"That blessed hope" is for the first time mentioned by our Lord. But
where in His earthly life did He give it to His disciples? It is not
found in the records of the three first Gospels, generally called the
synoptics. In these records He spoke often of His Return. He promised
a Second Coming of Himself in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory. He revealed what should take place before His return. In His
prophetic Olivet discourse (Matt. xxiv-xxv) He gave the signs of His
Coming, the preceding great tribulation, the physical signs
accompanying His visible manifestation, the regathering of His elect
people Israel by the angels. He revealed how some would then be taken
in judgment and others left on the earth to enter the Kingdom (Matt.
xxiv:40-41). He also spoke in parables of how the conditions in
Christendom would be dealt with by Him. And finally He gave a prophecy
concerning the judgment of the living nations in the day of His
appearing. But nowhere in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke did He
speak of "that blessed hope."
It was in the upper room discourse that He spoke of it the first time.
His eleven disciples were gathered about Him. Judas had gone out into
the night to betray Him. For him of whom the Lord said it would have
been better had he never been born, there was no blessed hope. The
Lord had announced His imminent departure from them. He would leave
them. When Peter said "I will lay down my life for thy sake" (John
xiii:30), the omniscient One told him, "the cock shall not crow till
thou hast denied me thrice." How sorrowful this little company must
have been! Despair was probably on all their faces. Their hearts were
greatly troubled.
Then His beloved voice broke the silence and uttered the never to be
forgotten words, "Let not your heart be troubled; ye 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
unto Myself that where I am ye may be also" (John xiv:1-3). In these
words "that blessed hope" is mentioned for the first time in the Bible.