Of all the End Time events, the Rapture of the Church generates the most interest and the most controversy. I have a friend who wrote that the Rapture is third in the list of top 10 topics that have most divided the Church—right after COVID-19 vaccinations and the Harry Potter books!
There has been disagreement about both the promise and the timing of the Rapture. When I was a new believer, I thought the Rapture was nonsense. I had never heard of it before in the church I’d grown up in and it simply did not compute. Then I read texts like 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Corinthians 15, and John 14. I came to believe in the Rapture and got pretty excited about the prospect that Jesus could come at any moment to take His Church with Him.
So, What is It?
So what is the Rapture of the Church? Where did that idea come from? Is it a new idea as some purport? Is it something we should seriously consider; and if so, why? And when will it happen exactly?
Some challenge the idea of the Rapture by saying, “It’s too new to be true.” Well, to that, I have two responses. Number one, just because a belief is early or long-held doesn’t mean it’s true. Heresies like Gnosticism appeared early in the Church and had to be countered by John and others.
Number two, the early Church did believe that Christians would be rescued before the Tribulation. You could say that the early Church fathers were strongly premillennial. That includes men like the Shepherd of Hermas, Irenaeus, Ephrem of Syria, Clement of Rome, Tertullian, and Cyril of Jerusalem. I could go on and on. All of them believed that Jesus could come back at any moment and we should be ready.
John 14 is a passage that some people might think has nothing to do with the Rapture. But the more I’ve studied it, the more I have come to realize that it is one of the first mentions or intimations of the glorious Blessed Hope of the Church—Jesus’ promise of the imminent, signless rapture of the Church—in the New Testament.
Known as the “Upper Room discourse,” it is the second-longest sermon Jesus ever preached (behind the Sermon on the Mount). It was delivered to His disciples in private, just before His crucifixion.
The first six verses of this sermon are seminal: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:1-6)
There are four distinctive features about this Rapture—this coming—that He refers to:
Comfort
The first feature of the Rapture is its comfort. Why on Earth would Jesus say to His disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled”? Because they were troubled. In fact, the anxiety among that group was rising minute by minute, because in this setting, at this last supper, He had just announced that He was leaving.
Just a few verses earlier, in John 13:33, Jesus said, “Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’” Simon Peter spoke up with the question all of them had: “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him and said again, “Where I go, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow me later.” In his own anguish and confusion, Peter responded, “Why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for You.”
Later in the same sermon, Jesus recognized, “…because I have said these things to you, sorrow fills your heart” (John 16:6). The disciples were confused and filled with sorrow because they had given up everything to follow Him for three years nonstop—and now He was leaving. That is not what they wanted or expected to hear, so their hearts are troubled and filled with anxiety.
Jesus’ command to “Let not your heart be troubled” was given in a present passive imperative, meaning to stop an action already going on. They were already worried, already freaking out. So, Jesus said, “Stop it.” The words He offered to comfort them are simply this: “Believe in God; believe also in Me.” Then He said, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places [and] I go to prepare a place for you. If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3).
Similarly, right after he described the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:13- 18, Paul wrote, “Therefore, comfort one another with these words.” There is nothing more comforting to those of us alive right now than the assurance that Jesus could come back at any moment for us.
Notice that Jesus described the place He is preparing (Heaven) in four ways:
First, Heaven is a real place. It isn’t a figment of your imagination or a wishful thought to get yourself through this present life. It’s an actual, real place.
Second, Heaven is a relational place. Notice that Jesus calls Heaven “My Father’s house.” Why? Because, when you’re there, you’ll be with your Heavenly Father and your Savior, the Lord, Jesus Christ. You’ll also be reunited with those believers who have died before you.
Third, Heaven is a diverse place. Some translations use the word “mansions,” but the Jewish context suggests that Jesus is referring to many rooms. This conveys the idea of a bridegroom adding a room onto his father’s house prior to bringing his bride home to live. The picture of New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband in Revelation 21, conveys a huge, beautiful, diverse city brimming with people.
