A Word from the WORD: "ARRANGED AND READY" (Article 216)
Life Fellowship
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the day the lambs for the Passover meal were killed, Jesus' disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and get the Passover meal ready for you?” Then Jesus sent two of them with these instructions: "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house he enters, and say to the owner of the house: 'The Teacher says, Where is the room where my disciples and I will eat the Passover meal?' Then he will show you a large upstairs room, fixed up and furnished, where you will get everything ready for us.” The disciples left, went to the city, and found everything just as Jesus had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. (Mark 14:12-16)
The Jewish people had three main annual feasts- the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. The Passover was celebrated in commemoration of their great deliverance from slavery in the land of Egypt, the Feast of Pentecost was a reminder of the Law that God had given them through Moses at Sinai, and the Feast of Tabernacles was in remembrance of their journey in the wilderness from Egypt into the Promised Land.
In the incident mentioned here, it was the time of the Passover celebration. And when the disciples asked Jesus where He intended to celebrate it, the Lord gave them some interesting directions. They were literally asked to “make preparations in a place where everything had already been arranged and made ready”.
This account is very enlightening and beautifully portrays the way God works in our own lives as well. He has everything prepared for us. And just like the disciples were told to make preparations where everything had already been arranged, we too are called to enter into what God has already apportioned for us!
Infact when we study the Scriptures, we find that this is the way God always works. He first prepares and then places us in what He has already prepared. For instance, He planted the Garden of Eden and then put Adam and Eve in it to live there and look after it. Jesus told His disciples towards the end of His life on earth as to how He was going back to the Father to prepare a place for them following which He would return and take them to Himself. And in the book of Revelation, John sees a vision of the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
So God arranges and makes everything ready. He knows and reveals what is best for each one of us. Both Isaiah and Paul describe what God has prepared for His own as one which “no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no mind has conceived” (Isaiah 64:4; 1 Corinthians 2:9). And now, what has been prepared must be “entered into”. No individual will automatically or assuredly experience all that God desires for him. Infact one may even wilfully reject and stubbornly refuse the will of the Lord for his life, following his own plan instead.
The parable of the Wedding Banquet told by Jesus immediately springs to mind (Matthew 22:1-14). There were several people who had been invited by a king to a banquet prepared in honour of his son. At the stipulated time, however, all of them gave excuses and refused to attend the feast. We find that not only did they miss out on the extravagant generosity offered them, they were even ultimately punished for such arrogant behaviour.
We find other similar accounts narrated for us in the Bible. The Israelites, both of Moses' and Jesus' time, are a case in point. The Lord had delivered the entire community from Egypt through Moses with the purpose of taking them into the Promised Land. But due to their constant rebellion and continuous grumbling, not one of them (except Caleb and Joshua) entered the land which He had “sworn with uplifted hand to make their home” (Numbers 14:16-30). And when Jesus came years later, they again refused to accept Him as Messiah thus paving the way for God's judgment (Matthew 23:37-39; Luke 19:41-44).
King Saul is yet another example of a person who lost out on God's best because of his disobedience. God had it in mind to establish his kingdom over Israel for all time but his failure to keep the command clearly given him led to his rule being taken away (1 Samuel 13:13-14).
These examples have been written down for us in the Scriptures as a warning to keep us from going the same way and losing our inheritance (1 Corinthians 10:6, 11). They have been given so we will pay heed to the God who teaches us what is best for us and directs us in the way we should go (Psalm 32:8-9; Isaiah 48:17-19).
The Lord Jesus Christ experienced the whole plan of the Father for His life. Luke, in his gospel, lays out the lifestyle of Jesus which enabled Him to have such a fulfilling and fruitful life. He sought the Father daily (Luke 2:49; 3:21; 4:42; 6:12), lived in the fulness of the Spirit (Luke 4:2, 14), always kept His focus (Luke 4:42-43), refused to get intimidated (Luke 5:22; 6:7, 10), and was willing to pay the price (Luke 9:22; 24:26).
The grace of the
Lord Jesus be with you!
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