This is the seventh in my series titled "God and . . .", which focuses on the times when Jesus told someone to go and do something (you can catch up on the others on my Memo site). This week, let's focus on the account of how the disciples prepared for what we know to be the Last Supper, but for them was the traditional Passover feast. This was to be celebrated as a family, but most of the disciples' families were up north in Galilee and they were with Jesus in Jerusalem. I wonder how their absence affected their families? Were they upset? Angry? Understanding? Resentful? That, however, is not our concern, for we want to look at how they made preparations for what they thought was a traditional meal, but in reality turned out to be so much more.
THE PREPARATIONS
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked. He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.” They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover (Luke 22:7-13).
The disciples had prepared many Passover meals in the past, so this one was no different, except that they had to find a venue to eat it, for they were all away from home. Jesus gave them some rather unusual instructions that would enable them to find a place. First, they were to look for a man carrying a water jar, which was highly unusual, for carrying water was women's work. Then they were to follow the man and ask the owner of the home where he entered for permission to hold their celebration there.
Naturally, it all unfolded just as Jesus had instructed them. I have always said that God is a great administrator, always able to organize whatever it is He wants to do. The disciples had no idea this upper room even existed until they needed one, and then Jesus was able to direct them out of their need to the exact spot that they needed. God will do the same for you, for there are untold resources out there of which you are unaware. Your role is to listen and then obey, seeing that your need is creating a deeper need - reliance on God for the provision that will help you fulfill God's purpose for your life.
THE REAL LESSON
The more important lesson in the story is the unexpected outcome of what the disciples considered a traditional gathering. This was to be like no other Passover meal since the first one in Egypt, for at this meal, Jesus inaugurated a rite that we call communion, the Lord's table, or the Eucharist that has been performed countless times for the last 2,000 years.
The disciples' obedience to Jesus' unusual directives required faith and mindful obedience, but was not their most important role in the story. Their presence at the dinner enabled them to observe and hear what Jesus did and said, and they went forth from that room and did what He said to do: Do what they had just done in remembrance of Him and His upcoming sacrifice. They thought they were going to a Passover meal, of which they were familiar, but instead were part of a new practice that would impact the entire world.
That is the kind of expectation we must have as we follow and obey the Lord. We don't know the significance of our missions trips we take, poems we write, businesses we start, or relationships we honor. We may think we understand what we are doing, but there may be much more than what we think. Therefore, we must make the most of every opportunity, not assuming we understand the significance of what we are about to do, especially if we have done it many times before.
I have been to Kenya more than 100 times, but this last trip I just completed was special. I probably had the greatest impact I have ever had in my two weeks there, and I am planning another three trips back in the next nine months. I prepared for the trip, but something was different and unusual, and it took my breath away. That is what happens when you prepare and trust the Lord, for He is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Ephesians 3:20).
I urge you to continue to work and prepare for the unexpected with hope that the next time you do something, even if you have done it many times before, you may be on the verge of something that will change the world - and if not the world, then at least your world. Have a blessed week!
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