Latest / Reformed Thinking / Many Mansions (John 14:2) | Jonathan Edwards

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Many Mansions (John 14:2) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Hello and welcome back to another session of Reformed
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Thinking. We were really glad you were
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joining us today as we open up the archives of Church history
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to see what the giants of the faith have to teach us about
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Scripture. Today is a session I have been
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well. I have been really looking
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forward to this one. Oh, me too, absolutely.
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Because we are putting a truly special text on the table, we're
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doing a deep dive into one of those famous verses in the
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entire New Testament. I'm talking about John 14.2
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where Jesus says in my Father's house are many mansions.
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Yeah, and it is a verse that is, you know, it is often read at
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funerals, and for very good reason.
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It offers such a solid sense of hope and stability when, well,
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when everything else in your life feels like it is falling
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apart, right? But today we are going to look
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at it through the specific and I would say microscopic lens of
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Jonathan Edwards, which. Is going to be fascinating
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because most people know Edwards for sinners in the hands of an
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angry God. That is the one everyone reads
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in high school literature class. Spot on.
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And because of that, they assume he only preached about fire and
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brimstone. But this sermon, which is titled
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simply Many Mansions, it shows us a totally different side of
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his theology. It does, although being Edwards,
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he certainly brings a weightiness to it, a gravitas
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that we might miss if we just read the verse casually on a you
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know, on a greeting card or a coffee mug.
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That is what I love about digging into these old sermons.
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You think you know a verse I mean?
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It has been cross stitched on pillows for generations.
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Yeah, the classic needlepoint verse.
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Right. And then someone like Edwards
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comes along and shows you that you have only been skating on
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the surface. Before we get into the specifics
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of the mansions, let's let's set the scene as we always do here
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on reform thinking. We want to look at this through
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our specific theological lens. We are holding to the Protestant
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Reformed tradition, adhering to the Westminster Confession.
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So with that framework, where do we find ourselves in the
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biblical narrative when Jesus speaks these words?
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Well, we are situated right in the upper room.
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This is the Last Supper discourse.
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You find it spanning John 13 and 14, and the context here is
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incredibly heavy. You really have to strip away
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our modern knowledge of the ending.
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The resurrection and all that. Yes, yeah, you have to forget,
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you know, the ending and just sit in the tension of that
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specific moment. Jesus has just told his
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disciples in John 13.33 that he is going away.
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And here is the kicker, where he is going, they cannot come.
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Which is devastating. Completely.
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You have to imagine the atmosphere in that room.
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These men, they have given up everything to follow him.
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They left their fishing Nets, their tax booths, their families
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for three solid years. Their entire identity has been
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wrapped up and being physically present with Jesus of Nazareth.
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And now he says he is leaving. It must have been crushing.
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Edwards points out that they were surprised and sorrowful.
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They did not understand the plan yet.
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They did not have the full picture of the cross, the
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atonement, the resurrection. They just heard goodbye.
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Goodbye and you cannot follow me.
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It sounds almost like a breakup. It really does, and we see that
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confusion manifesting specifically in Peter in the
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previous chapter. Peter, who is always the one to
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speak first. Always putting his foot in his
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mouth. Always he asks, Lord, whither
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goest thou? He wants to know the
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destination, and when Jesus tells him he cannot follow now,
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Peter gets visibly frustrated. He asks, Why cannot I follow
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thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
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sake. Peter is desperate to maintain
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that physical proximity to Christ.
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He equates safety and discipleship with just being in
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the exact same room as the Master.
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So Christ's objective here isn't just to give a theology lecture
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on the architecture of the afterlife.
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He isn't pulling out celestial blueprints just for the sake of
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information. No, he is doing pastoral care.
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He is comforting them. And that is really the mission
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of this text and honestly the mission of our discussion today.
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We want to understand what Edwards meant by mansions, what
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the structure of heaven actually is.
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And because this is Edwards, of course, the frightening reality
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of the alternative if one does not have a mansion.
