The Upper Room Discourse - The Mind of Christ

John 13:1-12

Thirteen men have come together for a Passover meal. One will leave early on a mission of betrayal. The remaining twelve will later make their way to the garden of Gethsemane.

In “Lessons from the Upper Room,” Sinclair Ferguson writes:

“From there they will be scattered. One will be taken by force on a nightmare journey.

“It will bring Him first to the deposed high priest Annas. From there He will be taken to the house of Annas’ son-in-law Caiaphas, now the high priest. He will then be taken to the Judgment Hall of Pontius Pilate the Roman governor, then to King Herod and back to Pilate before finally being led along the Via Dolorosa to the cross of Calvary. There He will be crucified.

“By this time tomorrow, Friday, the lifeless body of Jesus of Nazareth will be carried to a garden tomb.

“But this is not the end, just the end of the beginning. For early on Saturday morning, He will rise again from the dead. He now lives forever as a Prince and Savior. All this is still to come. For now, we have arrived at the upper room.

“In less than twenty-four hours, the Savior will be dead – crucified. Well aware that this is His certain destiny, He wants to show His disciples that He loves them to the end.

“Soon He will dismiss one of them – Judas Iscariot – from the room to betray Him. Shortly afterward, He will tell another of them – Simon Peter – that before a new day dawns, he will have denied Him three times. Before they leave, He will pray the longest prayer recorded in the New Testament. It is truly “the Lord’s Prayer.” In it, He will disclose the intimacy of His relationship to His heavenly Father and His disciples will overhear expressions of His love and care for them, but also for all those who – like ourselves – will become His disciples in the future.”

These are dramatic moments.

Here we are invited to listen in as Jesus patiently instructs His closest friends while they sit around Him during a Passover meal.

The story begins with Jesus showing His disciples that “he loved them to the end” (John 13:1) through a sign – He washes the disciples’ feet. Then He provides an explanation and asks: “Do you understand the meaning of this sign? Do you see what it means for Me? And do you understand the implications it has for you?”

Join us this week as we answer these questions and look more closely at the washing of the disciples’ feet in a sermon titled: “The Mind of Christ” from John 13:1-12.

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Wayne