The Gospel of Mark – Part 47

The Last Supper – Mark 14:12-26

Mosaic Rockford – Dave Spooner – Aug. 16th, 2020

Intro:

Jesus arrived in Jerusalem as the Savior King. He restored the purpose of the temple and avoided the traps of the Priests. He continued to teach the people and train His disciples. He told them what was to come and what they should watch for. He was anointed for burial while the plans were laid for His betrayal. His final moments before His death were at hand.Jesus was still the Master, even until the end. He prearranged and prepared, He predicted and proclaimed, He provided and He promised. He, indeed, was the final Passover lamb that would receive the just wrath of God for the sin of the many.    

Question and Preparations 

Mark 14:12-16 ESV

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13 And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16 And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

The day of the Passover had arrived. The Jewish people who were present were to bring a spotless lamb and slay it on the Passover. Then they were to eat it within the city’s walls. There was much preparing that needed to be done, and they needed a place where they could be together.  Jesus knew all these things and He had prearranged that the place would be prepared for them.  He has also prepared a place for us (John 14:1-4). Trust in God, trust in Jesus, do not let your hearts be troubled. In God’s sovereignty and prearrangement, we still have a part to play.     

Eph 2:10-11 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

It is indeed a mystery how God’s sovereignty and our responsibility work together, but they do.  God always does His part, and He invites us to do our part. The disciples asked Christ where they would like them to go to get ready for the Passover. Jesus then gave them instructions as to what they were to do, and He sent two of them to do it (Peter and John, Luke 22:8). They went back into the city and spotted a man carrying a jar of water, which would have been an odd sight, because it was women who typically gathered water. They were to follow the man with the jar of water and go into the house where he entered. This was a covert operation. They did not want people to know where they were, in order that Jesus could spend time alone with just the 12. And many believe this was done so Judas the betrayer would not know beforehand where they would be to ensure that this event was going to happen without interruption and arrest.  The master of the house had the room reserved and everything arranged just as Jesus said that He would. He was expecting them. Everything happened the way that Jesus said that it would happen. As it was then, so it will be. The disciples did what they were asked to do, and so should we. Trust in God’s sovereignty and fulfill your responsibility.      

Truth and Consequences 

Mark 14:17-21 ESV

And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18 And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19 They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” 20 He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. 21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betra