Upper Room of the Last Supper (Zion). The Upper Room of the Last Supper - the world of Israel The Upper Room of Zion

Zion Upper Room, according to the Gospel, was the first Orthodox church. Before His crucifixion, the Lord commanded the disciples to find a large, furnished, ready upper room (Mark 14:15) and prepare everything that was needed to celebrate the Jewish Passover.

The Last Supper of the Lord Jesus Christ with His disciples took place in this upper room.

Here Christ washed the disciples’ feet and Himself celebrated the first Eucharist - the Sacrament of transforming bread and wine into His Body and Blood. At the same time, the Lord commanded the apostles, and through them all Christians, to do the same and in the same way in His memory.

Zion Upper Room– prototype Christian temple, as a specially designed room for prayer meetings, communion with God, the celebration of sacraments and all Christian worship.

IN Zion's Upper Room On the day of Pentecost, the apostles, who gathered for prayer, were rewarded with the Descent of the Holy Spirit promised to them. This great event marked the beginning of the structure of the earthly Church of Christ.

The first Christians continued to venerate the Old Testament Jewish temple, where they went to pray and preach the Gospel to Jews who had not yet believed, but they celebrated the New Testament Sacrament of the Eucharist in other premises, which were ordinary residential buildings at that time. In them, a room was allocated for prayer, the one farthest from the external entrance and street noise, called “ikos” by the Greeks, and “ecus” by the Romans.

In appearance, the ikos were oblong (sometimes two-story) rooms, with columns along the length, sometimes dividing the ikos into three parts; Moreover, the middle space of the ikos could be higher and wider than the side ones.

The persecution of Christians by the Jews completely interrupted the connection of the apostles and their disciples with the Old Testament Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. e.

Before the Edict of Milan by Constantine the Great, issued in 325, Christianity was persecuted in the Roman Empire. This did not allow the open construction of temple buildings. But due to the rapid spread of Christianity in Greece, Asia Minor and Italy, such attempts were made. Basically, the houses of wealthy Roman believers and special buildings on their estates served for prayer meetings -

The New Testament Church was born here. Here the Savior at the Last Supper established the Sacrament of Communion, here the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the first apostolic sermon was preached.

Two monasteries - two poles

Once upon a time, in this area of ​​​​Jerusalem, located outside the walls of the Old City, the high priests lived and life was in full swing. Only rich people could build houses on the top of Mount Zion, from where a beautiful view of the surrounding area opened up. It is not known for certain who was the owner of the house, who, at the risk of bringing disaster upon himself, provided shelter for Him and His disciples during the days of the persecution of the Savior, but it is assumed that he was a wealthy man, close to one of the apostles or even the Teacher.

The Zion Upper Room turned out to be the most convenient place for meetings of Christ's disciples. It was located upstairs, right under the roof of the house, it was quite spacious and well located - the noise of the city streets did not reach here. The room was divided into two parts: the one closest to the entrance became the place of the Last Supper, and in the adjacent one the Descent of the Holy Spirit took place.

On the day when the Teacher gathered his disciples to share his last meal with them, a plan to capture and execute the Savior was discussed in the house of the Jewish high priest Caiaphas. It is noteworthy that Caiaphas’s home was just a few minutes’ walk from the Upper Room of Zion - the abode of good and the abode of evil were very close. So it is in our lives: sin and virtue often coexist with each other.

Election of Matthias

In his farewell conversation with the disciples, the Lord, wanting to encourage them, says: “ I will ask the Father and He will give you another Comforter, may he be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth... The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have told you» (Matthew 14, 16-17, 26). The Savior wished that after His death and Resurrection the apostles would not go home, but would all return together to Jerusalem and prepare to receive the Holy Spirit. The refuge of Christ's disciples - the Upper Room of Zion - again gathered the apostles under its roof. But this time there were only eleven of them - Judas, having repented of his deeds, took his own life.

Student Meetings
after the Ascension of Christ

Who will take his place? Such a person should be one who was close to Christ for a long time and witnessed His Resurrection. Two were recognized as the most suitable candidates: Joseph, the son of Barsabas, nicknamed Justus, and Matthias. But the apostles do not dare name the name of a more worthy one - they want to know the will of the Savior. Then, after praying, they cast lots. He pointed to Matthias, who became the twelfth apostle.

