Upper Room

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The cenacle

The Upper Room ( Latin Coenacle , English Cenacle ) is the traditional name for the room in which Jesus Christ is said to have celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples in Jerusalem on the eve of his death . According to the report of the three synoptics , this was also a Passover meal . In many Christian denominations, the service on Maundy Thursday evening has this meal of Jesus with the disciples as the theme.

The holy site has actually been owned by the State of Israel since 1948 and is a museum.

Biblical Traditions

Place of the sacrament

According to Mk 14,12–16  EU and Lk 22,7–13 EU, the Upper Room was  a large room on the upper floor, which the disciples found on the instruction of their master by following a water carrier into a house in the city Talk to the landlord about the space required. These details are missing in Mt 26.17–19  EU .

The room is described as ἀνάγαιον ἐστρωμένον anágaion estrōménon (Mk 14,15), which most translations render as an upper room furnished with cushions or pillows (for a festive meal). For Flavius ​​Josephus , ἐστρωμένος means “held, paneled.” The Luther Bible therefore translates as: a large hall “that is beautifully laid out”, which allows for interpretation with or without cushions.

Joh 13 : 1–17  EU does mention the meal in verse 2, but otherwise says nothing about the room, just as he does not reproduce Jesus' interpretive words about bread and wine. Here, however, the meal is associated with the emblematic washing of feet .

Place of Pentecost

The New Testament also mentions a room that served as a meeting point for the early Jerusalem community , where the disciples locked themselves in after the crucifixion of Christ and where the risen One met them with the greeting of peace ( Lk 24.36ff.  EU ; Joh 20.19ff.  EU ), and an upper room, in which the disciples remained in prayer with the women and Mary and received the Holy Spirit ( Acts 1,12-14  EU ).

Church buildings

Hagia Sion Basilica (yellow gable, red roof) on the Madaba mosaic map

Late antique local traditions and Byzantine Hagia Sion

After the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans , the south-west hill of the city (previously small-scale, rather poor residential development from Herodian times ) was abandoned and only used for agriculture. However, there was “a synagogue and a small church ... where old Jewish people or christl. Traditions stuck. ”The sources for this information are all from the 4th century. Cyril of Jerusalem and the pilgrim Egeria identified the house church with the location of the Whitsun event. After the Council of Constantinople in 381 defined the divinity of the Holy Spirit , this place naturally experienced an architectural upgrade.

In two steps, the small church was expanded to become the “Church of the Apostles” and then the Hagia Sion basilica. In the southeast corner of Hagia Sion, late Roman masonry was used as a secondary installation, whereby this corner of the building was integrated into later church buildings and was thus preserved. The Jerusalem Archbishop John II inaugurated the Hagia Sion Basilica; the solemn sermon has been preserved and can (probably) be dated September 15, 394.

The plan of the basilica, tracing of the plan by Arkulf

The identification with the place of the Last Supper was not carried out in the 4th century, but it was only a matter of time, since in both cases there was talk of an “upper room”. Hagia Sion drew on the tradition of the Lord's Supper by showing relics after 550: the Chalice of the Lord's Supper (source: Pilgrims of Piacenza ) and the lamp in the glow of which Jesus taught his disciples (source: Breviarius de Hierosolyma ). Competitive localization on the Mount of Olives was suppressed.

During the Persian invasion of 614, many Christians sought refuge in the Hagia Sion basilica in vain; Around the church there were over 2000 dead, and the church was set on fire. But Patriarch Modestus restored the church shortly afterwards. During the 7th century, Hagia Sion also drew on the tradition of the Dormition of Mary . According to the pilgrim Arkulf , the scourging column also added the traditions of the passion story ; Arkulf owes a plan of the church, which shows that the southeast corner of the basilica was venerated as the place of the Lord's Supper: Locus hic caenae domini , "Here (is) the place of the Lord's Supper."

A devastation of the basilica in May 966 had no consequences insofar as the church could be quickly repaired. The destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher by al-Hakim had no (verifiable) effects on Hagia Sion. The crusaders found the old Byzantine church, which had been restored several times, at this location.

Upper Room, looking east

Crusader Church of Sancta Maria in Monte Sion

In 1099 the crusader army camped in front of the south wall of the city (the city wall had been withdrawn to the current line in early Islamic times, so that the southwest hill was outside the city) and celebrated church service in Hagia Sion. This church building was in a ruinous condition after the conquest of Jerusalem and was quickly and generously rebuilt by the Crusaders because of the important traditions attached to it, and extended by three yokes in the west . In addition, there was a richly endowed canon monastery , which owned lands in the Holy Land, Sicily , Calabria , Lombardy as well as France and Spain.

For the first time, the anonymous Vita Constantini et Helenae (10th / 11th centuries) testifies that the “grave of the holy prophet David” was venerated in the Diakonikon of the Sion Church, which from then on remained independent of any change of power. In 1219, however, the church was torn down by the Muslim defenders of Jerusalem for strategic reasons. The participants of the 5th Crusade found a ruin with the graves of David and the other kings on the ground floor and the Upper Room on the upper floor. The restoration in the years 1229 to 1244 produced the building that still exists today. "The other traditions had attached themselves to different parts of the ruins, so that something like a religious garden with the old legends of Mount Sion was created."

