Imagine being a fly on the wall in a private teaching session with Jesus and His disciples. That is exactly the opportunity we have in John 13-17 where John records what is known as our Lord’s “upper room discourse” or “farewell discourse” as He prepares His followers for the culmination of His earthly ministry and what lies ahead.
Only John records this teaching block. While the synoptic Gospels each report Christ’s Passover with His disciples in which He institutes the Lord’s Supper, only John gives us the rich teaching that Jesus wanted to leave with the twelve. Curiously, John does not describe Christ’s giving and receiving bread and wine, which we might legitimately think holds position of prominence.
Why would John omit recounting where, in celebrating the Passover, Jesus proclaims the new covenant in His blood? The other Gospel accounts emphasize the Last Supper as something given to the church for its perpetual remembrance until Jesus returns. The apostle Paul brought this meal forward as a pattern for unity among the fractured Corinthian church (1 Cor. 10:16-17; 11:23-34).
But John records what he does (John 21:25) for the express purpose of bearing witness to Jesus as the Christ of God. “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30–31). In other words, John writes for evidentiary value. Perhaps it is this concern that prompts John to lay out for us this testimony with its focus on Jesus as the Christ of God.
And regarding the unity emphasized by Paul in the Supper, our Lord’s upper room discourse is filled with expressions of unity through its teaching. We will see that exhibited particularly in His high priestly prayer (John 17) but there are other threads spread throughout the discourse laced into the tie that binds.
In fact, we are not present as an intruding fly on the wall, or even as an invited guest given a front row seat. Rather, we are included as fellow disciples whose names are written on the class list before the foundation of the world. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20–21).
So we take our seats at the call of Him who knows us by name, and we prepare to be taught the greatest lesson ever told.
Begin your time with Jesus in prayer, asking Him to prepare your mind and fill your heart.
