There are several mottos or slogans I even have picked up throughout the course of my life that I recurrently repeat to myself because I think they’re true. They aren’t slogans you’ll find in Scripture, but I still consider they illustrate principles which might be biblical in nature.
One of those slogans is the phrase, “You don’t need to attend every argument you get invited to.” I’m sure we are able to all attest to the indisputable fact that there are many people in our lives who never appear to miss a chance to argue their point when they might have engaged in a peaceful conversation as an alternative. As often as possible, I try to not take their bait. Arguing is an indication of immaturity. Those who’re mature prefer to debate.
Another slogan that I believe has value pertains to the concept of respect. I’d imagine that almost all people prefer to be respected, not disrespected by others. There’s a key to being respected that could be summarized with an easy statement. “If you wish to be respected, all the time do what you said you were going to do.” This is true at home and within the workplace. This is true relating to marriage and parenting. It’s also true relating to being respected as a pacesetter or a friend.
Trusting Jesus Means Following His Word Even When it Doesn’t Make Sense
Jesus is each a pacesetter and a friend to those that trust in Him, but would we have now been willing to trust Him in any respect if we didn’t consider what He said? If we weren’t absolutely convinced that He will do what He said He will do, would we be willing to entrust our hope and everlasting aspirations to His care and protection? Jesus could be trusted, and in Mark 14:12-25, He demonstrated that His words are true and that He has done or will do the whole lot He said He would.
“And on the primary day of Unleavened Bread, after they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, ‘Where will you will have us go and prepare so that you can eat the Passover?’ And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, ‘Go into town, and a person carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the home, “The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I could eat the Passover with my disciples?” And he’ll show you a big upper room furnished and prepared; there prepare for us.’ And the disciples set out and went to town and located it just as he had told them, they usually prepared the Passover.” – Mark 14:12-16
The events of this passage took place just before Jesus experienced the torture of crucifixion. He was crucified on Friday, and the activity that’s described on this passage took place either on Wednesday or Thursday. It was time to have fun the Passover meal with His disciples, so Jesus sent two of them (Peter and John) into Jerusalem to start making preparations for the meal (Luke 22:8).
It’s interesting to watch the instructions Jesus gave Peter and John because so as to perform what He told them to do, faith could be required. For starters, they were told to enter town and once they were there, they’d be met by a person carrying a jar of water. He would meet them and make them a house where they might make a request of the house’s owner.
It’s obvious that Peter and John trusted what Jesus said because they did exactly what He told them to do, but I can’t help but wonder what they were considering and talking about as they approached town. They were to search for a person carrying a jar of water. Does that strike you as odd? Wouldn’t there potentially be many men carrying jars of water?
In the culture on the time, it was customary for girls to go to local wells and convey water home for his or her families, so it will definitely stand out in case you happened to see a person carrying out this specific task. We’re told that Peter and John encountered this man just as Jesus assured them they’d.
When that man, who was likely a household servant, brought Peter and John to the house during which he served, they were told to inform the master of the house that the Teacher needed use of the guest room so he could eat the Passover with His disciples. That man would then bring them to a big upper room that will be furnished and prepared for them. Tradition holds that this may occasionally even have been Mark’s home and the master of the house was his father. Again, just as Jesus said, that is precisely what took place.
Betrayed but Not Surprised: How Jesus Understands Our Deepest Wounds
There are many statements, assurances, and future guarantees Jesus has given us in His word. How confident are you that the whole lot He has said will happen? There’s an easy test you’ll be able to give yourself to verify the depth of your confidence in His words, and that test is… obedience. If you really consider Him, you’ll obey Him. Like Peter and John, you’ll obey Jesus in obvious ways while also taking steps of religion into unfamiliar territory.
“And when it was evening, he got here with the twelve. And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, one in all you’ll betray me, one who’s eating with me.’ They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after one other, ‘Is it I?’ He said to them, ‘It is one in all the twelve, one who’s dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of Man goes because it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been higher for that man if he had not been born.’” – Mark 14:17-21
That evening Jesus, together with His disciples, got here to the place where the Passover meal had been prepared. There were many things Jesus said and explained at this meal. Mark doesn’t record all of it, but John’s gospel (starting with Chapter 13) gives us further details of Christ’s teaching at this meal. One aspect of the conversation that Mark made a degree to record, nevertheless, was Christ’s declaration that one in all the disciples was actually a traitor. After several years of living and serving together, this had to bother these men severely. It’s also clear that they didn’t immediately understand it was Judas who would betray Jesus.
