David Jeremiah writes,
Three New Testament passages tell us about the Rapture: John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:50-57; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Jesus’ words in John 14:1-4 were spoken to His disciples—men who were obviously believers. He assured them that He would prepare a place for them in His Father’s house; they were members of the family of faith in the same way Christians are today. “I will come again and receive you to Myself” (verse 3) describes what we call the Rapture—the uniting of Jesus Christ with His faithful followers."
(David goes by “Dr” but as this is an honorary degree from Cedarville, I will avoid using it).
I’ve never believed that Scripture teaches a Rapture, so I was a bit surprised to see that the evidence for the Rapture is Jesus saying, “I will come again and take you to myself.”
However, as I tried to enter into David’s interpretation with empathy, I see that if I already believed in a Rapture, then this would be compelling, obvious proof. On the authority of Jesus, he tells his disciples he will come again and take them home! What more do we need? It’s an interesting argument.
Still, I think it helps to consider other interpretations of this passage, as they are also worthy of our consideration.
Let’s pause to look at these four verses (John 14:1-4):
Don’t let your heart 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 am going to prepare a place for you? If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I am going.
I think Dr. Craig Keener provides helpful insight on this passage. He is especially sensitive to tying the Scriptures together in a way that recognizes the cultural and theological expectations of the original authors. In doing so, I believe he guards against reading into the text our modern expectations for the meaning of various phrases. He writes:
The “Father’s house” would be the temple (2:16), where God would forever dwell with his people (Ezek 43:7, 9; 48:35; cf. Jn 8:35). The “dwelling places” (NASB, NRSV) could allude to the booths constructed for the Feast of Tabernacles but probably refer to “rooms” (cf. NIV, TEV) in the new temple, where only undefiled ministers would have a place (Ezek 44:9-16; cf. 48:11). John presumably means this language figuratively for being in Christ, where God’s presence dwells (2:21); the only other place in the New Testament where this term for “dwelling places” or “rooms” occurs is in 14:23, where it refers to the believer as God’s dwelling place (cf. also the verb “dwell”— 15:4-7).
In this context, John probably means not the Second Coming but Christ’s return after the resurrection to bestow the Spirit (14:16-18). In Jewish teaching, both the resurrection of the dead (which Jesus inaugurated) and bestowal of the Spirit indicate the arrival of the new age of the kingdom.
In another commentary on these verses, Dr. Mounce suggests,
Perhaps it is best to understand the passage as blending all three suggested interpretations: in the resurrection Jesus comes back from the dead, in the current age he lives among us by the Spirit, and at the consummation he will come again for his own.
So as I read John 14, here’s what I see:
Jesus explains to his disciples that he will soon depart from them (in the crucifixion, but especially in his ascension).
However, though he is physically departing, they still know “the way” to be with him .
As Thomas asks and Jesus clarifies, Jesus is “the way” to be with God. By knowing Jesus, we also know our Heavenly Father.
And as those who know the Father and the Son, Jesus promises that he will continue to be with them by the Holy Spirit, who “remains with you and will be in you” (14:16-17).
Jesus is not leaving them as orphans. Rather, even though he is physically departing, he is coming to be with them (14:18).
We see this fulfilled both in how he revealed himself to the disciples after the resurrection and in how he revealed himself to the disciples by the Spirit after his ascension.
This question touches on a very sensitive topic: when do we get to be with God?
Is it in the future when Jesus comes back to get us?
Or has Jesus already prepared a place for us, and we are already and always in his presence?
As I understand the New Testament, we are individually and corporately God’s dwelling place, as the Spirit inhabits the hearts of believers and unites us in the church.
That is, my understanding is that Jesus has already come again and taken us to himself. How sad would it be if Jesus had not already come, by the Spirit, to bring his disciples into his presence?
To go down a potential rabbit trail, I found it interesting that Dr. Thomas Ice at Liberty University, and the Executive Director of The Pre-Trib Research Center (which he co-founded with Tim Lahaye) provides a diagram of a potential connection between John 14 and 1 Thessalonians:
He argues that this strengthens the idea that John 14 is about the rapture. However, if as Dr. Imes has shown, 1 Thessalonians is about Jesus returning to earth with his disciples, then these connections provide additional reason to think that John 14 does not support a Rapture.