Section 3
to and with the Bible. The phrase My Father's house is used twice in the Gospel of John. It is used the first time in John 2:16, where it clearly refers to the temple, the dwelling place of God on earth. The temple is a type, a figure, of the body of Jesus (v. 21), which has in resurrection been enlarged into the Body of Christ. We must pay our full attention to this point. In verse 16 "My Father's house" is the temple on earth. It does not denote a place in the heavens but God's temple on earth. Since the temple is the type of the body of Jesus, the body of Jesus is the taber nacle (1:14), the temple, for God's dwelling place on earth. This interpretation of the phrase My Father's house is clearly shown in chapter 2. We must apply this definition to John 14:2, where we have the same phrase. We should not take this phrase in 14:2 to have a different meaning from the same phrase found in 2:16, for that would be illogical. The second time that this phrase is used in the same Gospel, it must have the same definition as the first time that it is used. Thus, the Father's house in chapter 14 must also mean God's dwelling place on earth. In chap ter 2 the Father's house is eventually the Body of Christ. Now we have the proper interpretation of the phrase My Father's house: it is the Body of