The Upper Room

No Detail Is Too Small

No Detail Is Too Small

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It was the fifth day of the week – Thursday – and the 14th day of Nissan on the Hebrew calendar. The Passover Festival was to begin at dusk with the Passover Seder and continue for seven days, as it still does today. In preparation for the festival, all leavening (Chametz) was to be removed from the Jewish households. Leaven symbolized corruption or sin, so for the seven days of Passover, Jews ate only unleavened bread.(1) Often, any Chametz remaining in the household the day before Passover was removed and destroyed by burning. That morning in Jerusalem the pungent odor of burning Chametz would have permeated the air in and around the city. Every household was completing its preparations.

The preparations were so important to Jesus that He sent His two most trusted disciples:(2) Peter (the one upon whom He would build His church)(3) and John (the one to whom He would entrust the care of His mother).(4) Notice that when Jesus instructed them to go and prepare the meal, they wisely asked Him for specific instructions. Both men would have known what preparations were required under the Law. Both had traveled to Jerusalem many times before for the observance of Passover. Both were leaders. It would have been very easy for them to receive instruction from Jesus to “go” and then head off to do what they believed was right. How often do we attempt to go off and do God’s work in our own way? How often do we fail to ask Him the “how” question? How often do we make our own plan and ask Jesus to bless it instead of asking Him for His plan, so we can join Him in His activity?

How Can This Be?

How Can This Be?

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The early church looked radically different from the world around them . . . to the point others were drawn to ask, “How can this be?”  In the Book of Acts, Luke records, “On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,  as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages!

As They Waited

As They Waited

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Do you find yourself in a situation where you are waiting on God? Has He given you a promise that hasn’t yet come to fruition and you feel like you are sitting in the waiting room? If so, there is an important lesson to remember – waiting is not inactivity! As a matter of fact, it is a lesson the early disciples modeled well.

Ten days passed between Jesus’s ascension and the arrival of His promised Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us generally that His followers spent that time gathered in the upper room and in the Temple praying, praising and worshiping God. But in the midst of that period of time, Luke records two specific incidents: the specifics of how Judas Iscariot died and how Matthias was selected to replace Judas as the twelfth apostle.

Suddenly He Appeared

Suddenly He Appeared

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This Sunday we will celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the grave. Sin and death were conquered. The victory that the religious leaders and Satan thought they had achieved on Friday was overturned once and for all. Jesus revealed that He had been the One who was victorious on the cross, and the empty tomb was His proof, just as He had told His disciples. And yet, somehow, they had forgotten. Somehow, they were not looking for Him to arise from the dead. Somehow His return had been unexpected. If it was true of those who walked with Him physically for three years, what can the rest of us learn from them?

This was the first time that all of Jesus’ apostles had been back together since the night of His arrest, with the exception of Judas Iscariot (the betrayer) and Thomas (the one called “the doubter”). But others had also more than likely joined them. His mother, Mary, was surely there, as were His brothers at their mother’s prompting. Bear in mind that until that night, His brothers had not believed Him to be the Son of God. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were probably counted among them, together with others who had traveled with Him. It was a roomful of His closest followers.

Who is Greatest?

Who is Greatest?

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The age in which we live often prompts us to ask the question, “What’s in it for me?” We can, at times, find ourselves preoccupied with making sure that we are receiving our just rewards for our effort. We can even do so as it relates to our relationship with God. We can become preoccupied with the benefits of our salvation and disregard why He has saved us – His mission, His purpose and His glory. We can become preoccupied with the blessings we expect from Him and lose sight of the honor and worship that is due Him through our lives.

Sadly, we’re not the first ones to get our view of what it means to follow Jesus upside down. For example, Jesus had just washed His disciples’ feet. He had just declared that one of them was going to betray Him. And yet, the Gospel according to Luke tells us, all the disciples could seemingly think about was their position in the Kingdom.(1) This wasn’t the first time. It had occurred several times before.(2) Even the mother of James and John had asked the question to Jesus.(3) But no matter how many times Jesus answered them, they kept coming back to the same question.

Apart from Jesus

Apart from Jesus

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The events that unfolded that night in the upper room before Jesus’ arrest, as recorded in John’s Gospel, were not happening “to” Jesus.(1) The plan of redemption had been set in motion by the Father before the beginning of time. Jesus had always known what was going to occur. He knew when He called Judas Iscariot to follow Him as one of His disciples, that Judas would betray Him.

For there to be a cross, there needed to be an arrest. For there to be an arrest, there needed to be a betrayal. For there to be a betrayal, there needed to be a betrayer. But please do not misunderstand – Judas did not betray Jesus because God put it in his heart. Rather, Satan put it in his heart! But God knew Satan would do so … and He knew Judas would make that choice.

The Hour Will Come

The Hour Will Come

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God’s timing is perfect. It always has been and it always will be. He is eternal. He’s not constrained by such things as time or space. He created it all. Time is as much His creation as we are. He can turn it backward, as we see recorded in the days of the prophet Isaiah and King Hezekiah. And just as easily as He could have turned time forward, He can make it stand still, like He did on the day He gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites.

 

He does everything according to His own perfect timing. He chose to create heaven and earth, and all of its inhabitants within six days. He put the rotation of the earth, the sun and the moon in motion to create a day in time through each rotation. He determined that each orbit of the earth around the sun would equate to one year with four seasons. He created time, as He did all of His creation, for His purpose and to bring Him glory. And nothing and no one can frustrate His plan, His purpose, or His timing.

A Resurrection Story – The Man Who Owned The Upper Room

A Resurrection Story – The Man Who Owned The Upper Room

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NOTE: This is the last of four short stories about four different people who encountered Jesus during the months leading up to His crucifixion and resurrection. You will find each of these individuals in the Gospel accounts, however i have added fictional elements to each of their stories so that we might see each one … as they journeyed through their lives leading up to their encounter … and as they continued their journey in the days that followed. You will read the parts of their stories you may already know … and the rest that could have been. Though some of the other characters and details contained in each story may be fictional, you will find the truth conveyed about the One they each encountered to be very REAL! My prayer is that through the stories, you will see Jesus and be reminded of the Good News of the cross and the empty tomb as we enter into this season of remembrance. To that end, let’s look at their stories:

The Paralytic (March 23)

The Grieving Mother (March 30)

The One Caught In The Act (April 6)

The Man Who Owned The Upper Room (This week - April 13)

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My name is Yitzhak and I grew up here in Jerusalem. My ancestors were counted among the remnant that returned here over five hundred years ago with Zerubbabel from Babylon. Those early generations led the effort in rebuilding Jerusalem from the debris left by the Babylonian destruction of the city. My ancestor Pedaiah, son of Parosh, was charged by Nehemiah with the responsibility of rebuilding the section of the wall leading to the Water Gate….