Matthew 26.17-19 Mark 14.12-16 Luke 22.7-13
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17 Now on the first day of Unleavened
Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare
for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a
certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am
to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” 19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they
prepared the Passover.
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12 On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the
Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to
Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the
Passover?” 13 And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go
into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow
him; 14 and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house,
‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover
with My disciples?”’ 15 “And he himself will show you a large upper room
furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” 16 The disciples went out and came to the city, and
found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the
Passover.
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7 Then came the first day of Unleavened
Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare
the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.” 9 They said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare
it?” 10 And He said to them, “When you have entered the city, a
man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house that
he enters. 11 “And you shall say to the owner of the house, ‘The
Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover
with My disciples?”’ 12 “And he will show you a large, furnished upper room;
prepare it there.” 13 And they left and found everything just
as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.
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These
final steps prior to the crucifixion of Jesus are important to the
process of preparing the disciples for what is coming in the future. Jesus in on a mission and is very clear about
His purpose on earth. There is nothing
that has taken place or that will take place that took Him by surprise. The path before Jesus is not an easy one, but
it is one about which He was fully aware and prepared. All of us face circumstances that catch us
off guard. We expect one thing to
happen, but reality surprises us. This
never happened with Jesus and it still never happens with God. No matter what we might face; it is part of
God’s plan and He is prepared to use it for His glory and our eternal good.
JESUS PARTICIPATES IN THE FESTIVALS: Jesus was fully man
without a sinful nature. He grew,
learned, matured, had a family that He was born into and had traditions that
were a part of His culture. Passover was
one of the most important festivals observed by the Jewish people. It commemorated the liberation of Israel from
slavery in Egypt, specifically the salvation of the firstborn son in each
family because of the sacrifice and application of the blood from a perfect
lamb on the door of each house. When the
angel of death saw the blood, he would “pass over” that house. When there was no blood, the angel would take
the life of the first-born son in that family.
It was the final plague that convinced Pharaoh to finally liberate the
children of Israel. It was a festival
that prefigured the sacrifice of Jesus for all who believe and apply His blood
to our sinful hearts. Jesus lived in
obedience to the Law of Moses and observed the festivals like every God-fearing
Jew would do. It was His habit to celebrate
these festivals which is why His disciples asked about where they should
prepare the Passover meal. This practice
demonstrates the humanity, submission, obedience and humility of Jesus. God established the festivals to commemorate
past events and illustrate future events.
They were designed to help Israel remember and look forward to the
fulfillment of promises in the future. Jesus
was not prone to forgetting like we are.
However, his regular participation in this and other festivals serves as
an example to us.
JESUS PREDICTS THE CIRCUMSTANCES: Jesus tells His disciples that
in order to prepare the Passover meal, they simply needed to go into the
village and find a man carrying a water pot and then follow him. When he came to a home there were to ask the
owner in Jesus name, where the room was where they could have the Passover and
then they would find a room, perfectly prepared. In our world, the man carrying the pot of
water would have felt like he was about to be mugged. The owner of the home would have been
offended by such a presumptive statement.
Likely, the disciples were a little uncomfortable with these instructions. However, the followed them and all turned out
to be just as Jesus had said it would be.
God knows the hearts of men. God
prepares the hearts of men. There is a
great comfort in knowing that God is in control of the circumstances of our
lives. There is also a sobering reality
that God knows everything about us past, present and future. In light of these truths, we must learn to
trust and obey the Lord in every circumstance.
JESUS PREPARES THE DISCIPLES: We don’t always know why God does
what He does. In fact, it is dangerous
to try to speculate about God’s motives.
I don’t really know why Jesus decided to answer the disciple’s question
about where to prepare Passover by telling them to follow a man with a pot
instead of just telling them where to go.
The only reason I can think of is that Jesus was seeking to prepare His
disciples for the future. It was just
another proof that Jesus knows everything and is in control of our circumstances. God knows and controls the big things and the
little things. Everything from raising
people from the dead to servants carrying water pots are within His control. God cares about the details of our lives. When we feel discouraged, alone or that God
has forgotten about us, the truths illustrated in this passage should confront
out thinking and comfort our hearts.
APPLICATION: We are called to live in obedience to the Word
of God in humility submitting ourselves to God’s will. It is important for us to remember the Lord’s
workings in our lives as well as look forward to His promises for the
future. Rest in the fact that God knows
and controls all our circumstances. Don’t
ever think that you are alone or that you can hide from the Lord. God is actively and intentionally working to conform
us to the image of Christ.
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