Jesus was known as a teacher. Everyone, even his enemies, called him a teacher. Jesus came with the message of salvation, and everywhere he went, he taught that message. We find numerous teaching sections in the four Gospel accounts devoted to Jesus’s life. Some of these teaching units are large, and others small. John chapters 13-17 comprise one of the largest body of Jesus’ teaching in the New Testament. All the words of Jesus have a unique quality and power, but these words are the most profound, along with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). This teaching is often called the Upper Room Discourse. This section begins with the Last Supper and continues through that night. This is the night before Jesus was crucified.
Jesus is preparing his disciples for the shock of his death. What will transpire in the next twenty-four hours will rock their world and threaten to shake them loose form their faith. He has much to say in comfort but much more to say regarding their mission. Believers who read these chapters must do so with deep meditation and prayer.
Chapter thirteen deals with events during and immediately after the Last Supper. After the supper, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. Washing feet was a task reserved for the lowest servant. Jesus takes on the role of a servant to teach his disciples the attitude they must have towards one another and the people they will serve in their mission. The foot washing is also a picture of the cross.
After Jesus reveals that one of them will betray him, Judas leaves to do this deed. Jesus then issued the command to his disciples to love one another just as he had loved them. The world would take notice of such love. This would be their defining mark of a true disciple (13:34-35).
The first extended discourse is in chapter fourteen. This chapter is framed with comfort at the beginning (14:1-3) and the end (14:28-31). Between the two words of comfort, Jesus reinforces his disciples’ hearts with the truth about who he is and his promise of the Holy Spirit, who will lead and empower them in their mission. Three times in this chapter, Jesus makes known to his disciples that if they truly love him, they will obey his word.
At the end of chapter fourteen, Jesus and the disciples leave the upper room where they have celebrated the Passover meal. Somewhere along the way, Jesus relates to them the parable of the vine and branches (15:1-11). This moving picture of the relationship between Jesus and his followers is designed to encourage them to remain in him, in vital connection to him. It would serve the reader well to meditate on the connection they have with Jesus. The chapter ends with Jesus’ honest warning that since the world hates him, it will also hate them. The chapter explores three relationships believers experience: (1) relationship with Jesus (15:1-11), (2) relationship with one another (15:12-17), and (3) relationship with the world (15:18-27).
The discourse continues in chapter sixteen with three very meaningful promises of Jesus to his disciples. First, Jesus promises them the Holy Spirit (16:1-15). The Holy Spirit will guide them in their mission and lead them into all truth. Second, Jesus promises his disciples that though they will experience great distress in the short term, they will have great joy no one can take away (16:16-24). Third, Jesus promises his followers victory over the world. Because they believe in Jesus, the Father loves them, and though they will have struggles in this world, Jesus will give them peace because he has overcome the world (16:25-33).
Chapter seventeen is often called the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. This is the longest prayer of Jesus we have in the NT. The prayer is shaped in three parts. Jesus prays for himself (17:1-5), for his disciples (17:6-19), and for all who will believe through his disciple’s message (17:20-26). He prays for himself that the Father would glorify him in his work. He comes to bring eternal life, which is a present relationship with the Father and with Jesus. He prays for his disciples that the Father will protect & sanctify them. The evil one, the devil, seeks to defeat and destroy them. Jesus has protected them. The Father will now protect them through the Holy Spirit. And finally, he prays for future believers that they will be unified. Jesus desires that all believers be one as he and the Father are one. Unity between believers, like the unity between the Father and Jesus, is the marriage of love and truth. Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life.
The upper Room Discourse is a part of the Bible, the life of Jesus and the teaching of Jesus that every believer must be very familiar. This teaching merits a lifetime of study, meditation, and devotion. It powerfully prepares us for victory over the struggles of the Christian life. I encourage you, even beg you, to spend time in this passage. God will richly bless you!