Another Look at the Upper Room—Part 5—Concluding Comments

This series began with the question of what Jesus' "example" in the Upper Room pointed to. Was the example the specific act of washing his disciples' feet? Or was it something else, of which washing feet was yet a smaller illustration?

 

In Part 1 I discussed my personal background as it relates to these questions, and then framed a broad trajectory that I saw in response to them.

 

In Part 2 I provided some Ancient Near East cultural background from Kenneth E. Bailey to help place the story of the Upper Room in better context to help us understand how surprising, radical, and truly disturbing Jesus' actions were to the disciples.

 

In Part 3 I discussed the actual event of Jesus washing his disciples' feet and how this action undermined all human concepts of hierarchies and power. I suggested that the point of washing feet wasn't merely about humble service but a lesson on how Jesus' friends are to continue his work of destroying all power structures that place one human being above another.

 

In Part 4 I discussed how Jesus reconstructs what true, God-sanctioned power looks like, in opposition to the false power that human beings crave and admire. God's power is not found in might, force, or threats, but in humble, self-sacrificing love that honors the choices each individual makes. (Note: honoring choice does not mean agreeing with or approval.) This power is "weak" in the eyes of humans because it cannot coerce or manipulate. It can only persuade through genuine actions founded in integrity of character.

 

The story of the Upper Room is about power, but not the kind that pops into our human minds. It is about the power of the gospel to redeem, restore, and transform individuals and communities. Part of the power of the gospel is the power to deconstruct and dismantle existing, human power structures. The other part of the gospel is the power to reconstruct communities based on mutual love and respect, without hierarchies, where no one is above another in authority or power. The only leader is Jesus, working through his Holy Spirit. Apostles, teachers, prophets, evangelists, etc. are not to be understood in terms of authority and leadership structure, but of function. There is no Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free.

 

All too quickly the Christian church derailed by setting up structures and systems. In our (limited human) minds we cannot conceive of a situation in which a mission can go forth and perpetuate without some kind of system in place. We set up committees and appoint leaders, all for very good reasons. But what if the miracle of the gospel's power and endurance, if humans had let it be, was that it didn't need any systems or structures to continue and finish its work?