In the Upper Room

Matthew 26:17-30

GOLDEN TEXT: “This do in remembrance of Me.”—I Corinthians 11:24

FROM the early days of antiquity it has been customary among men to commemorate the birth of their notables; but seldom, if ever have the worldly-wise deemed it expedient to set aside the death date of their great ones to be commemorated from year to year. But the divine will in this matter runs counter to worldly wisdom, for the Scriptures enjoin upon all the followers of the Master the vital importance of remembering and memorializing their Leader’s death. We celebrate His birth out of enthusiasm for that blessed event; but we celebrate His death by divine mandate; yet with great thankfulness and appreciation for all that it means to us, and will yet mean to the whole world of mankind.

The greatest achievement of Jesus’ earthly career was His death. It was His death that justified His coming into the world as a man. Jesus’ life was not taken from Him; rather, He willingly surrendered it: and in this there was real victory for Himself and a provision of salvation for all mankind. It is because the salvation of both the church and the world depends upon the death of Jesus that it is so appropriate and so important that His people utilize every opportunity to have it impressed upon their minds and hearts. Jesus’ victory in death means their victory over death.

The night before Jesus was crucified He met with His disciples in the “upper room.” What a meeting that was! Here were twelve Jews who had accepted Jesus as their Messiah, and were looking to Him to establish a Kingdom that would deliver Israel from the Roman yoke, and bless all nations. They expected to share the glories of that Kingdom. Jesus, on the other hand was about to inform them that He would be betrayed into the hands of His enemies and be put to death; yea, that one of their own number would be the betrayer.

We said that twelve of His disciples believed the Master would establish the Messianic Kingdom. Actually only eleven, at the time, still believed this, for Judas had evidently lost His faith else he would not have been negotiating for Jesus’ death. But that there was a traitor in their midst added to the pathos of the occasion; and especially so once Jesus let it be known that he was aware of the plot that was being engineered against Him.

The disciples could hardly credit what Jesus revealed to them, and perhaps wondered if there were something in their own hearts of which they were not aware; hence the question, “Lord, is it I?” While Jesus knew the identity of the traitor, He preferred not to make a direct accusation, but to let Judas’ own action reveal to the others who the guilty one was. As followers of Jesus we might well take a lesson from this and be slow in our accusation of others, even when there is no question about their guilt. Of Jesus it is said that He came not into the World to condemn the world, but to save it; and in keeping with this we find that even in individual cases the Master was slow to condemn.

After all, Jesus was voluntarily dying for the whole human race of sinners so it would have been quite out of keeping for Him to manifest agitation and malice in connection with any agencies the Father’s wisdom might permit to bring about death. It was manifestly unjust fox Judas to betray His Master, but then had the Master been looking for justice He would not have died as Man’s Redeemer. The love which goes beyond justice is the principle that carried Jesus through to a victorious death.

In addition to the practical lessons to be drawn from the upper-room episode in the life of Jesus, some very important doctrinal truths are set forth; and these two have a practical bearing upon every Christian’s life. In the bread and cup that were proffered to the disciples after they had finished with the feast of the passover, we have a symbol of the broken body and shed blood of the Redeemer. In giving the cup to them Jesus said, “This is the blood of the new covenant.”

The disciples were not able to grasp the full significance of this statement, although they would probably have some idea about it. They would know about the Law Covenant and of the blood that was used in connection with its inauguration at Mt. Sinai. They would probably also remember the promises that the time would come when a new covenant would be established with Israel. But just how the “cup,” and the strange experiences of that evening fit into this picture they could not then know, and did not know until Pentecost.

But now it is plain. Jesus’ own blood was to seal the New Covenant, even as the blood of animals sealed the Law Covenant. But first of all His disciples were to drink that blood; that is, they were to participate in His death, presenting their bodies a living sacrifice, even as He presented His. They were to do this in the assurance that through the merit of His blood their sacrifice, even as His, would be “holy and acceptable.”

Now we can see that in dying with Jesus, His followers become co-servants of the New Covenant with Him; and that this further preparatory work for the New Covenant has taken the entire Gospel age to complete; and that the inauguration of the New Covenant with Israel and with the world must wait until the sacrificing is complete.

QUESTIONS:

Is it unusual to do something in commemoration of a great man’s death?

Why was the death of Jesus so important?

Why do we feel the commemoration of His death should be annually and at a certain time of the year?

What does St. Paul say of importance in connection with our participation in the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ?

| Home Page | Table of Contents |