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Edwards argues that Christ is telling them, essentially, I am
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going home to my father's house and the reason I am going is to
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make sure there is room for you. It is a complete reorientation
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of their grief into hope. Let's start with that first big
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idea Edwards puts forward. He breaks the text down into
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distinct propositions. The first is about the nature of
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heaven itself. He says heaven is God's house.
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Now that sounds simple, almost like a Sunday school answer.
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It does sound basic at first glance.
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But Edward seems to think there's a lot more to that
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phrase than we usually consider. He defines it very concretely,
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and this is crucial because we often drift into this vague,
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ethereal idea of heaven like it is just a state of mind or
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floating on clouds playing harps.
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Edward says no, it is a place, it is a structure, and he uses
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strong biblical typology to make this point.
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Right. He looks at the Old Testament.
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Yes, specifically the Temple of Solomon.
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The temple was built to be God's house on earth.
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But Edwards, our views is really just a shadow, a model of the
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true reality in heaven. He mentions the Holy of Holies
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in the earthly temple. That was the inner sanctum where
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the Ark of the Covenant SAT, representing God's throne, and
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only the High priest could go there.
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Precisely. And Edwards connects this to the
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structure of the universe itself.
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He cites Amos 9.6 which talks about God building his stories
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in the heaven. Like architectural stories,
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floors of a building. Yes, it is the image of a great
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building with multiple levels. While the entire universe
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belongs to God and the earth is given to the sons of men, the
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highest heaven, what the Apostle Paul calls the 3rd heaven, is
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reserved specifically as God's own abode.
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It is the location of His immediate presence.
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It is the reality that the earthly temple merely copied.
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He uses 3 specific metaphors to describe this house, and I think
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unpacking each one helps us get a much better picture of what
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Edwards is driving at. The first one you mentioned is
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the temple, yes. Heaven is a temple because it is
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primarily the place of worship on earth.
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We have houses, worship, we call them churches where we gather on
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the Lord's Day. Edwards calls these earthly
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assemblies the outworks, or the gates of heaven.
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The outer courts, essentially. Right.
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But in the actual heaven there is a glorious assembly, the
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Church of the first born constantly worshipping.
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It is the place where the liturgy never ends.
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The primary activity is doxology, praising God.
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The second metaphor he uses is the palace.
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This shifts the focus from worship to authority.
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It does. A temple is for a deity, but a
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palace is for a king. Edwards brings to mind that God
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is the great King of the universe.
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Heaven is where he keeps his court.
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So it is the seat of government. Absolutely.
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Just as an earthly monarch has nobles and attendants, God has
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angels and archangels attending to him.
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The throne is there. It is the command Center for all
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of creation. This adds a serious layer of
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majesty to the house. It is not just a place to sleep,
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it is a place of absolute sovereign rule.
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Which fits perfectly with our Reformed understanding of God's
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sovereignty over all things. And the third metaphor, which I
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actually find the most comforting of the three, is the
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family home. This is the one that really gets
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to the heart of Jesus's words in John 14.
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In my Father's house, God is the householder, He is the Father.
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And the implication Edwards draws from Ephesians 2.19 is
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just beautiful. He says that believers on Earth
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are currently abroad. We are traveling.
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We are not at. Home.
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That is a massive shift in perspective because we tend to
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think of earth as home and heaven as a trip we take later,
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a destination. Edwards is saying no.
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If you were a Christian, you are currently staying in a hotel in
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a foreign country. Home is where the Father is.
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And in that home, the Father keeps his table.
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That is the exact phrase Edwards uses.
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It is where the family gathers for the feast.
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He references Luke 22 where Christ speaks of eating and
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drinking at His table in His Kingdom.
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So heaven is a temple for worship, a palace for ruling,
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and a home for fellowship. It synthesizes all those deep
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longings we have, the longing for all, the longing for order
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and the longing for intimacy, all met in this one concept of
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God's house. This leads us, naturally, to the
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second proposition Edwards raises, which zeroes in on the
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specific phrase many mansions. I think for modern listeners,
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you hear the word mansion and it summons up images of Beverly
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Hills, a massive estate with a swimming pool and A10 car
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garage. Is that what Edwards has in
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mind? Not.
