“There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house.“

Various alternatives need to be considered.

(a) Temple?

Kanagaraj suggests:

‘The phrase “my Father’s house” could denote the temple (Jn 2:16). Possibly there is a temple motif here that identifies the Father’s house as a heavenly temple into which Jesus, the high priest, will enter with his own blood after his death and resurrection to offer eternal redemption (Heb 9:12, 24).’

Gundry notes that:

‘Most interpretations of Jesus’ statement have it that he’s referring to heaven. But in Jn 2:16–17 he used “my Father’s house/home” for the temple in Jerusalem and followed up by saying, “Disassemble this temple, and in three days I’ll raise it” (Jn 2:19). Then John interpreted this claim as a reference to “the temple [consisting] of his body” (Jn 2:21). So the Father’s home isn’t heaven. It’s the temple consisting of Jesus’ disassembled and now resurrected body.’

(b) The Christian community?

Beasley-Murray observes that

‘some exegetes [Gundry is named as one] have interpreted οἰκία in a corporate sense, in the light of the concept of the Church as a spiritual house or temple of God (cf, e.g., 1 Cor 3:16–17; Eph 2:20–22; 1 Pet 2:5, also John 2:19–21); the promise in vv 2–3 is then thought to relate to the fellowship which will be possible through Christ’s departure and return through the Spirit.’

Michaels (NICNT) links this saying with Jn 8:35f –

‘“In my Father’s household” does not mean in the Jerusalem temple, as in Jn 2:16 (“Stop making my Father’s house a house of trade!”), nor in the heavenly temple (which is not mentioned at all in John’s Gospel), but in heaven itself, understood as a household, in keeping with the household imagery of certain passages in the Gospel. Above all, the “household” of God recalls Jn 8:35–36, where Jesus told some “Jews who had believed” that “the slave does not remain in the household forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will really be free.” Jesus offered them freedom, and with it the opportunity to “remain” or dwell in God’s household. They refused, but here Jesus reiterates to his disciples that there are indeed “many dwellings,”18 that is, plenty of room in that household for those whom the Son sets free.’

(c) Heaven, the dwelling place of God?

So Barclay (DSB) and many others.

It is true that God dwells everywhere, even in Sheol, Psa 139:8.  And certainly he is to be found with his own people, Gen 28:16.  But the place where God peculiarly and especially dwells, and most gloriously manifests his presence, is in heaven itself, Psa 33:13f.

This is the view of Beasley-Murray:

‘The Father’s “house” with its many dwellings is most plausibly a pictorial representation of the transcendent dwelling of God, such as is depicted under the figure of “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” in Heb 12:22, a symbol which is greatly elaborated in the apocalyptic vision of the City of God in Rev 21:9–22:5.’

Howard Snyder argues that this passage has too often been seen through the lens of medieval ideas of heaven rather than in the light of OT teaching.  Snyder points out that nowhere in this chapter does Jesus even mention ‘heaven’.  Rather, he talks about ‘my Father’s house’.  This is the place where God’s presence in manifest.  Sometimes, in the OT scriptures, it is creation in its entirety.  At other times, it is the temple in Jerusalem.  At yet other times, it is God himself (Psa 90:1; 91:9).

So, for Snyder, God’s ‘house’ or ‘dwelling place’ is wherever God is and wherever his presence is felt and his will is done.

For many, ‘heaven’ includes ‘the place believers go to when they die’.

Klink favours the idea that Jesus is referring to:

‘the heavenly abode of God and therefore to the promised abode of the children of God.’

Lincoln thinks that there is little merit in either the idea that this expression refers to rooms in the temple, or that it refers to the Christian community.  He cites 1 Enoch 39:4-8,

‘which speaks of “the dwelling-places of the holy, and the resting-places of the righteous” in heaven, which was pictured as God’s house.’

(d) The cosmos?

The 19th-century commentator Albert Barnes inclines to the view that our Lord is referring to the entire universe as the Father’s house.  Whether we are on earth or in heaven, we are in his habitation.  And in these vast expanses there is ample room.  And it does not matter very much which part of the house we occupy.  We should not grieve if Jesus moves from one part to another, for he will still be in his Father’s house, and he is going to prepare an eternal dwelling for his people.

Morris cites the rather similar suggestion of Milligan and Moulton, that:

‘“my Father’s house” includes earth as well as heaven, so that wherever we are we are in that house.’

But, writes Morris, while this suggestion is ‘very attractive’,

‘on this view it is not easy to understand why Jesus should “go” in order to prepare a place for us.’

(e) The new creation?

Wright links together the previous two ideas by pointing out that the temple (‘my Father’s house’ in Jn 2:16) was understood as the place where heaven and earth met.  Now Jesus is speaking of a new ‘house’:

‘Heaven and earth will meet again when God renews the whole world. At that time there will be room for everyone.’