Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. 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, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ John 14:1-7

“Do not let your hearts be troubled?”

This is easier said than done. It seems like we are living in very troubling times. We might even be tempted to think that we are being singled out by Father Time. However, truth is that there was never a time when it wasn’t a troubling time, at least I can say this for my lifetime. I wasn’t always aware of the troubles assailing humanity. Of course, I tend to look back at this period of ignorance with nostalgia; thinking things have gotten worse since then. For me, I would say it was the eighties. I looked back at this time as if everything was great and innocent. However, it was the worst period of the cold war. The threat of nuclear war was imminent. I heard songs written about impending nuclear war. Movies depicted what life would be after the war. The eighties were troubling times but I was a teenager then. The adults of my life did the worrying for me. Now, I am an adult and I have to face these troubling things of life.

Life is troubling. Perhaps it is troubling because our souls are seeking peace and tranquility which would never be found here. We try to do everything within our strength to find it here but it always seems far from reach. Our peace and tranquility is not to be found in the material world. It is spiritual, or rather, it transcends our material world. Our souls are restlessly looking for an eternal home.

As St Augustine wrote in the Confessions,

“Lord, you have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.” (Confessions 1.1.1.)

In other words, this troubling feeling is not going to go away. Things are not necessarily going to get better even with the best of intentions. People like to say that if only we do such and such, everything will be better. It works sometimes but with a price.

There is a neighborhood near where I live where everything is clean and safe. The city of São Paulo is neither of these even though I do love it. In this neighborhood, everything seems peaceful for those who could afford it. However, it’s streets are empty. The buildings are surrounded by barbed wires and guarded security. It looks very much like a luxurious prison. There is no life in the streets. Sometimes not a soul is seen in the streets. Some might say that there is a less of a chance of being robbed. However, there is also a less of chance of having random conversations and meaningful exchanges between people. Perhaps people think this is worth giving up for the price of security. The residents live in isolated cubicles. Their life is limited to their family unit. There is no growth. There are no challenges. Only a quiet and deserted place which is not synonymous with being peaceful. The people living there bought this appearance of security with a high price. Only a select few can live here. This so-called peace and tranquility is artificial and has a limited lifespan. It doesn’t mean that you are free from troubling worries if you live here. In this same city, the down and out areas of this city were once upon a time safe neighborhoods of the wealthy. Today they have become a haven of crime and drug addiction. Many buildings are abandoned. There are many mansions and buildings still maintaining the vague memory of their past beauty despite continuously falling to pieces. All human effort to create a place of refuge and tranquility has a very limited lifespan.

Speaking of mansions, Jesus placated the troubled hearts of the disciples with the promise of a place in His Father’s mansion. Often times, I have heard preachers speak about this as our final place in the afterlife. It is something for us to look forward to in the future. To be fair, we often use these verses at funeral services. There is a simple problem with this. Knowing where I am going after death doesn’t really help to appease my soul in my present Life. These words might comfort us when we mourn for our lost ones. However, these words of Jesus mean more than just comforting words for the afterlife. They were meant for the disciples to live their lives in the here and now.

The disciples abandoned everything to follow Him because they saw in Him a meaning for their existence. The disciples felt Jesus was going to be taken away from them. He constantly reminded them of this. They felt that they were losing a sense of focus in their lives. Maybe the disciples thought that they each would have their own mansions but it seems like Jesus had another plans. Jesus was offering something better. He was offering His father’s mansion; an eternal place of abode, a mansion not restricted by time and space. It is the dwelling place of God; in other words, it is manifested where God is present and God is omnipresent.

We are in the process of buying a place of our own. It will be our first time buying a place. It is not an easy process. We need to find the place. Before this, we need to save for it. Then we have to convince a bank to loan us the money. After securing the loan, we need to pay for taxes and maintenance. It is not easy to own a place. It doesn’t seem like a peaceful endeavor.

Jesus is not selling real estate. God is not selling us a place. He is inviting us to live with Him. He is our eternal Host and we are His eternal guests. This is actually an important detail. In Jesus’ time, the host prepared everything to receive the guest including the garments they used. The host prepared the place for the guests to stay as long as they desired. It was even considered rude for the guest to leave without the blessing of the host. Everything is on the host. In other words, the guests have to just show up and enjoy everything the Host has prepared. They don’t have to bring gifts. The host provided everything because it is His gift to the guests. All the guest had to do was to show up.

This sounds easy in our modern age because we can travel to the other side of the world within a day. In Jesus’ time, traveling could take weeks or months depending on the distance. The mansion of God is a great distance from our reality and yet at the same time it is very close to us. God is always present in our lives. However, there is a spiritual distance. This is due to our incapability of perceiving His presence in our lives. We are drawn away from His real presence because of our worries and concerns. It is understandable. We are spiritual beings with a body. Our minds tend to focus on the physical aspect of life and the spiritual seems like something up there in the sky; a great distance from our physical reality. Therefore, the journey to recognizing our heavenly abode is long and arduous.

We need to prepare. We need to organize our lives for this journey. We need to have right mindset to be proper guests and enjoy all the good things that our Heavenly Host has provided. Everything is ready for us. Jesus has prepared everything. Now, we have to prepare for the journey there. This means we should not be distracted from our preparation. Remember the parable of the wedding banquet in the gospels. The initial guests allowed the things of this world to distract them. They might have had good arguments for their lack of preparation. However, it still did not prevent them from forfeiting their place in the host’s home.

Thomas asked the important question, “How can we know the way?” In the gospel of John, Thomas also asks and says the things which are on the minds of most people. The only task of the guest is to show up and therefore, it is important to have good directions.

Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ John 14:6

This is perhaps the most universal statement in the gospels. Whenever I read about other major religions, I always see these themes come up, “the Way, the Truth and the Life”. Jesus boldly claimed something which only God can claim. He stated that all those earnestly seek God in this world will come to discover Him.

We prepare to be eternal guests at God’s mansion by looking for the Way, the Truth and the Life. In Jesus, these are not three separate things. They are the united perfectly in Him. None of these are theoretical. They were fully manifested in His Life. When we tell people that they need to know Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, we are not preaching a doctrine. We are talking about a real living Person. He is present in our midst. We know this because He told us so. He said that He would send a Helper to open our eyes and hearts to discern His presence in this world. The first disciples gave us the gospels to help us recognize His presence in the lives of people. The writings of the apostles show us that Jesus is present despite the imperfections of the Christian communities. We need to see Jesus in spite of these imperfections. His resurrection proclaims to us that nothing can hinder His divine presence from being manifested, not even death. Most importantly, when we seek for Jesus present in our lives, we must not forget that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He doesn’t suddenly change His message to exclude people nor to promote hatred. He is present to open doors and welcome those who are weary and heavy laden.

Jesus is present. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is present beckoning us to join Him and dwell with Him in the Father’s House. This Eternal Mansion is present wherever God is present even in the most troubling times.

Let’s not be troubled because we have a wonderful place in God’s house.