The Upper Room
The night before the arrest of Jesus, Jesus and His disciples gathered in the “Upper Room” to celebrate the Passover. Rarely is it remembered they were there to celebrate the Passover because the events of that night canonically live on. For in that upper room, Jesus had His last supper with His followers in His pre-resurrection body.
There He washed their feet. There He told them they’d turn away. There Peter said he wouldn’t, and Jesus told him he would do so three times. There Jesus told them that one would betray Him.
From that upper room, they left for the Garden to pray. Likely it was in this same upper room that the disciples hid during Jesus’ false trial, beating, crucifixion and time in the tomb. It was most likely the place Jesus first met with His disciples after His resurrection. It quite possibly it could be where Thomas saw the nail piercings and felt of our Savior’s side.
In this Upper Room, the disciples were to wait after their time in Galilee until the Holy Spirit would come. It was in that upper room where the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples. From this room the Day of Pentecost began.
Likely this room was the first home gathering of early believers. Seemingly, it was in the home of the upper room in which the early church prayed for Peter’s release from prison. It may have been in that very same upper room that the celebratory worship broke out after Peter knocked on the door after being released. This home was extremely significant for the early days of a movement that would turn the world upside down.
Olly Goldenberg on Stand Firm Parents Podcast
Monday a new episode of the Stand Firm Parents podcast dropped. In that episode, I was asking Olly Goldenberg from Children Can and formerly the pastor of one of the largest children’s ministries in Europe, to tell about the Biblical framework of faith group he has discovered in the Word. Before we got to that topic, Olly asked me a question that blew my mind.
He asked, “How many children were in the Upper Room?”
I stammered (as usual), but I had never thought about it. Even more I had never thought of there being children present in the early church. Yeah, I’m not very discerning. Don’t worry I won’t ask you if you have ever thought about it. Now I was semi-safe in lack of answer to Olly because we don’t have any exact figures, but we do have some data that would tell us that there were kids there.
Children and teens would have done life with their family. Therefore, if children and teens were in the mix of families represented, they were in the Upper Room. The Passover itself was a family celebration, and children were at the forefront of the Passover celebration. We also know at the Day of Pentecost there were 120 gathered in the Upper Room (Acts 1:15).
Olly didn’t give an exact answer either, but he reminded me some of the disciples themselves were teenagers.
There Were Children in the Upper Room!
After the interview I dove into the Word and some Biblical history resources. I found one child/young teenager who was likely there.
Historical records give us the likely owner of this home with the upper room in Jerusalem. The mother and father’s names aren’t familiar to us and the Biblical record, but we all know their son.
In Jesus’ mid-twenties a family moved from northern Africa to Cana with a toddler. Cana was nearby Nazareth and where Jesus performed His first miracle. This family was wealthy and along with their home in Cana, they had a home in Jerusalem with an upper room.
As a young boy 5-8 years of age this child in the upper room, may have been present for the first miracle of Jesus. His mother became an earlier follower Jesus, seeing firsthand what Jesus did in Galilee. This family would later make their home with the upper room available to Jesus and His disciples.
As Jesus and his disciples were there for Passover, this young boy and his family would have been present.
When Jesus took the disciples to pray in the Garden, this boy went. He may have already been in bed at the late hour Jesus headed to the Garden. So he threw on an outer linen garment. This sleepy boy was with Jesus and the disciples when Judas betrayed Him.
He was there when Peter pulled out His sword. He was there when Jesus healed the soldiers ear. He was there for the arrest of Jesus. He, too, was nearly taken by the guards.
One of the Gospels records this account, “A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.”
One Child Identified
An embarrassing story. Out of the four Gospels only one shared this strange detail. Historians and Bible scholars believe the reason this particular author included the story was because the boy was him. The account is only found in The Gospel of Mark. The boy in that upper room was John Mark, the author of that Gospel.
The boy in that upper room was John Mark, the author of that Gospel. Share on XJohn Mark had a front row seat to the beginning of the church and Gospel mission. Eventually his encouraging and faithful cousin, Barnabas, brought him along the first missionary journey with Paul. Mark failed and returned. When it came time to go again, Barnabas fought on behalf of Mark to bring him along, but Paul wouldn’t. Therefore, Mark went to Cyprus with Barnabas. Later Mark would travel with Peter and this time with Peter led to the Gospel of Mark. Though Mark had shown a weakness of faith early on, his life would end while taking the gospel to Alexandria, Egypt.
Mark’s exploits for the Gospel have stood for over 2,000 years. It started with a believing family that opened their home. A boy who was there, and a young man that was included in the mission.
There were likely other children in that upper room, and they too watched and wanted to be included.
Parents, are there children watching in your “upper room gatherings”? Parents, are there young men and women being included? There needs to be. For, parents, there were children in the upper room.
Parents, are there children watching in your “upper room gatherings”? Share on X
Executive Director of Stand Firm and lead pastor of Epic Church NWA in Springdale, AR and multiple award-winning author, Jake has a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Studies from Central Baptist College, and an Advanced Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Former regular contributor to the Baptist Press and WND News with popular conservative voices such as Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Ben Carson, Chuck Norris, Greg Laurie, Ben Schapiro, Joel Richardson, and others. He now is a weekly contributor for Israel, Islam, and the End Times and Armageddon News. He has authored books such as the, award-winning Spiritual Prepper from WND Books. Award-winning devotional books, Invincibleand For Uncertain Times, he authored the ground-breaking children’s book, Jesus and His White Horse from CrossLink Publishing. He is also a regular guest on national and international radio and streaming web shows, along with hosting his weekly live streaming program Talking Stand Firm and weekly podcast Stand Firm Parents.
