The Upper Room In Jerusalem
Just outside the Old City of Jerusalem on Mount Zion is the Upper Room, or the Cenacle. This structure has been regarded as the traditional site of the Last Supper since the fourth century AD.
According to scripture, the Upper Room is where the Last Supper took place and where Jesus washed His disciples feet . It is where the disciples gathered in fear after the death of Jesus. Jesus appeared in this room on two occasions after the Resurrection. It is here He showed Thomas the wounds in His body. It is where the 120 believers prayed on the Day of Pentecost. The Bible tells us that tongues of fire appeared to them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages . At this place the church of Jesus Christ was born.
Built atop a church-synagogue constructed in the first century AD, the current structure of the room is a restoration of a 12th century Crusader chapel. It is here that archaeologists have uncovered plaster fragments inscribed with Greek graffiti, one of which has been interpreted to contain the name of Jesus.
With all of its classic Crusader-era trappings, the room is mostly empty. Visitors can descend the stairs in the southwest corner of the room, leading to the Tomb of King David or ascend the staircase to the rooftop to encounter breathtaking views of the Mount of Olives and the city of Jerusalem.
The Third Result Will Be The Release Of The Power Of The Holy Spirit
After this prayer meeting came Pentecost, and the result of every prayer meeting should be the outpouring of the Spirit of God . More prayer on the part of the whole fellowship of Gods people means more of the convicting and converting power of the Holy Spirit in the personal and public preaching of the gospel, and more power in the lives of Gods people, enabling them to show forth the beauty of the Lord Jesus in their daily walk and witness. Historically there will never be another Day of Pentecost, but experimentally all Gods children need to know His filling and empowering. This is the greatest need in the Church, and in all the work of evangelism at home and abroad.
Did Jesus Last Supper Take Place Above The Tomb Of David
Understanding the Cenacle on Mount Zion
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Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover. As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.
This two-story stone building atop Mount Zion ranks among the most intriguing sites in Jerusalem. It is traditionally called the Cenacle and you will find it just outside the present-day Old City walls to the south . The buildings lower story has been associated since the Middle Ages with the Tomb of David, the purported burial place of the Biblical King David, while the upper storyoften referred to in English as the Upper Roomis traditionally believed to be the place of Jesus Last Supper.1
Masonry of the Cenacles eastern wall clearly demonstrates its layered historyfrom the Second Temple period through the Byzantine and Crusader periods to the Ottoman period. Visible on the right is the Dormition Abbey.
Even though it suffered numerous natural and man-inflicted disasters and was claimed and successively held by the faithful of all three monotheistic religions, the Last Supper Cenacle remains standing as a testimony to a long-shared sacrality in the Eternal City. It has been a church, a mosque and a synagogue.
Jesus Last Supper and the Tomb of David are traditionally associated with the Cenacle on Mount Zion.
Mount Zions Upper Room and Tomb of David
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Jesus Anointed For Burial 2: 6
During these last days before His crucifixion, Jesus stayed in Bethany on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, probably residing with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. The incident, recorded here in Matthew and in Mark 14:3-9 and more in detail in John 12:1-8, occurred in the house of Simon the leper. While some have taken this as another name for Lazarus or possibly for Lazarus father, there is no reason it should not be another home, for Jesus had many friends in Bethany. In any event, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary were there. Matthew and Mark omit any reference to them, but John states plainly that Lazarus was there, that Martha served, and that it was Mary who anointed the feet of Jesus . Matthew and Mark, likewise, do not give the exact date and apparently are not reciting events in their strict chronological order. John, however, specifies that the event took place six days before the Passover. If the Passover was on Friday, then Lenski may be right that this supper took place on Saturday evening after the Sabbath had ended.147 The whole chronology of the week leading up to the crucifixion is debatable, and some place the crucifixion on Wednesday or Thursday instead of the traditional date of Friday, which is assumed here.
Hunting For The Upper Room In Jerusalem
The Last Suppers Upper Room in Early Christian Art
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The Upper Room and Tomb of David on Mount Zion, Jerusalem.
