I was reading in Luke 22 this morning. It’s the story of the Last Supper. If you haven’t read it recently, there is an interesting bit in the story.
It goes like this:
“7Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
9“Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
10He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters,11and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’12He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
13They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.”
As I read it, I began to wonder about the guy who owned the upper room they used. How did that work out exactly? Somehow, God prompts this guy to prepare his upstairs room for a meal. It doesn’t seem like he is expecting guests, because when Peter and John ask for the room, it’s no problem to turn it over to them. It reads as if this guy prepared the room for no one, and then God used it.
If that’s the case, can you imagine this guy’s thoughts that day? He has a prompting from God to go upstairs and set up everything for a meal. But he has no plans on who it’s for. He may have been planning for a Passover meal, since it’s the high holiday for the Jews. But the passage says when Peter and John got there, they prepared the Passover meal. It seems more that the room was set up and ready to be used, but nothing more had been planned.
Who does that?!
Who takes time out of a busy holiday season to prepare a room for a meal that won’t happen, all because they had a feeling or a leading it was what they were supposed to do?
But, because they did, the Last Supper takes place in this guys house. That’s pretty cool.
This guy is faithful in a way I want to be faithful. He did what he was told, when it didn’t make sense, and then when was asked to be generous and let it all go, he gave it away. His gift became a refuge for Jesus one final time before the final push of the Garden, the trials, and the cross. I love that!
What is God asking me or you to be preparing that is confusing us? Is it something physical in our lives that we need to prepare to let go of? Is it something we run to for comfort? Is it some fear we have? Where do we need to be faithful and generous, with no understanding of why we’re doing it? What is the table God is asking you to prepare in your life, seemingly for no one?
Because once it’s set, He’ll show up. He always does.
JasonChenoweth.com 