The First Upper Room

Whenever Christians speak of the Upper Room, they usually refer to Pentecost. But the Bible mentions an upper room incident that occurred several weeks earlier, in which the disciples had a different kind of experience. This upper room was the setting for the Last Supper on the night before Christ’s death on the cross. On that evening, Jesus talked about the suffering he would endure, his approaching death, and the fact that he was leaving his closest friends, the disciples.

My father used to call this first upper room experience “being taken to the woodshed.” It’s about addressing things in our lives that aren’t honoring to God. It’s in these times, he tells us, “You’re drifting from me. You’ve placed your affections on earthly things and lost your first love for me. I cannot allow you to go any further without addressing this.”

In the first upper room, Jesus wanted to deal with the mixture in his disciples’ hearts. The clearest example is Peter, who told Jesus he would follow him to the death. The Lord challenged him on that: “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times” (Matthew 26:34, ESV).

Are you experiencing the first upper room right now? Are there things in your life you know aren’t pleasing to God? He wants to deal with them, and he will not pull any punches. His response to Peter was harsh, but we know from the outcome that it was an act of love. Jesus was saying, in essence, “I know you love me, Peter, but there’s an agenda in your heart that isn’t God’s. I’m confronting it now because I don’t want it to become palatable to you. I have greater things in mind for you.”

Friend, when God brings us into the first upper room, it is not to condemn us but to lovingly confront what hinders our walk with him. He wants to prepare our hearts for a deeper intimacy with him and a greater purpose.