Fourth, Heaven is a personal place. Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you.” Think of it this way: there’s a space and place in Heaven prepared for you. Jesus the Master Carpenter is custom building something just with you in mind!
So that’s the comfort of it. Let not your heart be troubled.
Chronology
The second feature of the Rapture is its chronology. Jesus said that He would go and prepare a place, and then “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3). Some people try to soften the meaning of this promise by saying, “Well, He’s just talking about when you die, He’s going to receive you to where He is.”
But Jesus was speaking literally. He spoke of departing literally, and then He left. So, I expect that when He speaks of returning, He intends to literally return somehow to receive believers to Himself and take them to His Father’s house in Heaven.
The coming to “take you to the place I have prepared for you” cannot refer to the Second Coming of Revelation 19 either, because at that event, He comes to the Earth with His saints to set up His kingdom. It must, therefore, refer to something else. I believe it refers to the Rapture—Jesus’ coming for His Church.
The disciples clearly did not understand everything He was telling them at that moment. They were like deer in the headlights. And here’s why: they were in no condition for an eschatology lesson. Jesus saying, “I’m leaving,” was not what they wanted or expected to hear. But later on, they will get it, as Paul explained quite clearly in 1 Thessalonians 4.
But Jesus’ first intimation of the Rapture would by no means end the controversy surrounding the promise.
Controversy
The initial controversy is related to Thomas’ response to Jesus’ statement, “Where I go, you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Why did he say this? Because he was honest.
The first controversy was due to their Jewish mindset 2,000 years ago. Jews, including the disciples, expected that just before the Messiah comes there would be a time of terrible turmoil. They saw the Roman invasion and occupation of their land as a fulfillment of that. Then, they expected that an Elijah-like forerunner would come amidst that turmoil to point the way to the Messiah. That’s why people were so interested in John the Baptist and even asked him, “Are you Elijah? Are you that prophet?”
Finally, after the forerunner came, the Messiah would appear, establish His kingdom, defeat His enemies, and restore Jerusalem and Israel physically and spiritually. It’s safe to say that Jesus’ disciples believed that they were in phase three. Turmoil had happened. The forerunner had come. Jesus was the Messiah. So, they expected Him to establish His kingdom, not be told that He is leaving. Their confusion and anxiety based on those expectations were evident even after the Resurrection. In Acts 1, the disciples were still asking, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).
Much of the controversy surrounding the Rapture today has to do with confusion, anxiety, and misguided expectations—even among believers.
Choice
“Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?”
I really appreciate Thomas. If he hadn’t asked this question, we would not have had Jesus’ answer. And His answer is precious: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.”
Now, in that answer, Jesus speaks of a tragedy: not everyone gets to go to the Father’s house. “No one comes to the Father, but by Me.” That tells me that the Rapture is a selective event. Not everybody goes. It is reserved for family members only because it is the Father’s house.
I know the Bible says God is not willing that any should perish. And that is true. He doesn’t want anybody to die and go to Hell. He does not wish that any should perish. The tragedy is that many people are, themselves, willing to perish. Many people say, “I don’t want to hear. Tell me no more. I don’t care. I’m not going to accept Christ.”
Well, I just want you to know, God will honor your choice. He doesn’t force people to come. He invites everyone to come, but He will honor whatever choice you make.
You could be wrong in your eschatology, but you cannot be wrong about the way to Heaven. I didn’t believe in a Rapture at first, but I let the Bible speak to me and form my understanding of the End Times. But Jesus is dogmatic—even narrow-minded—about one thing: “I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.”
The good news is Jesus Christ is coming back. Believers will be ready and Jesus will take them to Heaven. The bad news is that Jesus Christ is coming back and many will not be ready. Unbelievers will be left behind. The good news is that anyone can go to Heaven. The bad news is that many people will go to Hell because God will honor their choice.
Now that you know the way to Heaven, will you choose to follow Christ?
