THE UPPER ROOM

Jesus ate the Passover supper (Lord’s Supper) in an upper room with his disciples (Mark 14:15; Luke 22:12). The size of some of these rooms is evident from the fact that, after Jesus had left and ascended to heaven, the disciples went to the upper room where they all had been staying before.

The upper room at Mt Zion

The upper room was most probably the second-story room, often like a tower, built on the flat roof of a Hebrew home for privacy, for comfort during the hot season, or for the entertainment of guests. In some instances it could accommodate large gatherings of people. In at least one instance, the room was on the third story (Acts 20:8). Eutychus, sitting in the window, went to sleep and fell three stories to the street below (20:9-10). It may have been a similar type of accident that caused Ahaziah’s fatal injury when he fell through the latticework of his upper room (2 Kings 1:2).

Elijah took the dead son of the widow of Zarephath to an upper room where he had been staying and raised him from the dead (1 Kings 17:19-23). David went to an upper room for privacy to mourn the death of Absalom (2 Samuel 18:33). The kings of Judah built strange altars near the upper room of Ahaz, which Josiah pulled down as part of his reform program (2 Kings 23:12).

The congregation attending the meeting in Troas was not a small one either (Acts 20:8). Dorcas was laid in an upper room after she had died; later, Peter was taken up to the same room to pray for her restoration to life (9:36-41).

How to get there

The Upper Room or Coenaculum (derived from the Latin name) is on Mt Zion, southwest of the Old City, near Zion Gate. It is right next to the Dormition Abbey, visible from a distance.

Visiting hours: Daily 09:00-17:00