Descent of the Holy Spirit

On the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of the Savior, about 120 people gathered for a prayer meeting in the Zion Upper Room. Here were the apostles and other disciples of Christ, the myrrh-bearing women and the Mother of God Herself. Everyone was waiting for the appearance of the Holy Spirit, but no one knew exactly how this would happen. It was three o'clock in the afternoon local time. Suddenly a noise was heard, as if from a strong wind, and filled the whole house. Following this sign, tongues of fire descended from heaven - exactly twelve according to the number of apostles - and stopped over each of them. The Divine Fire had an unusual property: it shone brightly, but did not burn at all. So, according to the word of God, the Holy Spirit descended on the chosen disciples of Christ.

He gave the apostles incomparable joy, an unprecedented surge of strength and inspiration. They immediately began to thank and loudly praise the Lord. At the same time, it turned out that the apostles—mostly illiterate fishermen—suddenly began to speak different languages and adverbs, acquired the gift of eloquence and persuasion. Heavenly fire ignited the fire of faith in their hearts with renewed vigor. After the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the apostles were filled with confidence in their rightness, became courageous and fearless, but just yesterday they were uneducated and timid people.

First Sermon

On the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Pentecost, many Jews from different countries. A strong and incomprehensible noise on the top of Mount Zion attracted the attention of a huge crowd - everyone wanted to know what was happening. The Jews surrounded the house where the disciples of Christ had gathered. And then the apostles climbed to the roof of the Zion Upper Room and began to praise the Lord in different languages. “Are they not all Galileans? How can they speak with our tongues about the great things of God?” - the crowd was noisy.

The Apostle Peter, inspired by the events that had taken place, came forward and delivered his first apostolic sermon. It was simple and brief, but since the Holy Spirit spoke through the mouth of Peter, his words penetrated into the hardest hearts. Many of those who believed, according to the word of the apostle, immediately publicly repented of their sins and were baptized, so that by evening the number of followers of Christ increased to 3,000 people.

Pentecost has become a birthday Christian Church and a day of remembrance of the greatest event, when the Holy Spirit openly revealed Himself as the Third Person of the Triune God. That's why we call this holiday Trinity.

Apostolic Way

Translated from Greek, the word “apostle” means “ambassador, envoy.” Having received from God Himself the gift of prophesying, healing, and most importantly - bringing the truth to people, the chosen disciples of Christ became ambassadors of the Christian Church in the farthest corners of the earth. But before they dispersed, the apostles cast lots as to who should go where. Peter's lot fell to preach the faith of Christ in Rome, Matthew - in Palestine and Italy. Thomas received India, Bartholomew received Armenia, and Jacob Alfeev received Southern Palestine and Egypt. The beloved disciple of Christ John prophesied in Asia Minor - Ephesus and Patmos, Simon - in Libya and Abkhazia, and Judas Thaddeus in Persia. Philip paved the way to distant Scythia. But the Apostle Andrew reached the places where Kievan Rus began, which is why he is especially revered in our land. The only one of all the apostles who remained in the city was James Zebedee. He became the head of the Jerusalem Church and for almost thirty years he strengthened not only the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but also all of Palestine in the Christian faith.

Troparion for the Feast of the Holy Trinity. Blessed art thou, O Christ our God, who are wise fishers of phenomena, having sent down upon them the Holy Spirit, and with them caught the universe, Lover of mankind, glory to Thee.

…Wherever the apostolic path went, Christian communities appeared. Despite the terrible persecution, the Church of Christ only grew and strengthened every year - after all, the Holy Spirit abided in it. The Church has been and will remain undefeated by the “gates of hell,” as the Lord promised, until the very end of the world. It is already more than two thousand years old, and it began with a small handful of people who once gathered in a house on Mount Zion.

Now it's amazing place almost always silent, it lies outside tourist routes, but if you have to visit Jerusalem, be sure to climb Mount Zion, go into the very upper room that became the mother of all Christian Churches.

