We don’t know where the Upper Room was, only that it was already established as a place Jesus and His disciples could use. The events that night established the Upper Room as their new headquarters, which had previously been in Bethany, over the crest of the Mount of Olives. There weren’t many homes in Jerusalem large enough to offer a substantial, second floor dining room, but the few that did always had a separate exit with an exterior staircase. This kept the whole event private without disturbing anyone in the house below when they left.
It’s likely they had a decent stroll ahead of them regardless of the route they took. No houses were close to the Garden of Gethsemane; it stood across the Kiddron Valley from the northern court of the Temple plaza, almost line of sight through the Golden Gate.
As they went out into the night air, Jesus tried to establish for them a last few images of how they could face what was coming. First is this Parable of the Vine. Jesus characterized Himself as a grape vine and His Father as the vintner. Jesus drew on Isaiah 5 for the image, with Himself as the one and only fruitful vine — the True Vine growing in the vineyard of Israel.
A vine or branch that bears no fruit is likely withered and dead. It’s not good for much of anything; dead grapevine tends to be fibrous and soft, easily broken. It’s not even good firewood because it tends to smolder instead of burn, so it’s tossed into a fire already burning. But if any branch bears fruit, it still gets cropped or pruned back so that it invests more resources in bearing fruit instead of simply growing longer. Jesus compares that process with His teachings, trying to displace the silly myths His disciples had been taught by the rabbinical traditions. He said they were already pruned by His teachings.
But He makes it more personal: “center your life on me.” Not just the words, or even the meaning of the words, but they were to emulate Jesus as a Person. Branches cannot cut themselves off from the vine and still live; they have no source of life without the main stem of the vine. Don’t abstract Jesus into a body of mere teaching, but keep alive the vivid encounter of His Person. Otherwise, they would wither and die, and end up in the fire.
Then John uses a different term translated into English as “word” — rhema. The previous term was logos, which in this context means teaching. But this rhema was more like a live performance, something memorable because you were there in person. It’s what the heart does best in terms of knowing, because what the heart knows is living and active, holding memories as personas with distinct character and personality.
By evoking a fresh encounter of the Person of Jesus, they could stand before the Throne in Heaven and make requests that would be heard. The requests would take on a life of their own. And this is what glorifies the Father, that the whole thing comes to life. It’s the interactions of persons, holding a conversation and working together to increase the reputation of the Father. Our identity will be as His servants, producing the fruit of His glory.
