This is Jesus' last teaching to His disciples before His crucifixion. Jesus' disciples were about to go through the greatest test of their faith that they had ever encountered. Jesus said that He was saying these things so His disciples would not be offended. Jesus was preparing them for what was to come. Why then speak of preparing them a mansion in heaven? The reason for this was to comfort the disciples and help them put things in perspective. In 1 Thessalonians 4:18, Paul tells us to comfort one another with words about being gathered unto the Lord in the air. Paul said again, 'I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us' (Rom. 8:18). Someday, all of our trials will seem like nothing and this can be a great comfort to us now.

Also, when we think about being with the Lord through all eternity, it helps us to put things in proper perspective. It is easy to get fearful about our problems and think all is lost. However, for those of us who are born again, if worse comes to worse, we still have the promise of Jesus wiping all the tears from our eyes and preparing a habitation for us where all our former sorrows will have passed away. This keeps us from despairing and makes us much stronger in our faith.

In heaven, there are many dwelling places and Jesus is preparing one for us.

The thing that is going to make heaven 'heaven' is the fact that we will be with Jesus. No doubt, there will be things to see and do that will be wonderful, but nothing will compare to being with the one who loved us and died for us. A preoccupation with the details of what things will be like in heaven is missing the point.

The concept of 'conversion' is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures at least 14 times. The basic meaning of the term is a turning or returning to God. This implies a turning away from sin and a turning to God. Repentance and putting faith in God are corresponding synonyms to conversion.

The theological basis for conversion lies in the truth of the 'atonement.'

Although man lapses into sin, the truth of the atonement remains. When men turn to God in repentance and faith, the effects of the atonement - reconciliation and forgiveness - avail.

The apostle Paul expresses the act of conversion in this way: 'Turning to God from idols to serve the living and true God' (1 Th. 1:9). Also, 'to open their eyes (the Gentiles), and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me' (Jesus) (Acts 26:18).

Jesus instructed Peter to get back into ministry after he repented of his denial. If Jesus had not given Peter this command, many people might have doubted that Peter should be in a position of leadership. Indeed, Peter himself must have doubted whether or not he was fit. After Jesus' resurrection, the Lord again admonished Peter three times to serve Him by ministering to His sheep.

In the context of Luke 22, Peter's faith was shaken and he denied the Lord but did not reject Him. Jesus' admonition to Peter was that when he turned back again to Him (converted), he was to strengthen the brethren.

Just like Peter, we are often more confident of ourselves than God is. Many Christians are devastated when they fail in some area that they thought they had long since grown past. We need to realize that as long as we are in this mortal body, we cannot fall asleep at our battle station against the works of the flesh. If we do, our flesh is just as capable of sin as anyone else's. If we fall, it should concern us but not surprise us. We should simply realize with Paul, that 'in my flesh dwelleth no good thing,' get back into the spirit through confession and forgiveness, and go on with Jesus.

The Lord has never had anyone who was qualified working for Him. Peter wasn't qualified, and even at our best, neither are we. If we realize that we are nothing and have nothing, then we are prime candidates to be used by God.

Peter went on to become probably the best known of the twelve apostles. The Lord used him mightily. But He didn't want him, or us, to forget that it was Christ in Peter and not Peter himself who was great.

This also illustrates the extent of our Father's love and forgiveness. If God not only forgave Peter for his sin, but also reinstated and advanced him, then surely we have not pushed God's grace beyond its limit. Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more.

God doesn't see us as a failure - just a learner. God can redeem the worst 'failure' and work it together for good (Rom 8:28). We need to think like God.

Jesus didn't say that all men would know we are His disciples by our doctrine, our rituals, our hatred for sin, or even by the way we express our love for God. He said very clearly, that the one characteristic that would cause the world to identify us as His followers, is our love, one for another.

This same night, the Lord prayed to His Father using this same thought saying, 'That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me' (Jn. 17:21). The only way that Christ's body will be one as the Father and Jesus are One, is through God's kind of love.

Unity of believers, that can only come through a genuine God-kind of love, is the greatest tool for evangelism that the church has or will ever have, according to Jesus. The early church didn't have the massive organizational structures that we see today or the ability to travel anywhere in the world in just a matter of hours. They certainly did not come close to spending as much money, in proportion to us, to spread the gospel. And yet, the pagans of Thessalonica said of Paul and his companions, 'These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also' (Acts 17:6). They had evangelized the known world in less than thirty years.

Before we can ever fulfill the great commission of Matthew 28:19-20, there must be a revival of love in the church, where doctrine and ritual take a 'back seat' to love for one another.

Jesus previously stated that all the law and the prophets were dependent on loving God first, and then loving your neighbor as yourself. These truths were already in the law but people missed them. So, this commandment was not new in the sense that it had never been given before, but it was brought to the forefront and given new meaning through the example of Jesus. Jesus not only loved His neighbor as Himself, He loved us more than Himself.

John, the apostle who wrote this gospel, later wrote about the new commandment of love. No doubt, he received his inspiration from this teaching of Jesus. John wrote, 'Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth' (1 Jn. 2:7-8). He then goes on to speak of loving one another.

This commandment, or the revelation that God gave to man through His Word, wasn't new, but was never clearly seen by men because of the darkness that separated them from God. In the light of Jesus' life, the darkness was removed and the old commandment of love became new through the example of Jesus in a way that mere words could never express.