It is important that as many pilgrims as possible visit the Holy Land, because pilgrimage is a spiritual charge for a person. Touching shrines gives many people a strengthening of faith, and often a rethinking of life and a change in feelings. The Holy Land has enormous spiritual influence.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill

Prepared by Lyudmila Nikolaeva

We walked along a narrow street, focusing on the dome of the church

As it turned out later, this is the dome of the Assumption Church (Dormitsion) or the Monastery of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary

We walked straight without turning onto this street

Before the Upper Room - small area, on which a monument to King David is erected (this is a controversial issue)

Opposite and to the right of the entrance to the Upper Room is clearly visible Catholic Church Dormition (translated into Russian as “dormition”, from the Latin word “dorm” - bedroom, tomb)

The Upper Room building was built over the tomb of King David in the 12th century. by the Crusaders as a church called "Our Lady". On the site of the Upper Room, various structures were erected many times (a church of the Crusaders, a church of Franciscan monks, a mosque of the Ottoman period), but almost nothing remains of them.
Today, only the greatly altered and reconstructed Upper Room of the Last Supper remains on this site.

It is believed that it was in this Upper Room, on the eve of suffering on the cross and death, that Jesus Christ had His last (festive) meal with his disciples - the Easter Supper, which is known as the Last Supper

The Upper Room is small, above the place where Jesus supposedly (?) sat, there is a thorn tree symbolizing, according to the guide, the gifts of fertile land (this is someone’s gift, sorry - I don’t remember)

Opposite is the central mihrab, which remains from the times of Muslim rule. Mihrab (Arabic - sanctuary) is a prayer niche that is placed in the wall of the mosque facing Mecca.
There are also stained glass windows in the Upper Room from Muslims. To the left of the mihrab are stairs to other (empty) rooms

This column (behind the people in the top photo) was miraculously preserved

Fragment of a column depicting pelicans - early Christian writers compared the pelican feeding its offspring with its blood with Jesus Christ, who sacrificed his flesh and blood for the salvation of mankind (the legend of the pelican)

The windows have restored stained glass windows with inscriptions: one of them is dedicated to King David, and the second to the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent

In this room, opposite the door we entered, there is a door (under the stained glass window in the photo above) that leads to the living quarters

The Upper Room of the Last Supper (Zion) is often called the “Mother of all churches,” since here the Sacrament of the Eucharist was established by Jesus himself, and the Church itself was established. Here the apostles and their first disciples and successors celebrated the Divine Liturgy.
In the Upper Room, Jesus Christ performed the first Eucharist (sacrament of communion) with the apostles - the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
In the same Upper Room, seven weeks later on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the Mother of God, and from that moment the apostles spoke in different languages ​​and went to preach the New Testament.
Finally, according to legend, in the same house she spent her last years Holy Mother of God

And I also bring to your attention an educational ten-minute video film “The Last Supper”

The Zion Upper Room is rightfully considered the fourth most important Christian shrine in Jerusalem, where the sacrament of Communion was first celebrated.

Mount Zion was revered by the Jews as holy and the house of God, and therefore it was located in a prestigious area of ​​the city. Here was also the house of the Jewish high priest. On Maundy Thursday, Jesus Christ comes with his twelve disciples to a house in Zion, which was located not far from the house of the Apostle John. He came here to celebrate the Jewish Passover, and the famous Last Supper will take place here. We do not know the name of the person in whose house this great event took place; the gospels have not preserved it. The original building has no longer survived, but the great event that took place here laid the foundation for the main sacrament of the entire Church.

“And taking the cup and giving thanks, he said: Take it and divide it among yourselves... And taking the bread and giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying: This is My body, which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. Likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My Blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:17-20).

The image of the Last Supper is an integral part of the iconostasis painting of any Orthodox church. It is traditionally placed above the Royal Doors, in the foreground, because the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist was celebrated there for the first time. The communion of believers with specially prepared bread and wine became the central event in the liturgy. Therefore, the Last Supper is called so not only because it was held secretly from the Jewish scribes, but also because the secret of human existence and the path to salvation were revealed there.

