming with Him. “So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28).

When Jesus is finished and returns for His children, there will be no more work to be done toward sin. It will be finished (see John 19:30 and Revelation 16:17). He won’t be coming to die again, He won’t be coming to try to fix the world, He’ll be coming as King of kings and Lord of lords to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him (Revelation 19:11–16)!

Revisiting Ancient Stones: The Coming King

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For forty days after His spectacular resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples and continued to teach them (Acts 1:3). He told them about the work of the kingdom they were to finish. He told them about the coming Holy Spirit. Then, one day, right before their eyes, He rose up in the air into the clouds and disappeared from their sight (Acts 1:9).

They stood there staring at the sky. We can understand why. They thought they had lost Him once. Did they just lose Him again? Then, while they were looking intently at the sky, two angels appeared. They assured them—reminded them—that He was coming back: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

The disciples returned to Jerusalem and soon began a powerful work of spreading the good news: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, and He is coming again soon. It was a message they preached with passion and conviction (in fact, it was their main focus).

Unfortunately, that passion and conviction would lessen. According to Peter, in the last days scoffers will come and say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). Basically, I’ve heard that message so many times, for so long—so, where is Jesus?

Perhaps you have come to feel this way. You can remember when you used to be excited about Jesus’ coming, but so much time has passed and that excitement has passed as well. Sure, you know He’s coming sometime, but it doesn’t feel like it will be any time soon. We have come to a point in Christianity where we have heard that “Jesus is coming soon” so often, that we don’t really believe it—at least, we don’t live like we believe it. Maybe we have forgotten. Maybe we need to be reminded.

First of all, we need to examine what “soon” means to God. Peter said that “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day” (2 Peter 3:8). Before we assume this is some kind of prophetic key for time, we must recognize that Peter said one day is “as” a thousand years, not one day “is” a thousand years. Psalm 90:4 further explains: “For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” Simply put: God doesn’t see time as we do. What can seem like forever to beings whose life span averages less than 100 years, will seem like just a moment to a Being who lives forever. Plus, Jesus told us that no one knows the day or the hour of His return except for the Father (Matt 24:), and if you don’t know exactly when, He may seem late even when He’s on time.

So why does it seem like He’s taking forever? According to Peter, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). He’s seems to be taking forever because He is patient. He’s not trying to rush salvation. He wants to save as many as possible.

This means we must continue to wait—patiently. It may seem like Jesus is taking a long time to come, but He is coming soon! We can know He is coming soon because He said so: three times in the last chapter of the Bible, Jesus says, “I am coming soon” (Rev 22:7, 12, 20). Why do you say something three times? For emphasis and to help people remember. In other words, yes, Jesus is coming soon!

What a glorious day that will be! He will come “in the clouds with great power and glory” (Mark 13:26). Loved ones will be reunited. The dead will rise and all the righteous will rise to meet Jesus in the air to live with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17). We will be raised with, or transformed into, brand new immortal, glorious bodies (1 Cor 15:51–53). Those who have waited on the Lord will receive their reward: eternal life with Him.

But, we do not know the day or the hour, so we wait. That day will come upon the world like a thief, so we wait. Of course, waiting doesn’t mean sitting in the pews doing nothing. While we wait, we finish the work of spreading the Gospel. While we wait, we encourage each other to keep on the journey. And as Peter said, “since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found [in] him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (2 Peter 3:14). While we wait, we should be strengthening and deepening our relationship with Christ so we’ll know Him when He comes.

Friends, I know you have heard this before. I know it may have become just another saying to you, but: Jesus is coming soon. Sometimes it feels like He’s taking forever. Other times, it may feel like He should take His time. Maybe you are still patiently waiting, if so keep waiting! It will be here before you know it. Maybe you’ve become tired of waiting, or distracted from waiting. I want to urge you to, once again, wait on the Lord. Trust Him, He is coming very soon! Regardless of how we may feel at the moment, God is patiently trying to save as many as possible. He may be waiting for you. But know that one day, a day already set by the Father, Jesus will come, whether you choose to be ready or not.

