Hi there,
So this is a little like a gestalt, where you look at something one way and then you look again and see it another way. The thing I am talking about seeing is the furnished upper room. Jesus said "“Go into the city, and a man carrying a jug of water will meet you. Follow him, and whichever house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is My guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” Mark 13-15 But think about it for a minute: did He say 'there we will eat'? 'the master of the house will provide for us?' No! The disciples had to go out and buy food for the Passover, the food had to be arranged.
So why do we think "Oh! the master of the house must have provided everything/must have had the Passover lying around for someone to come and eat"? That is not how Jesus works! When He commands us, we must have faith, go and make ready - we can't sit on our laurels! The point is that Jesus knows in advance the space will be enough, He doesn't expect us to prepare in a space that is too small for us, that has no furnishings on which to rest. The journey with Christ continues - we must seek out, that which He is talking about celebrating. In a sense, God even goes before the disciples, to the furnished upper room, to establish that there is peace there and a welcome, on behalf of the master.
This is the value of keeping the whole of the Testament (new and old), because we see in it, where we are presuming or assuming that something will take place, instead of having faith. When we think about miracles like the feeding of the thousands, we can tend to fill in the gaps, that Jesus just created food out of thin air, instead of perceiving faith at work, whereby the crowd actually produces the food - some with too much, some with too little. There is power in letting faith work, not changing our expectations from the mustard seed it starts as, but cultivating it, from that level, until it is something great. People need to be healed, delivered, empowered, but if we think its all going to be prepared for us, we are going to sorely miss out!
How would you prepare for the Passover? Would you wait for Jesus to create it? What then did He create, in the beginning? If He only had to create from the beginning again? These questions aren't meant to confront you, but to stir you. I hope this has been of some encouragement.
God bless.
So this is a little like a gestalt, where you look at something one way and then you look again and see it another way. The thing I am talking about seeing is the furnished upper room. Jesus said "“Go into the city, and a man carrying a jug of water will meet you. Follow him, and whichever house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is My guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” Mark 13-15 But think about it for a minute: did He say 'there we will eat'? 'the master of the house will provide for us?' No! The disciples had to go out and buy food for the Passover, the food had to be arranged.
So why do we think "Oh! the master of the house must have provided everything/must have had the Passover lying around for someone to come and eat"? That is not how Jesus works! When He commands us, we must have faith, go and make ready - we can't sit on our laurels! The point is that Jesus knows in advance the space will be enough, He doesn't expect us to prepare in a space that is too small for us, that has no furnishings on which to rest. The journey with Christ continues - we must seek out, that which He is talking about celebrating. In a sense, God even goes before the disciples, to the furnished upper room, to establish that there is peace there and a welcome, on behalf of the master.
This is the value of keeping the whole of the Testament (new and old), because we see in it, where we are presuming or assuming that something will take place, instead of having faith. When we think about miracles like the feeding of the thousands, we can tend to fill in the gaps, that Jesus just created food out of thin air, instead of perceiving faith at work, whereby the crowd actually produces the food - some with too much, some with too little. There is power in letting faith work, not changing our expectations from the mustard seed it starts as, but cultivating it, from that level, until it is something great. People need to be healed, delivered, empowered, but if we think its all going to be prepared for us, we are going to sorely miss out!
How would you prepare for the Passover? Would you wait for Jesus to create it? What then did He create, in the beginning? If He only had to create from the beginning again? These questions aren't meant to confront you, but to stir you. I hope this has been of some encouragement.
God bless.
