In Jesus’ message to the goodman He said, “I will keep the Passover at thy house with My disciples.”  They were His family.  He chose to be alone with them.  Not even the mothers Mary and Salome, nor Nicodemus on this night, nor the family of Bethany, could be of His company.  No Mary was here to anoint His feet with ointment; nor woman who had been a sinner to bathe them with her tears.  Lazarus was not one of them that sat with them; nor did “Martha serve.”  It was the twelve whom He had chosen, and who had continued with Him.  It was to His apostolic family that He said, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”  And so “He sat down with the twelve” alone, the only time—­as is supposed—­that He ever ate the Passover meal with His disciples.

That room became of special interest to John.  Sent by his Master to find it, he was mysteriously guided thither.  There he was welcomed by the good owner of the house, who united with him in preparation for the most memorable feast ever held.  It is there that we see him in closest companionship with his Lord.  It was the place in Jesus’ mind when He said, “Go and make ready for us the Passover.”  “Where shall we go?” asked John.  He found answer when he entered that upper room.  Because of his relation thereto it has been called “St. John’s Room”—­more sacred than any “Jerusalem Chamber,” so named, or any “St. John’s Cathedral!”

CHAPTER XXIII

John’s Memories of the Upper Room

     “When the hour was come, He sat down, and the apostles with
     him.”—­Luke xxii. 14.

     “There was at the table reclining in Jesus’ bosom one of His
     disciples, whom Jesus loved.”—­John xiii. 23.

Three Evangelists leave the door of the upper room standing ajar.  Through it we can see much that is passing, and hear much that is said.  John coming after them opens it wide, thus enlarging our view and increasing our knowledge.

Luke says of Jesus, “He sat down and the apostles with Him.”  That is a very simple statement.  We might suppose all was done in quietness and harmony.  But he tells us of a sad incident which happened, probably in connection with it.  “There arose also a contention among them which of them is accounted to be greatest.”  The question in dispute was possibly the order in which they should sit at the table.  They still had the spirit of the Pharisees who claimed that such order should be according to rank.

We wonder how John felt.  Did he have any part in that contention; or had he put away all such ambition since the Lord had reproved him and his brother James for it?  Or was his near relation to the Lord so well understood that there was no question by anybody where John might sit—­next to the Master?

Let us notice the manner of sitting at meals.  The table was surrounded by a divan on which the guests reclined on their left side, with the head nearest the table, and the feet extending outward.