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Quite. It is helpful to look at the
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etymology there. The word Edwards is working with
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and the word in the Greek Texmanai really means abiding
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places or places of stay. It implies permanence.
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So less about square footage and more about stability.
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Right. Edwards clarifies that this is
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largely figurative language. We shouldn't necessarily think
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of literal drywall and shingles up in the clouds, but the
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physical imagery teaches us crucial spiritual truths.
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And the first truth Edwards draws out is about capacity.
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He is actually very optimistic here regarding the numbers,
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isn't he? He is incredibly optimistic.
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He argues that there is room for a vast multitude.
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He contrasts with earthly churches.
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You and I have probably been to a popular church service where
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you have to squeeze into the back row or maybe even go to an
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overflow room and watch on a screen.
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Oh, definitely. Earthly meeting houses become,
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as he says, scanty or cramped. But Edwards says heaven is never
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like that. There is always room.
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I love how he phrases the theological reasoning for that.
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He says there is mercy enough in God and merit enough in Christ
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for millions of millions. That is a classic Reformed
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distinction right there. The capacity of heaven isn't
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based on the physical dimensions of the spiritual realm.
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It is based entirely on the sufficiency of Christ's
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atonement. Because Christ's merit is
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infinite. Yes, because his merit is
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infinite. The space he purchases is
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sufficient for all who believe. Edward says the fountain of
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happiness is enough to fill everyone.
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No one will get there and find the cupboard bare.
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The many in many mansions is a direct witness to the infinite
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value of the cross. The second key teaching under
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this many mansions idea is the diversity of accommodations.
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This was a point I found really touching.
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In his sermon, he contrasts Christ with the disciples.
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It is a stark contrast when you think about it.
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You have Jesus, the glorious, holy, sinless Son of God, and
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then you have the disciples. Edwards calls them poor, sinful,
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corrupt men. Which is pretty accurate if you
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read the gospels. It is, and yet Jesus says there
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is room for him and for them in the exact same house.
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It flies in the face of human logic.
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Usually kings do not live with peasants.
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The argument is essentially, if there is room for the sinless
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master, surely there is room for the redeemed servant.
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Spot on. Edwards expands this to say that
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heaven suits all sorts of persons.
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It is not just for the spiritual giants, the Apostle Pauls and
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the John Calvins. There are accommodations for the
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great and the small. For the rich and the poor, yes.
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For those who were great sinners but repented, and for those who
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lived relatively moral lives. For the babes in Christ, maybe
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those who came to faith on their deathbed, And for the strong
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Saints who served God faithfully for decades.
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He uses the palace analogy again here, doesn't.
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He he does. A King's palace has a grand
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suite for the king in the air, of course, but it also has rooms
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for the numerous household attendants.
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The fact that the king lives there doesn't mean the servants
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are left out in the cold. It connects back to that idea of
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the infinite sufficiency of Christ.
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If you come to Christ, your background or your social status
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on earth does not disqualify you from a place in the Father's
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house. The mansion is tailored to the
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recipient of grace, not the earner of merit.
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Which is such a comforting, grace centered view.
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Now we are discussing Edwards and we are coming at this from a
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reform to perspective, so we absolutely cannot skip the third
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key teaching he brings up here, which is predestination.
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He claims the house was built with a specific number of people
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in mind. He does and he grounds this in
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scripture. He references Matthew 25.34
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where Jesus says inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from
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the foundation of the world. Edwards argues that when God
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created the heavens in the beginning, he already had the
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complete roster of the elect. He knew exactly who he designed
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to save. This is high Reformed theology
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straight out of the Westminster Confession.
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The decrees of God, the blueprint of heaven wasn't a
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generic let's build a big building and see who decides to
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show up. It was a custom build.
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So the architecture of heaven mashes the census of the elect
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perfectly. That is it.
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It isn't a situation where God saves a bunch of people and then
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suddenly has to scramble to build an extension on the House
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to fit them all. No adding a sunroom at the last
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minute. Right.
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The house was built exceedingly great because God intended to
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save a great multitude which no man could number.
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As we read in Revelation 7, the preparation precedes the
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population. This offers tremendous security
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for the believer. If the place was prepared for
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you from the foundation of the world, your arrival is expected.