But for those who will wait for Him, “It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God, we have waited for Him that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation’” (Isaiah 25:9).

‘Twas the Night Before Jesus Came

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’Twas the night before Jesus came, but most were asleep.
No leader was watching, only shepherds with sheep.
The scriptures and prophecies had been studied with care,
Yet, when He arrived, they had no clue He was there.
The leaders were nestled all snug with their rules,
While clueless that soon they’d all look like fools.
For there in a manger without trumpet or horn,
King Jesus, Messiah, our Savior, was born!
The angels burst out in a song of their Lord,
to shepherds in fields, while the scholars just snored.
The One they expected, with a crown on His brow
would not have been born near a horse and a cow.
But the Messiah had come just as the prophets had said,
So why weren’t there more standing by His dear bed?

Have you ever wondered, with all the prophecies about Jesus’ birth—where, when, how—why weren’t more people watching for Him? There were scribes, Pharisees and priests who knew those prophecies, yet none of them stood around the manger.

You see, the leadership in those days were watching for the Messiah, just not the Messiah of scripture. They had come to see the Messiah as someone quite different from the biblical teachings. They saw the Messiah as the one who would rescue them from whatever nation had enslaved them at that time. He would become their king and no nation could stand against him. Since he would be king, he would be born in a town and place fitting of a king, right? So when, in Bethlehem, a baby was born to a virgin, and had only a horse’s blanket to cover him and a feed trough to sleep in, no scholar was there to welcome Him. Some might say He kind of snuck in… like a thief in the night…

Of course, God didn’t sneak Jesus in. He announced His birth with an angelic chorus! Can you imagine what that would have been like? Having a chorus of angels announce His coming? How cool would that be? Makes you wish we could have an angel’s messages today to announce Jesus’ second coming. Hmm…

Here’s another good question to ponder: Why did the angels go to the shepherds? Was it because they were the only ones awake at that time? Why didn’t the angels announce it to the High Priest, or to the Pharisees? I wonder what their reaction would have been. Would they have rushed to bow before their new-born King? Would they have reacted more like Herod and desired to take Him out early? Or would they have simply explained it away since it didn’t fit their “image” of His coming?

No, He didn’t come with political fanfare, but it definitely was not a secret! Jesus came, just as the prophecies said. There just weren’t that many still watching and waiting for Him.

This is why, when He spoke of His second coming, Jesus often warned us to keep watch. Jesus said in Luke 21:34, “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.” In these last days, we need to keep watching, because we can become distracted easily, can’t we?

Unfortunately, we also suffer from our own scholarship. Many today are watching for Jesus to come, but not in the way the Bible speaks about. We have come up with our own ideas about the second coming. We have created extremely narrow ideas of Jesus’ return. Some have mapped out exactly when and how the last events will unfold (even though scripture itself does not tell us). But what if Jesus doesn’t come in the way we imagine?

Aren’t we supposed to know what is going to come next? We were given the signs of the last days so we could recognize them when we see them, but then what? According to Luke 21:28, when we see a sign—when we hear the message—when these things begin to take place, Jesus says, lift up your heads. Where are we to be looking? Not at the next great prophetic fulfillment—not trying to guess the future—we are to be watching for Jesus!

Jesus doesn’t want us to miss His second coming like so many missed His first! So He tells us to watch. Watch and pray. Once we recognize the time is near, we focus on Him. Sure, we watch what is going on around us and we recognize more and more signs fulfilled. There is no question that we are living in the last days! But these signs were meant to focus our attention on Christ! We must not get caught up in trying to decipher the future. History proves that this is futile for us. The scribes, priests and pharisees tried to, and they completely missed Jesus’ coming. Many faithful Christians did it in 1844 and it ended with a Great Disappointment.

From the time He was born in a lowly manger, until we see Him coming in the clouds of glory, we are to keep our eyes on Him! If Jesus’ birth teaches us anything, it’s that God is always on time with His plan. So, let us not get distracted. For the angels have given their message: Jesus is coming soon! Yes, ’Tis the night before Jesus Came… again. Keep watch!