City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

⁷ Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸ So Jesus^{[Some manuscripts The next day]} sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” ⁹ They said to him, “Where will you have us prepare it?” ¹⁰ He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters ¹¹ and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹² And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” ¹³ And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Luke 22:7-13 (ESV)

Reflection

Today’s passage is fairly simple, or is it?  Jesus and His disciples need a place to have their Passover meal.  They would have had this meal with Jesus the previous two or three years, so it seems that the disciples would have seen this as being a tradition for them to spend it with Jesus.  Passover is already a Jewish traditional holy day. Moses and the children of Israel survived the visitation of the Angel of Death because they obeyed God’s command to paint lamb’s blood on the post and lentil of their front doors.  The Angel of Death, seeing the lamb’s blood knew to Passover that house because it was protected.  So, spending such a day with Jesus must have made it extra special, but little did they know that it would be their last supper with Him before He had to face death.

Jesus gives Peter and John very specific instructions to prepare for this great dinner.  When they go into town, they are to find a man carrying water, a task typically performed by women.  This instruction is almost like the instructions a spy might need to meet up with their contact in a foreign land.  They follow the man to a house with a large upper room, just as Jesus said, which is almost like finding the safe house.  Having found the place, just as Jesus described, they set about preparing the meal there.

In verse 13, Luke records that it was just as Jesus had told them.  As far as I can tell, this is more than just a prophetic foretelling from Jesus, but possibly also a connection to the owner. Perhaps the owner of the house had an encounter with Jesus, and Jesus performed a miracle, so this is the perfect time for the owner to repay Jesus. Jesus tells Peter and John to tell the master of the house that “The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”  This question seems to indicate that the master knew who “The Teacher” was, so it is reasonable to conclude that there was an existing relationship.  So, maybe there must have been a connection.

Application

Has Jesus done something special in your life?  If he came to you, would you have a large upper room ready for Him to have a meal?  Would such an event be natural to you, or would it be so strange that you would have a hard time getting through it?

Maybe you don’t have a large upper room, but you should have room in your life for Jesus to come and have a meal.  And when He comes, He will probably bring some friends along.  And yes, they will probably be messy friends, but don’t worry.  They are great at doing dishes.

Prayer

Dear Lord, thank You for attending to my life and giving me direction.  Teach me to open my life to You and draw me into Your fellowship. Give me a heart for Your people and Your church.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.