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You aren't crashing the party. Your room has your name on it.
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It shifts salvation from being a fragile human decision to a
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secure divine decree. That moves us into the third
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section of our discussion today, and this is where the mansion's
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concept gets a bit more granular and honestly, perhaps a bit more
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controversial. For modern years, Edwards argues
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for a hierarchy of glory. He suggests that the phrase many
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mansions actually implies seats of various dignity.
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This is a concept that often trips people up today because in
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our culture we tend to think of heaven as a place of absolute
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flat equality, where everyone is exactly the same.
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Same status, same reward, same everything.
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A kind of spiritual communism. Yes, but Edwards, looking
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closely at Scripture, argues for degrees of glory.
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He says not everyone has the same status in heaven.
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Now we need to be clear here. He isn't saying some people are
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sad and some are happy. Right, there's no jealousy or
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envy in heaven. Not at all.
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Everyone is perfectly happy, but the capacity for glory differs.
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Think of it like different sized cups, a pint glass and a shot
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glass. If both are submerged in the
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ocean, both are completely full, but the pint glass holds more
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water. That is a great analogy.
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He supports this hierarchy idea with Matthew to 20.23, doesn't
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he? Yes, where Jesus is talking to
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the mother of James and John. Yes, the sons of Zebedee.
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Jesus says that sitting at his right or left hand is prepared
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for specific people. It is not just open seating.
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And Edwards goes back to the Palace analogy to make sense of
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this. How does that work?
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Well, every part of a palace is magnificent.
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If you are anywhere inside the King's palace, you are doing
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well, you are safe, you are fed, you are highly honored.
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But there is the King's Presence Chamber that is the absolute
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highest. Honor the inner circle.
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Right. Then there are the apartments
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for the air, then you have quarters for the high steward
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and then rooms for the meaner officers or the lower servants.
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Everyone is in the palace, everyone is part of the
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household, but the proximity to the king varies.
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He also brings back the temple analogy here, which is very
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helpful visually if you know your Old Testament layout.
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The temple was literally designed in zones of closeness
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to the presence of God. You had the Holy of Holies where
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only the high priest could go, and only once a year.
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Then you had the holy place for the regular priests, then the
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inner court for the Levites, the Court of Israel for the general
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population, and finally the court of the Gentiles on the
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perimeter. And Edward suggests heaven has a
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similar spiritual geography. He does not that there are
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physical walls keeping people out, but that there are degrees
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of spiritual intimacy and honor. Some are given a closer
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proximity to the throne. He even compares it to the
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church on earth, which is fascinating.
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In Edward's day, and really until quite recently in church
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history, where you sat in church was a public sign of your social
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standing. Oh absolutely, the Pew system
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you had the high seats and the inferior seats.
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People paid P rents. Right.
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And Edwards uses that cultural reality to explain the spiritual
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reality. He clarifies, though, that he
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isn't necessarily talking about physical location in heaven.
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Like some people are stuck sitting in the back row and
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cannot hear the angelic choir very well.
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No, it is about spiritual degrees of honor and glory.
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Some are nearer the throne in terms of their capacity to
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behold God and their role in His Kingdom.
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He mentions briefly that this might relate to different
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employments. Yes, just as the physical body
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has an eye and an ear, heaven might have different functions
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for different Saints. We don't know all the specifics,
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obviously, but Edwards is firm that there is an order and a
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structure. It is not a chaotic mob.
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It is a Kingdom, and a Kingdom by definition has hierarchy.
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But unlike earthly hierarchy hierarchies, which are based on
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power and exploitation and greed, this heavenly hierarchy
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is based entirely on holiness and the capacity to reflect
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God's glory. Which means everyone rejoices in
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the hierarchy. The person in the lower seat
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rejoices at the glory of the person in the higher seat.
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Now, up to this point, Edwards has been painting a very
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glorious, uplifting picture. But in typical Puritan fashion,
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he pivots. We reach the application section
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of the sermon, or what the Puritans call the improvement.
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The uses of the doctrine. Right, and he starts by
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encouraging the anxious, which is lovely.
