On the night of the Last Supper Jesus gave his disciples an extraordinary body of teaching which we call “The Upper Room Discourse.” One way of summarizing what Jesus was telling them is “you’re going to be okay.”
Here are six points taking from John 13-17:
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YOU’RE GOING TO BE OKAY – John 13-17
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YOU’RE GOING TO BE OKAY AS LONG AS YOU SERVE IN HUMILITY.
John 13: 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”
YOU’RE GOING TO BE OKAY IF YOU OBEY MY “NEW COMMAND.”
John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
YOU’RE GOING TO BE OKAY BECAUSE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT ARE YOUR ADVOCATES.
John 14:16 “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth…. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
YOU’RE GOING TO BE OKAY IF YOU REMAIN IN ME.
John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
YOU’RE GOING TO BE OKAY EVEN THOUGH THE WORLD WILL HATE YOU.
John 16:2-3 “The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them…. 18 If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.”
YOU’RE GOING TO BE OKAY BECAUSE THE FATHER AND I ARE TALKING ABOUT YOU.
John 17:13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 20 My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
Thank you, Mel for this article on The Upper Room Discourse. I will be able to use it with my counselees, as well as for myself! Well written, informative and encouraging!
A good application, Mary. There is more in these chapters.
Great message, thank you.
Thank you, Dr.Lawrenz. The Brook Letter is truly a work of God! Apostolic! All of it. God Bless You. Continue to empower us. Love You Much!
Thanks for the encouraging words, Venecia.
Thank you, Dr. Lawrenz, for a different slant to The Upper Room Discourse. My favorite single verse of scripture is John 13:1 because it so completely and accurately states our position with Christ. I think that we often get covered up in the details of this Farewell Discourse and lose track of what Jesus was really trying to do. Jesus had so much to teach his apostles, and only a few hours in which to do it. However, they didn’t call Him The Master without reason, and by the time he stood with one foor in the world and the other foot in glory, and prayed the greatest of all prayers, in John 17, He had placed into the apostles minds everything they needed to know, or would need to recall later in order to build His church
Thank uou so much for sharing your articles with me. I enjoy reading them so much & I believe I have learnt a great deal from you.
Love & Blessings,
Coral Bryant
I’m glad, Coral.
Thank you for this word – a timely reminder and so reassuring. A blessed Easter.
Thank you for this article. We really need to follow Jesus teachings in order to be identify as His followers. That will help those in the world to learn who He really is. Also, we will be advancing His Kingdom in earth.
I take this opportunity to thank you, Pastor Lawrenz, for all your help through The Brook Network. I follow your teachings and have been bless by them! Happy Easter and God bless you.
It’s a privilege to communicate words of hope and life, Julie and Lorraine. Especially because its not just about words, but reality.
John 17:13 What more need be said .How very reassuring…Thankyou just in time for me!!!
I am in awe with the message. I just gave the Chaplain a copy of the message and he loved it. Thanks.
John 13:20 “I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me”. Jesus gives his own mission and that of his followers “an absolute theological significance; in both the world is confronted by God himself”. Seen in the context of the foot washing, this statement of the dignity of the Christian witnesses is not an expression of power and authority in any worldly sense. The one who represents Christ by bearing the same self-sacrificing love of God will meet with the same response Jesus met but will also be the agent of the same eternal life that comes through knowledge of the Father in the Son by the Spirit. Each disciple should walk through his or her day with a consciousness of being on such a mission, which is only made possible through the closest intimacy with Jesus (John 15:1-17). The community that Jesus has been forming here takes more definite shape, revealing more clearly “the law of its being”, which is humble, self-sacrificing love.
John 13 – IVP New Testament Commentaries Series (I used the IVP New Testament Commentaries to help me better express the thoughts and words that I believe God wanted me to convey to the public.)
WHAT IS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JESUS AND GOD
This is amazing and wonderful. I’ve read these passages so many times, but this new insight makes them come alive for me in a wonderful way.
God bless you Pastor Lawrenz.