Preparing for the Passover. Mark 14:12-16.
And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, “and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’” And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
Dear Saints,
To the disciples, things were still normal. Somehow, they were insensitive to the strong undercurrents drawing Jesus ever closer to the cross.
Inquiry (v. 12).To the disciples, this is a normal Passover like any other. They want to know where Jesus wants to celebrate it. This had probably happened in a similar fashion in the preceding years and the disciples expected nothing different. The blindness of the disciples should be a caution to us. We can be spiritually blind and fail to sense what is really important, as we go about a normal routine. We should always pray for the veil to be lifted from our eyes.
Instructions (v. 13-15). Jesus plays along and tells two of the disciples what to do. The unusual case of the “man carrying a jar of water” – one would have expected a woman to do that, could have been a prior arrangement between Jesus and his host but it is equally possible that this was the miraculous doing of God. It especially would be so if the disciples had not been told what exact place in the city to go to, and what time to be there. Whatever the case, Jesus was ready for the Passover of a different kind than the disciples were expecting.
Instance (v. 16). Things happened exactly as Jesus had told the disciples. The preparation for the Passover involved sacrificing a lamb at the temple and having it roasted and preparing other dishes, including unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and wine. The disciples would have needed money for all of that, which Judas (the keeper of the money bag) would have provided. The plan, whether by miracle or design, seems to have been that no one, not even the disciples, would have known the location beforehand. This would allow Jesus and his disciples’ privacy and prevent an early arrest, that would disrupt what Jesus was planning for that evening. God has exact plans for everyone and everything. The question is whether we are yielded to him, as the plans unfold for us.
Your Loving Pastor Chris.