Back in 2011, for our tenth anniversary Sarah and I talked her Mom into watching the kids for a week and we made reservations at The Clement Hotel in Monterey, California. We had originally planned to do something really, super-duper splashy for our tenth but then reality and certain pesky things like budgets, car repairs and babies intruded. Still, with some help from family, we managed a week away in Monterey. Although we were living in California at the time, I had never been to Monterey before, and in the months before our trip I researched the town. I read Monterey’s Wikipedia page, and I scrolled through The Clement Hotel’s website scrutinizing its pictures. I consulted maps of the surrounding area, and I read the reviews of local attractions and eateries. I watched Youtube videos of the drive up the Pacific Coast highway through Big Sur. I even read “Cannery Row” and “Tortilla Flat,” two novels by John Steinbeck that were set in Monterey. This “research” was the form that my excitement and anticipation took as I counted down the days to our getaway.
In John 14:1-14 Jesus speaks of a coming day when we will go away with Him to His Father’s house. He speaks of “many rooms” and going to “prepare a place” for us, and I find myself suddenly scrutinizing His Words in the same way that I once scrutinized photos of The Clement online. The thumbnail image of heaven that Jesus provides in John 14:1-14 is enough to arouse our curiosity about heaven but it doesn’t provide enough detail to tell us everything we would like to know. Even so, it does tell us much that is worth exploring and thinking about.
I hope you would listen in as we see what hopeful and exciting things John 14:1-14 tells us about heaven.