In 1333 the Franciscans came to Mount Zion and tried to maintain the Christian tradition here after the retreat of the Crusaders by building a small monastery and buying land; but they had to leave Zion completely in 1551. The building was given to the Muslim community as a shrine in honor of the Prophet David (Nebi Daˤud) , and was given a minaret . The surrounding area was only sparsely used for agriculture. Christian pilgrims could continue to visit the Upper Floor for a fee. Today the Franciscans of the Custody of the Heilikgen Land live again in a convent near the Upper Room .

Current condition

For the basement: see David's tomb .

The Upper Room is a simple two-aisled room (about 15 m × 10 m) with ribbed vaults that rest on three free-standing columns and pillars on the north and south walls. Subsequent fixtures include the two staircases as well as the mihrab in the south wall and a ciborium with a remarkable pelican capital in the southwest corner.

status quo

Symbolism in the Upper Room : an olive tree ( Rom 11 : 17–24 EU ) with grapevines and ears of  corn.

A regulation from the British mandate grants members of all religions access to the holy place, but severely restricts the celebrations of worship. Although Christian visitors often recite a psalm or sing a hymn here, services are only permitted three times a year and there are no Christian symbols (such as crosses) in the room. These dates are Maundy Thursday (Franciscans), Pentecost Sunday according to the Catholic, Orthodox and Armenian rites, and the last Thursday in January (prayer for Christian unity).

Pope Francis ' wish to celebrate mass in the Upper Room when he visited Israel in 2014 led to protests by nationally religious and ultra-Orthodox Jews who suspected that the State of Israel could accommodate the Vatican on the question of more frequent services at this location. However, on May 26, 2014 this fair took place in the Coenaculum.

Quotes

“O upper room, you are the baking trough into which the sourdough is thrown, which makes the whole universe ferment! Upper room, mother of all churches; Upper room, you saw the miracle of the burning bush. Upper room, you amazed Jerusalem by a miracle far greater than the miracle of the fiery furnace that amazed the people of Babylon. The fire of the stove burned those who stood outside the stove, but spared the three men in its midst; the fire on the upper floor brings together those who come from outside and want to see it; it strengthens those who receive it. O fire, your appearance is word, your silence is light, you incite hearts to give thanks! "

- Ephrem the Syrians : On the outpouring of the Holy Spirit

"Here, where Jesus took the Last Supper with the apostles, where, risen, he appeared in their midst, where the Holy Spirit came down with power on Mary and the disciples, here the Church was born and she was born on the move ."

- Pope Francis : Sermon at the Eucharist in the Upper Room

literature

  • Max Küchler : Jerusalem. A handbook and study guide to the Holy City. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-525-50170-2 .
  • Paul Badde : Holy Land: on the royal road of all pilgrimages. , Gütersloher Verl.-Haus, Gütersloh, 1st edition 2008
  • Denys Pringle : The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. A Corpus , Vol. 3: The City of Jerusalem, Cambridge 2010, pp. 261-287.

Web links

Commons : Jerusalem Upper Room  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walter Bauer: Greek-German dictionary on the writings of the New Testament and early Christian literature . Ed .: Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland. 6th edition. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1988, Sp. 1539 .
  2. ↑ a b c Max Küchler: Jerusalem . 2007, p. 614 .
  3. ↑ Max Küchler: Jerusalem . 2007, p. 615-616 .
  4. ↑ Max Küchler: Jerusalem . 2007, p. 616 .
  5. ↑ Max Küchler: Jerusalem . 2007, p. 617 .
  6. ↑ Max Küchler: Jerusalem . 2007, p. 619 .
  7. ↑ Max Küchler: Jerusalem . 2007, p. 621 .
  8. ↑ Max Küchler: Jerusalem . 2007, p. 624 .
  9. ↑ Denys Pringle, p. 261 ff.
  10. ↑ a b Max Küchler: Jerusalem . 2007, p. 626 .
  11. ↑ Max Küchler: Jerusalem . 2007, p. 627 .
  12. ↑ Max Küchler: Jerusalem . 2007, p. 637-638 .
  13. ↑ Isabel Kershner: Mass on Mount Zion Stirs Ancient Rivalries. In: The New York Times. May 26, 2014, accessed March 29, 2018 .
  14. ^ Orthodox Jews protest at disputed 'Last Supper' site. In: The Times of Israel. May 12, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2018 .
  15. ^ Lazar Berman: On Mount Zion, protesting the pope and preaching the status quo. In: The Times of Israel. May 23, 2014, accessed March 29, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Israel restricts more extremist Jews ahead of pope visit. In: The Times of Israel. May 24, 2014. Retrieved March 29, 2018 .
  17. ↑ CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST WITH THE ORDINARIES IN THE HOLY LAND AND WITH THE PAPAL CONSEQUENCE PRESSED BY POPE FRANCIS. In: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved March 29, 2018 .
  18. ↑ kirchlich.net
  19. ↑ CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST WITH THE ORDINARIES IN THE HOLY LAND AND WITH THE PAPAL CONSEQUENCE PRESSED BY POPE FRANCIS. In: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved March 29, 2018 .

Coordinates: 31 ° 46 ′ 18.5 "  N , 35 ° 13 ′ 44.3"  E