Since ancient times, in the rituals of many peoples there has been an identity between the concepts of “wine and blood,” which were closely associated with mythological ideas about death and reborn life. The cup has also always been a bearer of grace and the sacred. This tradition was also embodied in the New Testament given by the Lord.

In the house where the Last Supper took place, many more sacred events will take place. Here the apostles would later mourn the death of Jesus Christ; here they came after His Ascension. Here, instead of the traitor Judas, Matthias will be chosen as one of the Twelve disciples, and on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit will descend on the apostles here. In the year 50, the first apostolic council will be held in this house, presided over by Saint James, brother of the Lord. But the building where events sacred to Christianity took place did not last long.

In the 4th century. on this holy place the Zion Church, or the Church of Holy Zion, was erected, also called by the Byzantines the Mother of all Churches. It played a huge role in that period, being the place where all processions passed through the city. During the construction of the new city wall, Mount Zion with all its shrines was included in urban area. The temple was later destroyed by the Persians and rebuilt during the Crusader era. Back in the 12th century. During the construction of the new church, a cave and a tomb were accidentally discovered, which the Jews immediately declared to be the tomb of David. Although no confirmation was found then. The Crusaders supported this version, and the historical sacredness of Mount Zion was forever intertwined with the Christian heritage, emphasizing the sacred biblical continuity, because the origin of the human nature of Jesus is traced back to the royal family of David.

In the 2-story Zion Church built by the crusaders, Christians began to venerate (on the lower floor) the tomb of the Old Testament David. The construction of the Crusaders was destroyed already at the beginning of the 13th century. and only in the XIV century. restored by the Franciscans, who established their monastery here, which existed until 1551.

After the Turkish conquest, Christians were expelled from Zion for a long time, and the Upper Room of the Last Supper, as the Orthodox call it, turned into the mosque of the Prophet David, who is also revered by Muslims. Access here to people of other faiths, both Christians and Jews, was closed for a long time. Later, the tomb of King Solomon was built nearby. Only at the end of the 19th century, with the weakening Ottoman Empire, partially, and with the establishment of the English Mandate over Palestine in the 20s. XX century Finally, Christians and Jews gained access to Zion's shrines.

Sometimes pilgrims, despite categorical prohibitions, managed to penetrate the forbidden shrine. So, in 1830, the Russian traveler D.N. Muravyov, who left memories of the Holy Land, wrote that, having overcome obstacles, he observed a large table in the middle of the upper room, which looked like the table where the Last Supper took place. Now it is difficult to establish the truth.

Today the Zion Upper Room bears little resemblance to the original Gospel Upper Room. Even from ancient temple The Crusaders left only a few majestic columns, Gothic arches and a vault with the image of the Easter lamb. The era of the Crusaders is also indicated by a small detail of the column near the stairs, on the capital of which a pelican is depicted feeding its offspring with its own flesh. This common image of the Middle Ages symbolically interpreted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ himself. Another ancient eastern legend identifies the pelican with the Resurrection, because it is believed that this bird saves its chicks, stung by a snake, with its own blood, which always contains an antidote. An adult pelican often feeds on snakes and retains tiny amounts of venom in its blood. At a critical moment, the pelican beats its wings on its chest with such force that blood oozes out. These drops of blood, when they fall into the beaks of the chicks, revive them, as if resurrecting them from inevitable death. This is what Eastern legends say.

The supposed place for washing the disciples' feet is fenced with a wooden lattice, and the place where the Savior reclined is marked with a stone in the northern wall. Six time-worn steps in the southwest corner lead to the room of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.

On the southern wall of the hall there is a Muslim mihrab - a niche for prayers. And on the eastern wall, a Muslim inscription reports on the “great deed” of the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, who ordered to turn the infidel church into a mosque.

The church has long become a temple of three religions, where Christians, Jews and Muslims come to worship the shrines. In the 20th century the building again changed its short-lived owners: it now belonged to the state of Israel. The top floor, where the Zion Upper Room is located, belongs to the Jewish community, and Christian services here, unfortunately, are prohibited. And on the lower floor there is the chapel of King David with a stone cenotaph, where official state ceremonies are now held at the shrine, especially revered by the Jews.