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He wants to reassure the Sinner who hears all this and thinks I
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am too bad there is no place for me in a holy palace.
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He reiterates that if you come to Christ, He will prepare a
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place for you. The vastness of the mansions
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guarantees that physical space isn't the issue.
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The issue is simply coming to Christ.
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He leaves no room for the objection that I am too far
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gone. But then he drops the hammer.
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He moves to the warning of mortality.
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And this is where the sermon becomes very real, very
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historical, and honestly, almost jarring.
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It really is. He talks about the absolute
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transients of our earthly dwellings.
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He calls our physical bodies houses of clay, and he uses a
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fascinating, obscure biblical phrase, lodges in a garden of
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cucumbers. A lodge in a garden of
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cucumbers. That is not an image we use very
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often today. I don't think I have ever heard
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a preacher use that in a modern pulpit.
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No, but for his agrarian audience in 18th century New
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England, it was vivid. A lodge in a cucumber patch was
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a temporary flimsy shack put up just for the harvest season to
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watch over the crops. Like a lean to?
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Basically, it was flimsy, drafty and meant to be torn down the
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second the season was over. It is not a fortress, Edward
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says. That is what our life on Earth
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is. We spend all this time
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decorating our mansion on Earth, painting the walls, getting new
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furniture, but it is really just a wobbly shack and a vegetable
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patch. Wow.
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And he doesn't just leave it as a poetic metaphor, he references
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a specific event that had just happened in his congregation in
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Northampton. The part of the text genuinely
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gives me chills. It is a striking pastoral
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moment. He talks about a father and a
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son who died within two weeks of each other.
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They lived in the same house. The son died first, in the
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flower of his days, as Edwards puts it.
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Young. Vibrant.
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And then the father. The father, who appeared totally
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healthy, died just a few days later.
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Edwards looks out at his congregation and says,
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essentially, look at that empty house down the street.
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Their earthly house knows them no more.
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It was a visceral, real time reminder to his flock that death
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does not care about your plans, your age or your health.
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And he twist the knife a little bit regarding the actual
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building they're sitting in. Apparently, the Northampton
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congregation had just built a new meetinghouse.
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Yes, they had a brand new church building and you can imagine
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that people were incredibly proud of it.
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They were admiring the ornaments.
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As Edwards points out, they were happy with their new comfortable
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pews. And Edwards points out that
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these two men, the father and the son, had only met in this
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new building a few times. They barely got to warm the
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seats before they were snatched away into eternity.
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The lesson being, do not get attached to your seat in the
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earthly church. That is it.
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You might be pleased with your Pew, you might like the fine
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architecture, but you might not occupy it very long.
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It is sheer vanity to focus on your place in the earthly
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assembly if you haven't secured your place in the heavenly 1.
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This leads to the most terrifying part of the sermon,
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the binary fate. Edwards is crystal clear that
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there is no middle place. No purgatory, no limbo.
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This is a core tenet of his theology and our Reformed faith.
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You either have a mansion in God's house or you have a
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habitation with devils. He describes the alternative
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with very visceral language. Filthiness.
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Abomination. Outer darkness.
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But the most specific warning is what we might call the
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churchgoers hell. This is a concept that should
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wake up anyone sitting comfortably in a Pew.
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The idea that sitting in church can actually make hell worse for
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you. In a sense, yes.
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Edwards argues that those who had a seat in God's house on
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earth, meaning there were regular tenders, maybe even
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respected, baptized members of the visible church, but die
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unconverted. They face a specific misery.
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They are cast down from the very gate of heaven.
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That is a haunting image, to be right at the gate, to be inside
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the earthly sanctuary, hearing the hymns, listening to the
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sermons, and then to fall. To have been so close, to have
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heard the gospel week in and week out, to sat in the holy
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place on earth and yet to miss Christ in your heart.
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Edwards suggests that fall is far greater.
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Having a high place in the earthly church results in a
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worse place in hell if true conversion is missing.
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Because the rejection of light is greater, to whom much is
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given, much is required. Absolutely.
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It strips away any false comfort we might feel just by being
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religious or showing up on Sunday.
