If we were to ask ourselves, “Is Jesus central in my thinking and living?” An honest answer to that would likely be something along the lines of, “Yes, but not always, and never as much as He deserves to be”. As Christians, we are a new creation so sin does not characterize our lives as followers of Jesus, yet we still have our sin nature remaining in us, keeping us from doing what we want to do (see Romans 7:15-20). And what exactly is that? Being the earnest believer that you are, what you want is to know and trust and love Jesus better. Understanding the way Jesus ministered to His disciples, and consequently to us, will help us in that endeavor by richly and deeply illuminating His grace and love to us.
The Upper Room is one of 2 parts of the gospel written by John. Part one being John 1:19 – John12:50 describes the words and works of Jesus which points to His identity as Messiah. Part two is John 13:1 – John 20:31 and describes the events in The Upper Room which reveals to us the glory of Jesus’ heart towards His own (the disciples and you and I) and the intimacy of His relationship with His Father. The Holy Spirit inspired the writings to encourage and equip Jesus’ disciples for sanctification and loving others in humility so that the disciples, and we, may shine as lights in the world (see Philippians 2:15).
Throughout this week, we will be looking at the major events of The Upper Room:
- Jesus washing the disciples’ feet
- Jesus’ last sermon (his longest ever recorded)
- Jesus’ prayer as High Priest (His longest prayer recorded)
- Jesus dismissing Judas Iscariot from the room to betray Him
- Jesus telling Simon Peter that before the rooster crows he will have denied Him three times
- Jesus promising The Holy Spirit
Read my detailed study article about The Upper Room here. (I recommend you save this to read after you’ve read all of this week’s devotionals)
Questions to ask yourself:
- Is Jesus central to your thoughts and living? If not, how do you hope to make Him more central?
Prayer Prompt:
Ask The Lord to help you see more deeply into His heart through The Word, with the supplement of the writings in this week’s devotional. Ask for God’s wisdom and ask for Holy Spirit to minister to your heart and point it towards and exalt Christ more and more each day.