"In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places" (Jn 14:2). Prospect of Christian Hope
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/BPTh.2016.036Keywords
chatology, Gospel of St. John, Father’s house, dwelling place, community of the redeemedAbstract
Origin, development and meaning of the problem of eschatology belong to the most controversial issues, both in the perspective of the Old and the New Testament. It refers to longer passages as well as to isolated phrases included in the Bible. The issue acquires a special significance with reference to the Gospel of St. John. In this Book, it is the act of faith that for Christ’s disciple constitutes a fully eschatological fact deciding about having eternal life right now, although St. John does not eliminates the ‘future’ eschatology indicating judgment and a full participation in the glory of the worshipped Jesus. One of the sentences which arouses continued interest is Jesus’ statement included in Jn 14:2: ‘in my Father’s house there are many dwelling places’. The article tries to explain the phrase first of all on the ground of the analysis of the next context (Jn 14:1–3), but certainly it does not exclude references to other texts of the Fourth Gospel. The hermeneutic key for the interpretation of the title words of the article are Jesus’ words being one of four synonymous elements describing eschatological reality in Jn 14:2–3: ‘and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.’ (Jn 14:3). The remaining three elements: ‘Father’s house’, ‘many dwelling places’ and ‘a place’ are to be interpreted through the words talking about the essence of this new reality, i.e. the disciples’ union with Jesus. Since they all concern a solid communion stressing some of their characteristic shades. And although the title words do not extend our knowledge as to ‘what is heaven like’, they strongly emphasize the truth about real life that is possible only when we permanently live with the ones we love.
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