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It is a sobering thought. It forces you to evaluate why
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you were sitting in the Pew. Is it for social standing in the
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community? Is it just habit or is it
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because you genuinely know the landlord of the Heavenly House?
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That is the defining question, and Edwards pivots from that
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severe warning to a call for what he describes as holy
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ambition. He actually encourages people to
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be ambitious, which is unusual for a Puritan, but he redirects
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that ambition. He says it is foolish to seek
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high seats in the earthly meetinghouse.
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That is just the vanity and honor of men.
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Right. Who cares if you're the head
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Deacon or if you have the best seat in the synagogue if it is
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just for a few short years? But Edward says it is wise, It
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is highly rational, to seek a mansion of distinguished glory
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in heaven. But wait, how does 1 obtain
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that? If entrance to heaven is by
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grace alone, through faith alone, how do we get these
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higher degrees of glory? Entrance is indeed by grace
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alone. You cannot earn your way in.
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We stand on the imputed righteousness of Christ, but the
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Reformed tradition, and Edward specifically here, acknowledges
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that God graciously rewards the good works of His Saints.
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He references Second Corinthians 9.6.
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He that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
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So the suggestion is that high degrees of glory are offered to
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encourage eminent holiness and good works here on earth.
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Yes, we are saved by faith, but our capacity for enjoying God's
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glory and eternity might be enlarged by our obedience, our
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suffering, and our holiness here and now.
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So it is not that we earn a better room by our own merit,
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but that a life of sanctification expands our souls
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capacity to receive what God freely gives.
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That is a fantastic plastic way to put it, and Edwards appeals
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to the logic of eternity here to drive the point home.
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The logic being that earthly honor is nothing but a bubble.
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It vanishes in an instant. He has this very graphic image.
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He says that the worms treat the rich carcass and the poor
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carcass exactly the same. The.
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Grave is the great leveler. The ultimate leveler.
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But heavenly honor is everlasting.
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Once a seat is allotted, whether it is near the throne or further
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back, it is held for all eternity.
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His final argument is really a calculation of value.
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He asks if people care so much about their Pew assignment for a
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few hours a week, which historically was a real source
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of intense conflict in colonial churches.
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People thought bitterly over who sat where.
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Right, so he asks, if you care that much about a wooden bench
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for two hours on Sunday, how much more should you care about
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your eternal assignment? It puts our priorities in sharp,
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undeniable relief. We spend so much time and energy
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curating our earthly mansions, our homes, our bank accounts,
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our status, our comfort, things which are literally crumbling
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lodges in a cucumber patch. And we spend so little energy
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investing in the mansion that lasts forever.
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It is a devastating critique of worldliness.
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As we wrap up this deep dive into Edward's many mansions,
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let's summarize the key takeaways for the listener. 1st,
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Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.
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It is a real structure. It is a temple, a palace and a
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home. 2nd, the doctrine offers both deep comfort and strong
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motivation. Comfort because there is room
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for all who come to Christ, no matter their background or past
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sins. Motivation because there are
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degrees of reward, and our life of obedience here genuinely
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matters for our life there. And finally, the sheer urgency
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of it all. The example of the father and
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son in Northampton brings to mind that we do not know when
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our lease on this House of clay is up.
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Securing a mansion in the father's house is the only
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rational priority for a human being.
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It really is. Edward strips away all the
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cultural excuses. He leaves you with the bare
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reality of your immortal soul before a holy God.
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Well, here is a final provocative thought for you to
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chew on as you go about your week.
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Edwards makes that chilling observation that one can be
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exalted to heaven simply by sitting in a church Pew, yet
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still be in danger of the deepest hell.
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It forces us to ask ourselves, is my seat in the church a true
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sign of my salvation, or is it just a temporary spot I am
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occupying before the final judgement?
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Are we true citizens of the household, or are we just guests
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lingering in the lobby? That is the question that
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matters most. Thank you for joining us on
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Reformed Thinking. We hope this discussion of
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Jonathan Edwards has been as challenging and encouraging to
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you as it has been to us. Until next time, keep thinking
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and keep looking up.