<p>14:2- see on Lk. 14:12.</p><p><i>In my Father's house are many dwelling places- </i>This is a form of the verb 'to abide' which features so frequently in John's record. The Father and Son seek to abide in the believer through the Spirit, deep in the heart of the believer (:17; 1 Jn. 3:24; 4:13). In this sense, each believer becomes like one of the rooms or cubicles around the temple, each used by a different priest. Insofar as the Spirit abides in us now, we are the temple of God, we are the new priesthood, and are therefore called to active service for others to His glory.</p><p><i>If it were not so, I would have told you- </i>The offer of salvation is so repeatedly stated by the Father and Son throughout the Bible that we are left with a terrible choice: Either it is true, or God is the worst deceiver. And if that were the case, the Lord as the obviously good man would have told us. This awful choice points up the amazing truth- that God really wishes us to be saved and assures any and every believer of the certainty of salvation.</p><p><i>I go to prepare a place for you</i>- The abiding Spirit was only given as a result of the Lord's death and glorification (7:38,39), and He will go on throughout the Comforter discourse to make this point. He was going to the cross, and to the intense mutual glorification of Father and Son there of which He has just spoken in chapter 13. He is speaking here in response to Peter&rsquo;s question as to where the Lord Jesus was now going to disappear to, i.e. in death. &ldquo;I go to prepare a place for you&rdquo; alludes to the idea of Moses and the Angel bringing Israel &ldquo;into the place which I have prepared&rdquo; (Ex. 23:30).</p><p>And it is also surely an allusion to the Palestinian tradition that the wife came to live with the new husband after a year and a day, whilst He 'prepared the place' for her. The cross was His purchase of us as His bride. The bridegroom was &ldquo;taken away&rdquo; from the wedding guests (Mk. 2:20)- the same word used in the LXX of Is. 53:8 for the &lsquo;taking away&rsquo; of the Lord Jesus in His crucifixion death. But the groom is &lsquo;taken away&rsquo; from the guests- because he is going off to marry his bride. The cross, in all its tears, blood and pain, was the Lord&rsquo;s wedding to us.</p>