Luke 22:7-12: a reflection

7The day of unleavened bread came, on which the Passover must be sacrificed. 8Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.” 9They said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare?” 10He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him into the house which he enters. 11Tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ 12He will show you a large, furnished upper room. Make preparations there.”

As the Passover approaches, Jesus sends Peter and John to prepare it, and his instructions reveal a quiet, detailed foreknowledge. Go into the city, he tells them, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and tell the owner of the house the Teacher needs the guest room. He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. And they find it exactly as he said. The arrangements were already made, the room already furnished and waiting, before the disciples ever arrived.

Notice the quiet providence in this. The disciples did not have to scramble to find and furnish a room; Jesus had gone ahead, and the place was prepared, ready, waiting for them. They simply had to go where he directed and receive what was already provided. Behind the scenes, unseen by them until they arrived, everything had been arranged. Their task was to follow his direction into the provision he had already made.

There is comfort in that picture of how God often works. He goes ahead of us and prepares what we will need, so that what looks to us like an unknown, unprovided-for future is, from his side, already furnished and ready. Our task is often simply to follow his direction into provision he has already made, to go where he sends and find the room prepared. When you face a need whose supply you cannot see, remember the furnished upper room. God may already have gone ahead and prepared what you need; follow his leading, and find it ready.

Lord, you sent your disciples to a room already furnished and waiting, having gone ahead to prepare what they needed. When I face a need whose supply I cannot see, remind me that you often go ahead and prepare what your people will need. Help me follow your leading into the provision you have already made, and to trust that the room may already be furnished and ready. Thank you for going before me.