In the Upper Room of Zion, the Lord washed the feet of his disciples. “For I have given you an example, that you also should do the same as I have done to you.” In memory of this event, the Patriarch of Jerusalem annually, on Maundy Thursday, performs the rite of washing the feet of the twelve hierarchs of the Church. Previously, it was performed in the Upper Room itself, and now in front of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ.

According to the legend of the ancient Eastern Orthodox Syrian Church, the Last Supper took place in the house of Mary, the mother of St. Mark the Evangelist. The Apostle Peter will later come here after being released from prison by an angel (Acts 12:12). Today, the Syrian Church of St. Mark, located in the Armenian Quarter, is built on this site, where shrines are kept: the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, painted on the skin, according to legend, by the Evangelist Luke, and the ancient font, in which, also according to legend, the Mother of God was baptized.

It should be noted that today long negotiations are underway on the transfer of the premises of the Zion Upper Room to the Vatican, in exchange for providing the Jewish community in Toledo (Spain) with an ancient synagogue, where the Catholic Church is now located. This is also welcomed by the Russian Orthodox Church, in the name of the long-awaited return of Christian services to the ancient holy shrine.

In the Holy Scriptures, Mount Zion is called the city of David, the dwelling place and house of God. The rocks of Zion contained the tombs of the first kings of Israel. Here is also the Zion Upper Room, in which Jesus Christ celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples. Tradition says that in it the Holy Spirit visibly descended on the disciples gathered together on the day of Pentecost. It was in this house, where the church sacraments and the New Testament Church itself were approved by God, that the apostles and their first disciples “broke bread” - performed the Divine Liturgy. That is why the Zion Upper Room is called the mother of all Christian churches.

This small sanctuary, which survived even during the persecution of Christians in the first centuries after the birth of Christ, was marked by a majestic basilica during the time of Constantine the Great. This basilica is indicated on ancient maps under the name "Holy Zion", according to eyewitnesses, its ceiling was supported by 80 columns, and the Savior's crown of thorns was kept in it. The Zion Upper Room itself, in which the ancient altar was preserved, adjoined the building on the right side, without entering it.

In 614, the basilica was destroyed by the Persians, after which it was repeatedly restored and destroyed again. But at the beginning of the 13th century it was destroyed by Muslims and was never restored, but the building of the Zion Upper Room itself survived. The Crusaders, who briefly conquered the Holy Land from the Arabs, depicted the Last Supper on the upper floor of the upper room, and the washing of the feet of the apostles on the lower floor.

In the 14th century, King Robert of Anjou of Sicily bought the entire plot with ruins and an upper room from the Sultan of Damascus for a large sum and presented it to the Franciscan monks for “eternal” use. However, in the 16th century, Caliph Suleiman took this place away from Christians, turning the building of the Zion Upper Room into a mosque. Such actions on the part of Suleiman were associated with the legend that it was under the Upper Room of Zion that the grave of King David, revered by Muslims, was located. The lower part began to be considered the tomb of David; a mihrab (a special prayer place - a canopy indicating the direction of Mecca) was installed in the upper part, which remains to this day.

The premises of the Zion Upper Room, both on the first and second floors, were always divided into two parts. The part closest to the entrance served as the actual upper room of the Last Supper; in the neighboring, somewhat elevated one, the Descent of the Holy Spirit took place, in the lower floor they held the appearance of the Savior after the Resurrection, these rooms freely communicated with each other. But when the Muslims built a mosque there, below, under the upper room of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, they placed a stone sarcophagus, marking the burial place of David, and forbade entry to all ground floor; upstairs they also separated both rooms with a blank wall. During the 1948 war, a shell hit the dome above the Upper Room of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, and entry there ceased completely. Later, the mosque moved into the demarcation zone, and all worship in it ceased.

With the formation of the Israeli state, the “Tomb of David” became a place of worship for Jews: every year of the existence of the state, they placed a gold or gilded crown on the rich carpets that decorate it. There is a synagogue nearby.

The upper room, so precious for Christians, is empty and silent, and is accessible to the public freely and free of charge.

Based on materials from the website of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society