Saturday, January 6, 2018

The Gospel According To Mark. Day 67, The Last Supper, Part One

Today we begin our look at what is known as the Last Supper, the final meal Jesus shares with the disciples.

"On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked Him, 'Where do You want us to go and make preparations for You to eat the Passover?' So He sent two of His disciples, telling them, 'Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, 'The Teacher asks: Where is My guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?' He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.'" (Mark 14:12-15)

It was not customary for a man to carry water; that was considered women's work. One lone man carrying water from the well is going to be easy for the disciples to pick out in a crowd. Some scholars believe Jesus made this arrangement beforehand, when He arrived in Jerusalem for Passover week. Others believe He supernaturally foresaw the man carrying the jar of water and knows that the master of the house has an upper room He can use. Either of these explanations could be true, but I prefer to believe Jesus saw this man in His mind's eye, that He knew the man worked for a well-to-do homeowner who kept an empty furnished room at the top of the house, and that He knew the homeowner would be happy to have Him use the room.

There's no reason for us to doubt Jesus' ability to foresee these things. When the disciple Philip went to fetch his friend Nathanael to come and meet the Messiah, Jesus called out as Nathanael approached, "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." Nathanael didn't recall ever having met Jesus before. He was puzzled that Jesus would remark on him being an honest man, so he asked, "How do You know me?" Jesus replied, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." At this stunning news, Nathanel declared, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." (John 1:43-49)

Bible scholar William Barclay has this to say about upper rooms in ancient Judea, "The larger Jewish houses had upper rooms. Such houses looked exactly like a smaller box placed on top of a bigger box. The smaller box was the upper room, and it was approached by an outside stair, making it unnecessary to go through the main room. The upper room had many uses. It was a storeroom, it was a place for quiet and meditation, it was a guest room for visitors. But in particular it was the place where a rabbi taught his chosen band of intimate disciples. Jesus was following the custom that any Jewish rabbi might follow."

Jesus tells the disciples that when they go into the city they will be met by a man carrying a jar of water. Since this man is performing a job usually reserved for women, I can only assume he is a servant. He is not the homeowner, because Jesus says he will lead the disciples to a house where they are to ask the homeowner about using the upper room. The homeowner could be a widower, with no wife to fetch the water. He may have no daughters or female servants to fetch the water. Whatever the reason for sending a man to do what is customarily a woman's job, Jesus uses it as a sign that the disciples have found the right house in which to eat the last meal they will share with Him. "The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover." (Mark 14:16)

I don't believe there is any reason for us to eliminate the possibility of the miraculous in the events Mark has just described. I don't think Mark would have made a big deal out of the disciples finding "things just as Jesus had told them" if Jesus did not supernaturally see the man carrying the water jar and if Jesus did not know the man worked for a homeowner who possessed an upper room which he would be honored to have them use. I believe Jesus saw these things just as He saw Nathanael sitting under the fig tree, and I believe Jesus sees you and me right now. There is nothing about our circumstances that He does not know. There is nothing in our minds and hearts He does not know. Jesus knows us in a way no one else can ever know us, both the good and the bad things about us...yet He loves us. He invites us to be His disciples. He invites us to be a part of His family. Jesus knows everything you and I have ever done or ever will do, even the things we would be ashamed for our closest friends to know, but He still offers us salvation. He still offers us the opportunity to start over and to become valuable members of the family of God.


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