I get the impression that the disciples had a whole lot of trust for Judas. He was their treasurer, they usually actually wouldn’t have placed him accountable for their funds in the event that they didn’t consider him to be a person of integrity. But Jesus knew what was in Judas’ heart. He knew what he intended to do. He knew what really motivated this man. Jesus also made it clear that it will have been higher for Judas if he had never been born than to betray the Savior of the world.
This betrayal was ultimately a part of Christ’s plan and it actually didn’t shock Him, but for sure it troubled Him emotionally. Have you ever experienced the pain of betrayal? Have you ever taken the danger to trust someone only to be hurt by their desire to desert you or work against you at a later point? I even have experienced this pain several times in my life, but my consolation within the midst of it’s the indisputable fact that Jesus is sympathetic to this pain as well. When we pray to the Father within the name of Jesus, we’re coming before the throne of God within the name of our merciful and sympathetic High Priest who understands our pain. And through the Holy Spirit, we’re granted comfort and relief.
Jesus’ Promise of Forgiveness and Future Glory
“And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; that is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, they usually all drank of it. And he said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for a lot of. Truly, I say to you, I is not going to drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day after I drink it recent in the dominion of God.’” -Mark 14:22-25
As the Passover meal continued, Jesus instituted a practice that His followers have continued observing ever since. Jesus took bread, blessed it, ripped it to pieces, shared it with His disciples and told them that this bread that was just ripped apart represented His body. Then He took a cup of wine, gave thanks for it, shared it with His disciples in order that they could take a drink, then explained to them that it represented His blood which could be shed so as to inaugurate the New Covenant between God and men, a covenant that didn’t require the symbolic sacrificial death of animals like a Passover lamb because Jesus, the Lamb of God, would die once for all to atone for the sins of man. Through faith in Him, we’d receive recent life and never be condemned.
“Behold, the times are coming, declares the Lord, after I will make a recent covenant with the home of Israel and the home of Judah, not just like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I used to be their husband, declares the Lord. For that is the covenant that I’ll make with the home of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I’ll put my law inside them, and I’ll write it on their hearts. And I might be their God, they usually shall be my people. And now not shall each teach his neighbor and every his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the best, declares the Lord. For I’ll forgive their iniquity, and I’ll remember their sin no more.” – Jeremiah 31:31-34
What a blessing it truly is to know that through Jesus, our sins are forgiven. Jesus took them upon Himself. He bore them in His body in order that they’d now not be held against us. As the Scripture tells us, they’re remembered no more. In Christ, the slate of sin that stood against us is totally cleaned.
“Truly, I say to you, I is not going to drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day after I drink it recent in the dominion of God.” – Mark 14:25
Jesus, knowing that His crucifixion would come soon after this meal, desired to be sure that His disciples kept their eyes focused on the longer term when the dominion of God will fully prevail. The cup of wine created from the fruit of the vine had been passed amongst them and all who were present drank, but Jesus said He wouldn’t do that again until a future day when the complete effects of the dominion of God were established. I can’t help but wonder if His words are supposed to allude to the wedding supper we’re told about in Revelation 19:9.
“And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those that are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true words of God.’” – Revelation 19:9
The words Jesus spoke to His disciples in the course of the Passover meal were confirmed to be true. The words He has spoken to us have likewise been confirmed. Everything might be just as He told us it will be. We can believe that the word of Christ is true. Jesus will do what He said He will do.
Originally published by Bible Study Headquarters. Used with permission.
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Navneet Mahajan
John Stange is the Lead Pastor at Core Creek Community Church and a professor at Cairn University where he leads the Digital Media and Communication program. He also leads a web based community called Platform Launchers where he helps people construct message-based online platforms.
John has authored over 30 books and presently hosts several podcasts on the LifeAudio podcast network. His shows have been downloaded tens of millions of times by listeners throughout the world.
You can learn more about John’s ministry, books, and podcasts at BibleStudyHeadquarters.com.