The traditional location of the Upper Room, a site featured in the New Testament Gospels, is today placed on the southern end of Mount Zion in Jerusalem close by the Church of the Dormition and the traditional house of Caiaphas. Thousands of Christian pilgrims visit the site each year, venerating it as the place where Jesus had his last supper with his disciples , where he reappeared to them after his death , and where the first community of believers gathered together to await the arrival of the Holy Spirit .
Historians and archaeologists have debated for more than a century whether the traditional location is historically accurate and exactly what the current building represents.1 Some suggest that the current Upper Room structure is the surviving remnant of the southeast corner of a Byzantine church constructed in the late fourth century specifically to commemorate the events associated with the Upper Room in the New Testament. This church was known as Hagia Sion , and, throughout its history, featured many Christian relics and commemorative shrines.
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Ii The Need For Self Examination
Jesus interrupted the meal with a startling statement. He said, One of you will betrayMe. Now the disciples had been told by Jesus that He would be delivered up, but they had not been told before that it would be one of their number. When faced with this news, the disciples were cut to the heart. Each man began to question himself.
The Greek words indicate that they were deeply sorrowfulviolently shaken by this news. They each questioned their own sincerity, their commitment to Christ. They looked within themselves, not pointing fingers at one another. Jesus knew who would betray Him, but He allowed the other disciples to see the frailty of their own natureswhich is always healthy if we allow it to drive us to Christand a deeper trust in Him and not ourselves.
Perhaps here we see the difference between self-doubt and true conviction. There was one here that knew he was not being real or honest. The others doubted, they questionedthey dreaded the possibility of it being so. But not Judas! His plans were laid, and his mind had already made his choice.
I believe real conviction that comes from the Lord leaves no room for doubt or question. It is precise, and the convicted one knows that the Lord has placed His accusing finger on his heart. I believe in this scene we see the graciousness of our Lord. Jesus is offering Judas a chance to repent of his evil. Why else would He make these statements?
Where do you stand with the Lord this evening?
Next, we see:
Places In The Bible Can Seem Distant And Remote Separated From Us By Thousands Of Miles And Years
But in a new book, a Washington, D.C.-area priest says Catholics, like the apostles once did, can encounter Jesus and have their lives transformed forever in the Upper Room, wherever they are.
In his book, Meeting God in the Upper Room, Msgr. Peter Vaghi pastor of the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, Maryland notes that the Upper Room in Jerusalem is the most important room in Christendom. The Upper Room is the place where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his apostles and instituted the sacraments of the Eucharist and holy orders.
In that room, Jesus washed the feet of the apostles, offering what Msgr. Vaghi calls an icon of Catholic social teaching a loving example of service for all his disciples to follow.
Also called the Cenacle, it is the place where on the first Easter night, the risen Christ appeared to the apostles and disciples and instituted the sacrament of penance.
In the Upper Room at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, the apostles and disciples. Jesus frightened followers, who were huddled in that room, were emboldened by the power of the Holy Spirit to open the doors of the Upper Room and go forth to spread Christs good news.
So much of the fundamentals of our faith are from that one room, Msgr. Vaghi said.
The pastor said he came to realize that the Upper Room is not only a physical place in Jerusalem.
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Iii A Fitting Covenant
Jesus again interrupts the Passover meal. This time He interrupts it in order to transform it into the Sacrament of the Lords Supper. At the point of the drinking of the third cup of wine in the traditional ceremony, He takes the bread and tells His disciples that the bread now becomes His Body. The bread is a symbol of sustenance. Jesus says My Body,My Life that I have lived, and that I will give,is now being offered so that you might live.
He takes the cup of wine and He says this wine now becomes His Blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Remission means release. The shedding of Jesus blood on the cross was so that His disciples might experience release from the penalty of sin. His bleeding and dying purchased our forgiveness.
There is another significant aspect to this. When Jesus spoke these words we are all so familiar with, this would have greatly surprised the disciples. They are similar to the words spoken by a groom as he proposes to his bride. In the Jewish tradition, when a young man wishes to marry a maiden, he will take a cup of wine and offer it to her. By this he is saying: I am offering you my blood, my life, my future and all that I have to give you. Will you share life together with me? The girl has the option to refuse, or to drink the cupthereby accepting his marriage proposal, and saying in effect, I accept and receive what you offer to me, and I offer myself in return.
