Received

Received
 
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14.3
 

One of the greatest promises ever recorded is within this dialogue between Jesus and His disciples in John 14. He uses “if…then” arguments and proofs as He draws upon what the disciples knew from experience as they had watched Jesus perform miracle upon miracle – expressions of His power and deity – and, examples of His compassion.
 
Professing to be the Way, the Truth and the Life, Jesus drew His disciples – especially His twelve and His “inner circle” – into His confidence and personal fellowship.
 
In John 14.1, Jesus, essentially, says, “If you believe God…then you must believe Me.” He uses this as an explanation of His assertion that they should not let their hearts be troubled (“disturbed or agitated”). As He prepared them for His departure, they should not grieve over His going because He was inviting them to go with Him.
 
In John 14.2, Jesus again uses the “if…then” correlation as He encourages the disciples to understand that He was telling them the truth and not withholding valuable information. The valuable information was the fact that God had a big house and that each believer would one day (upon leaving this world) be invited to dwell in His Father’s estate. Nestled within that promise was the fact that Jesus, Himself, was leading the way – going before them – to prepare their place – a place specifically for them. That promise extends to believers of all ages.
 
Jesus left the earth (Acts 1.11) and left His promise to return. Here is the third “if…then” statement. In John 14.3, Jesus said, “If I go… I will come again.” This “if…then” statement is a third-class conditional statement. What that means is that the condition is highly probably and inescapable should the first part be accomplished.
 
At the time of Jesus’ statement, He had not yet gone to complete the first part of this argument; however, if you believe God, and if you believe that I am preparing a place for you, and since I am going away; you can trust Me to fulfill My other promises to you.
 
The first part of the conditional statement has been fulfilled – “If I go….” Therefore, the second part of the conditional statement – “I will come again” – is secured by the individual’s belief in and acceptance of Jesus’ promise. Furthermore, Jesus’ promise included His promise to “receive” us – to retrieve us to His side – at His position – in the place where He is.
 
Literally, Jesus said, “And I shall take you along to my own home.” No matter what goes on in the world, we have a personal promise from our Lord and Savior that He will, one day, call us and receive us to His side.