This photo of Gayle was taken in the Upper Room in Jerusalem where the Last Supper happened.
The night was the same as every annual Passover meal that had preceded it for generations… but SO much different!
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them,
saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out
for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:27-28 (NIV)
Passover began when God rescued the Israelites from Egyptian slavery as He birthed His people into a nation. With instructions to use a lamb’s blood to cover their doorposts, the Hebrew households were saved from the destroyer who “passed over them,” while first born Egyptians were killed.
Jesus’ Last Supper was in the Upper Room, this was the Passover meal shared with His disciples prior to his arrest and crucifixion. Near the Zion Gate in Jerusalem, I recently got to visit the traditional location of the Upper Room. Surprisingly to me, many scholars suggest this was the same room where Jesus appeared to his gathered disciples after His resurrection (John 20:19-20) and also where they had gathered when the fires of the Holy Spirit descended on them at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).
Jerusalem has been totally destroyed by multiple invaders since Jesus’ time, so the Upper Room that is standing now is a mixture of reconstruction from the Crusaders’ and the Turks’ dominance in Jerusalem. It sits on the site continually identified by locals as where the original Upper Room stood. My imagination swirled! There was such a sense of awe and holiness that seemed to envelop this large, second story, empty stone room with its vaulted ceiling.
The Passover meal celebrated at or near this location must have included the same Passover rituals of generations before, but it was so very DIFFERENT. It ushered in the new covenant God had promised in Jeremiah 31:31.
The old Passover, still celebrated by Jews around the world, looks backward to Egypt. But this Passover night, Jesus’ thoughts must have been cast to the future as He prepared to fulfill the promised new covenant. That night when the unleavened bread and wine were passed as usual, Jesus must have had you and me on His mind! He became the Passover Lamb whose blood paid for my sins and yours. Like the bread He broke that evening, His body would soon be broken so that the angel of death will pass over us too!
… how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called
may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them
from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. Hebrews 9:14-15 (ESV)
In wonderment, my imagination skipped forward. If God DID choose to bring the Holy Spirit’s fire to the disciples (Acts 2) in this same Upper Room where Jesus had promised it to them that Passover night, we can be pretty certain that they ran to the Southern Steps of the temple that morning, the place where Jews from across the world had journeyed to enter the temple and make their Passover sacrifices. The wide, white steps were a place Jesus and other rabbis frequently taught as people ascended or descended the stairs of the temple mount. It is one of the few places in Jerusalem where you can be sure you are standing on original stones where Jesus and His apostles stood. It is where Hebrews from around the world would have heard Peter’s bold declarations about Jesus in their own native tongues that day saying, “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 2:21 (NIV)
The wonder is that the Passover (Last Supper) celebrated in that Upper Room where I got to stand is an open invitation to you and me as Gentiles too. The blood of the Lamb of God has rescued us from the death that our sins deserve! The Holy Spirit is a gift to us, assuring us of the new covenant Jesus established. And like the disciples on the Southern Steps, WE become the message bearers of this GOOD NEWS to the world!
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven
given to men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12 (NIV)
Meet the Author!
Gayle Hadden and her high school sweetheart, Terry, love leading a home group for CRBC. They are parents to three wonderful adult children, their spouses, and are blessed with six adorable grandchildren. Gayle served for ten years in Moms in Prayer International as a USA Division Coordinator for seven states and is passionate about getting children and schools covered in prayer. She loves seeing the Word of God come alive in lives, watching God’s hand in nature, playing with grandkids, traveling, boating, birding, and chocolate (dark please!).