With Jesus in the Upper Room: Empowered for Discipleship & Ministry

Course Description

On the night before he handed himself over to death on a Roman cross, Jesus of Nazareth gathered his first followers together around a meal in what has come to be known as “the upper room,” an upstairs apartment somewhere in the heart of Jerusalem. The event took place under the cloud of his announcement that, after three-plus years of close association, he would be leaving them and “returning,” as he put it, “to my Father.” His actions and teaching that evening thus prepared his followers to move forward in discipleship and ministry in the absence of Jesus’s physical presence—which, of course, is the context in which he calls us to follow him and continue in his ministry today.

In this course, we will work our way through the record of that evening, giving more careful attention to what Jesus did and said than the first followers were able to do(!) until it was all recorded for them, and for us, in John 13–17. We will find ourselves further equipped and empowered for discipleship and ministry, as Jesus gives us his perspective on his action in the world, as he gives us our new identity in relationship with him, as he calls us to “a new commandment” and to “not be afraid,” as he makes promises that bring us more fully into the new reality shaped by his gospel, and as he prays for us.