Lessons from the Upper Room

The day before His crucifixion, Jesus shared His heart with His disciples. In what we know as the Upper Room or Farewell Discourse of John 13-17, He announced His betrayal and denial; foretold His death, glorification, and departure from this world; promised the coming Holy Spirit; and prayed in preparation for all that was to take place. In this series, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson walks us through these events, whose setting he calls "five wonderful hours with the Master." In this message, Dr. Ferguson especially examines Jesus' foot-washing in five stages, physically and theologically, in which He reveals Himself as the One who served us in order that we might serve others.

Most people are familiar with the "Golden Rule" of Matthew 7:12: "Do to others as you would have them do to you." In this message, Dr. Ferguson connects this wellknown maxim to the foot-washing in John 13. As he continues to open up this event, Dr. Ferguson discusses the gospel as the key to understanding what Christ has done in washing His disciples' feet and what He wants them to do in washing the feet of others. Dr. Ferguson challenges Christians to "do for others what has been done for you" by Christ.

Even though we know that Jesus never sinned, we have a difficult time coming to grips with the fact that He could become agitated. Still, knowing that He would be betrayed and who would carry out the task, He was indeed deeply troubled, but hardly surprised. He knew His destiny, and He, not Judas or anyone else, governed it. In this lesson, Dr. Ferguson reveals the mind and heart of our Savior who was intimately familiar with all of the painful experiences of humanity. In an atmosphere polluted by the presence of His betrayer, we are reminded again that the suffering of Jesus was not a pathway to defeat but an entrance to victory.

The polluted atmosphere changed with the departure of Judas from the Upper Room. Jesus then more freely opened Himself and His plan to the remaining disciples. The moment anticipated in John 1:14 had come. The Son of Man had arrived at His glory and the kingdom would be expanded as a result. Yet, as Dr. Ferguson shows in this lesson, the way down to the cross was the way up to glory. He also makes clear that the crucifixion is not just a time of pity or sadness, but also a time of triumph. The disciples did not understand, and Peter's own ignorance would lead to his denial of the glorified Savior. In this way, John 13 comes to an end with a glimpse of both glory and failure.

You may not realize this, but the verse best known in the gospel of John is probably John 14:1—not John 3:16. At funerals we often hear, "Let not your hearts be troubled," with the hope of giving comfort to grieving hearts. As Dr. Ferguson notes, this verse is often taken out of context, as people fail to understand the foundation for the consolation that Christ offers. Ironically, it arises out of the very gospel-centered suffering that our Savior endured on behalf of sinners. In this lesson, then, we find counsel for troubled hearts in general and to pessimistic Thomas and self-sufficient Philip in particular. In the end, Jesus was troubled in order that His disciples may not be.

Martin Luther's students often conversed over dinner with him and recorded many of his comments in what became known as Table Talk. In this lesson, Dr. Ferguson speaks of the "table talk" of Jesus that John recorded in the Upper Room Discourse. In this passage, the Savior discusses the advantage for the disciples when He leaves them and sends "another Helper" (14:16), the Holy Spirit. The disciples could not, however, agree that the promised Spirit would make up for the bodily absence of Christ. Only later would the disciples fully realize the vital role of the Spirit to take up the work of Christ as Teacher, Counselor, and Homemaker.

Did you know that the most common description in the New Testament for believers is not "Christian" but simply "in Christ"? Through the power of the Holy Spirit, believers experience the indwelling of Christ. The disciples struggled to grasp the advantage of this special and mysterious union and how powerfully present a bodily absent Christ was in it. To help His disciples lay hold of this concept, Jesus uses the picture of a vine and its branches. In this lesson, Dr. Ferguson opens up this image from John 15 emphasizing the significance of our union with Christ as we abide in Him, the True Vine.

Some argue that the history of Western philosophy can primarily be summed up as a footnote to the thought of Plato. We can say that the entire Bible shows a similar connection to Genesis 3:15, which announces the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. In John 15:18-27, and in connection to this ongoing conflict, Jesus recognizes that the time has come for the climactic battle between the two seeds or kingdoms, one that would take Him to the cross. However, His very death would crush the one who has the power of death, the devil. In this lesson, Dr. Ferguson shows us from this passage how the disciples are caught up in the war. They too will be hated by the world, yet also helped by the One who overcomes the world.

So far in this series, the Upper Room Discourse has taken the disciples on a roller coaster of emotions, especially with the pronouncement of betrayal and denial within the inner circle of disciples. If that was not enough, Jesus would depart from them and leave behind terrible opposition that was supposed to be of no surprise. Now, He says that He has many more things to tell them, but they "cannot bear them now" (John 16:12). Jesus does not overwhelm them with more, but does remind them that the Holy Spirit as Counselor will guide them in all the truths that will be revealed later. Jesus now addresses them as though He were answering their unspoken questions. In this lesson, Dr. Ferguson deals with important questions and the answers Christ lovingly and sensitively gives.

Preachers sometimes speak over the heads of people and so fail to connect with them. As Charles Spurgeon once observed, "Jesus said, 'Feed my sheep,' not my giraffes." Yet, our Savior at times delivered teachings that puzzled His disciples, and He even withheld things they could not yet bear. This does not mean that Christ lacked clarity but that the disciples lacked spiritual discernment. As Dr. Ferguson argues, they needed "Velcro strips" in their thinking so that the truth would stick. In this lesson, we find Jesus patiently leading them into deeper truth as He responds to key questions Yet, it would take time for everything to make sense to them. Like the economic forecaster who said of holiday profits, "The meaning of Christmas will not become clear until Easter," Jesus' teaching concerning Himself would not be totally clear until the resurrection.

In churches, we often hold social gatherings in order to grow in our knowledge of one another. There is perhaps no other gathering where we get to know people better than the prayer meeting. There, we have the privilege, as we listen to others pray out loud, of having them reveal some of the deepest desires of their hearts. If we share such a privilege within the context of the church, then there could be no greater privilege for the disciples of Jesus than to listen to Him pray. In this lesson, as we come to the end of the Upper Room Discourse, Dr. Ferguson begins to open up the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus Christ, focusing first on the prayer of Jesus concerning Himself.

The room was silent as Jesus continued praying—probably as His disciples had never heard Him pray before. Judas had departed, and Peter likely sat disturbed about the denial Jesus had predicted. We saw in the last lesson that Jesus' prayer in John 17 corresponds to the high priest's ritual prayer on the Day of Atonement for himself, his family, and finally, his community. We see Jesus moving on from His petition for the Father to glorify His Son. In this lesson, we will consider Christ's ongoing prayer as He intercedes for the inner circle of disciples (verses 6 through 19) and finally for the entire church through the ages (verses 20 to 26). In the process, as Dr. Ferguson observes, we find Jesus revealing His "deepest desires" to His Father.