Section 144
Beginning of the Passover meal and dissension among the disciples over greatness
Jerusalem, in the upper room
Matthew 26:20
Mark 14:17
Luke 22:14-16
20When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve.
17When it was evening, Jesus came with the twelve.
14When the hour came, Jesus reclined at the table, and the twelve apostles were with him. 15He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16For I tell you that I will certainly not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
Notes
Upper Room
The Upper room, or Cenacle, commemorates the place where the last Supper was eaten and Holy Communion was instituted. The Gospels tell us nothing of the location of the house, but there is good indication it would have been on the western hill where a wealthy man would have had an upper room on his house. Archaeological excavations in the Jewish quarter show that there were large houses in this area during the time of Christ.
There is a possibility that this is indeed the correct location of the Upper Room. A church was built on this site soon after the death of Jesus. It must have survived the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Bishop Epiphanius wrote of how Emperor Hadrian made an inspection tour of Jerusalem in 130 A.D. and found “everything razed except for a few houses and a certain small church of the Christians which stood on Mount Zion in the place where the disciples returned after the ascension”. This church was destroyed and rebuilt many times over the following centuries before being handed over to the Franciscans who restored the room giving it its present Gothic appearance (14th century).