Finally there was:
Iv A Joyful Anticipation
This meal would be observed with the disciples again in the Fathers Kingdom according to Jesus. The fellowship would continue. This implies Christs resurrection which He had predicted many times. The fellowship would be restored. In addition, because He was resurrected, so shall we be.
I believe we will feast with Jesus at the Marriage supper of the Lamb. John writes in Revelation: Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. We observe the Supper this evening in anticipation of that day in which Christ returns for His bride, to fellowship with her forever!
There is a church in Milan Italy that was bombed out during WWII. All of the walls of the church fell down during the war, except one. The wall left standing has painted upon it none other than Leonardo Da Vincis Last Supper scene.
This is a wonderful illustration of how this fellowship meal will survive the tumult and the change of this world to be celebrated again with Jesus at His return. Even so, come Lord Jesus.! Let us prepare to receive from the Lords Table.
Amen.
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Study 6 The Disciples Prayer In The Upper Room
GREAT PRAYERS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Francis W. Dixon
Just as in the life of every Christian there must be the shut door, so in the life of every Church there must be the upper room. The Christian must know how to pray privately the Church must know how to pray together. The Church was born in the upper room. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was to mark the birth of the infant Church and for ten days this company were gathered in the place of united prayer, until the heavens were opened and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit . It is in such upper rooms that the greatest business in the world is transacted by the Church, under the presidency of the Holy Spirit, where humble believers meet and bow before the Lord ready to do His will. In many respects, this eve-of-Pentecost prayer meeting was a model one, and it will help us to note some of its characteristics mentioned in Acts 1:14.
The Fourth Result Will Be The Special Activity Of Satan
As soon as the Spirit of God began to work in the Church the Adversary began also. A prosperous prayer meeting is the guarantee of the presence of two great personalities: the Holy Spirit and Satan. Thank God for the truth in 1 John 4:4! The Devil is a defeated foe, and when a Church knows how to pray through, the Spirit of the Lord will soon put him to flight . There are some Churches which the Devil leaves alone. He certainly does not attack the kind of Church which is filled with worldliness or which places no great value on the preaching of the Word, the ministry of prayer and the desperate need of sinners. The Church he attacks is the one in which the Holy Spirit is at work. The fact that Satan is on the warpath is not necessarily, therefore, a cause for discouragement and where the people of God know how to pray through, the powers of darkness will not only be held back but Satans devices will be used by God for the furtherance of His purposes.
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The Secret Place Is An Upper Room
The secret place is the power source for the public square.
What has always surprised me is that there were ONLY 120 in that upper room at Pentecost. Jesus had appeared to as many as 500 at one time, and most likely repeated the instruction to stay in Jerusalem and wait for what the Father had promised. I wonder what reasons the 380 had for not joining the others in the upper room for this signal event. My worry is that today, out of every 500 that have met the risen Christ, only 120 search out the upper room, while 380 do not take advantage of the amazing opportunity presented!
All the promises of God are in Christ, the metaphorical upper room in every believer. I think most of us seriously undervalue this access and underestimate the power from on high available when we wait there. It is the meeting place that Jesus has prepared for us, saying see you there before He left. This place He provided is the most significant difference between being a believer in Jesus and every other religion.
In this blog series, lets explore the biblical trail, a short history of upper rooms that will motivate us to seek the things above where Christ is seated and find the entrance.
Judas Seeks To Betray Jesus 2: 14
When Judas went to the high priest , Jesus had already cleansed the temple, as He had done it on Monday morning, and they were eager to find some way by which they could lay their hands on Him privately. Nothing is said concerning how they bargained back and forth, but they agreed on thirty pieces of silver. The price was not high, as it was the same as the fine for killing a slave accidentally , but Judas was all too willing to sell the King of kings for the price of a slave. No doubt, the money was immediately weighed out to him, fulfilling Zechariah 11:12 precisely, as Judas was not going to take the risk of betraying Christ and then going penniless. He knew all too well that if he did not carry out his bargain, the money would have to be returned, as the Jews could have had him arrested at any time. Matthew records, And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him . The time was going to come earlier than even the chief priests had thought possible.
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