Our mission and obedience are never a lonely struggle of “heading into an empty field and banging our heads against the ground.” They are simply a “journey of faith” in which we go to see with our own eyes the very place of “Jehovah Jireh” (The Lord Will Provide) that the Lord has already gone ahead of us and prepared (set up).

Our mission and obedience are never a lonely struggle of “heading into an empty field and banging our heads against the ground.” They are simply a “journey of faith” in which we go to see with our own eyes the very place of “Jehovah Jireh” (The Lord Will Provide) that the Lord has already gone ahead of us and prepared (set up).

 

 

 

“Now the day of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.  Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.’  They asked Him, ‘Where do You want us to prepare it?’  He said to them, ‘Behold, when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.  Follow him into the house that he enters, and say to the master of the house, “The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”  And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare it there.’  And they went and found it just as He had told them, and they prepared the Passover” (Luke 22:7–13).

 

 

(1)  When I read and meditated on today’s passage, Luke 22:7–13, in the Korean Bible, I first wanted  to meditate on the Passover because I noticed that the passage begins with the “Passover lamb” [τὸ πάσχα (to pascha)] (v. 7) and ends with the words “prepared the Passover” [τὸ πάσχα (to pascha)] (v. 13) [this expression also appears in verse 8: “ἑτοιμάσατε … τὸ πάσχα” (hetoimasate … to pascha), “prepare the Passover”].

 

(a)  The so-called “sandwich structure” (inclusio): Today’s passage forms what is often called a “sandwich structure” (inclusio), beginning with the “Passover” (τὸ πάσχα, to pascha) in verse 7 and closing with “prepare the Passover” (ἑτοιμάσατε … τὸ πάσχα, hetoimasate … to pascha) in verses 8 and 13. Within this short paragraph, Luke, the biblical author, intentionally repeats and emphasizes the word “Passover” (to pascha).  An AI summarized three points for meditation on what Luke may be emphasizing here (Internet):

 

                      1.    A shift in focus from the “Passover lamb” to the “Passover meal”

 

The Passover lamb in verse 7: Here, “to pascha” (τὸ πάσχα) refers, according to the Old Testament tradition, to the sacrificial animal (a lamb/goat) itself, which had to be slaughtered and shed its blood at the appointed sacrifice.

 

The Passover in verses 8 and 13: Here, “to pascha” (τὸ πάσχα) refers to the Passover meal (supper) that was to be shared with the disciples.

 

Point for meditation: This shows that only through the “death (sacrifice)” of the Passover lamb can God’s people participate in the “table (fellowship)” where they receive life.  In other words, it foreshadows that Jesus’ sacrifice would become spiritual nourishment for us.

 

                            a.   What does it mean that “Jesus’ sacrifice becomes our spiritual nourishment”?

 

 The expression “Jesus’ sacrifice becomes our spiritual nourishment” is a central theological concept for explaining the meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross and the Lord’s Supper through the Old Testament Passover sacrificial system. An AI has divided this into three dimensions for easier explanation (Internet):

 

1.   We must not merely “look at” the sacrifice; we must “eat” it in order to receive life

 

The Old Testament Passover: The Israelites did not stop after slaughtering the Passover lamb and applying its blood to the doorposts. They were required to roast the lamb and actually eat its meat inside the house that night.

 

Spiritual meaning: The event of Jesus shedding His blood and dying on the cross—His sacrifice—must not remain merely an historical event that we observe from two thousand years ago. Just as we eat food and make it part of our own bodies, we must believe in and fully receive Jesus’ atoning work as our own personal reality (spiritual eating) in order for our souls to receive salvation and the strength to live.

 

2.   A tangible declaration through Holy Communion

 

At this Passover meal (Luke 22:19–20), Jesus took the bread and said that it was “My body, which is given for you,” and He spoke of the cup as “the new covenant in My blood.”

 

In other words, the bread and cup of Holy Communion that Christians would eat and drink from then onward signify the body and blood of Jesus that would be broken and shed on the cross.  They point to the truth that Christ Himself becomes the true nourishment and drink that gives life to our souls.

 

3.   Beyond one-time salvation, it becomes the “energy that sustains daily life”

 

Just as the body must receive physical food every day in order to function, believers, as spiritual beings, must receive the saving grace of Jesus Christ and His Word continually in order to live spiritually.

 

The act of meditating on Jesus’ sacrifice—the gospel of the cross—and continually receiving His grace becomes the most powerful “source of spiritual energy (nourishment)” that protects our souls from discouragement and sin.

 

In summary, this means:

“The body and blood (sacrifice) of Jesus, which were given for me on the cross, have now become the real nourishment of life (the object of faith) that gives life to my soul and enables me to live and move forward each day.” (Internet)

 

2.   The sovereignty and obedience contained in “Prepare” [ἑτοιμάσατε (hetoimasate)]

 

Jesus’ initiative: When the disciples asked, “Where do You want us to prepare it?” (v. 9), Jesus specifically foretold that they would meet a man carrying a jar of water and that he would lead them to a guest room.  The entire process of preparing the Passover was not a matter of coincidence but was under Jesus’ thorough sovereignty and plan.

 

The disciples’ obedience: The disciples went according to His word and “found it just as He had told them” (v. 13), and prepared the Passover.

 

Point for meditation: The One who prepares the worship of my life and my Passover (salvation) is the Lord. What we are called to do is to walk by faith in obedience to the place He has designated for us, trusting Him.

 

1.      The completion of the shadow (Old Testament) and the appearance of the reality (New Testament)

 

The final Old Testament Passover: This preparation represents the final moment of the Old Testament-style Passover, in which lambs had been slaughtered repeatedly thousands of times throughout Israel’s history.

 

The beginning of a new Passover: At this meal, Jesus institutes Holy Communion as a remembrance of His own body and blood, in place of the Passover lamb.

 

Point for meditation: The disciples thought they were simply preparing the food for an annual religious festival that they had eaten every year.  In reality, however, they were preparing the feast of the reality of the Passover—Jesus Christ Himself—in which the paradigm of human history was being changed (Internet).

 

(i)       In particular, when I read today’s passage, Luke 22:7, it says, “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed” [Ἦλθεν δὲ ἡ ἡμέρα τῶν ἀζύμων (ēlthen de hē hēmera tōn azymōn)].  Here, I would also like to meditate on what “Unleavened Bread” [ἀζύμων (azymōn)] means.  The reason is that the Bible says that the time when Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus was when “the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching” (v. 1) [ἤγγιζεν δὲ ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν ἀζύμων ἡ λεγομένη Πάσχα (ēngizen de hē heortē tōn azymōn hē legomenē Pascha)].  Why did Judas Iscariot plot to betray Jesus at this particular point in time?  What does this have to do with the day of Unleavened Bread?

 

∙  The fact that Judas Iscariot plotted to betray Jesus precisely when “the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover” was approaching (v. 1), and that this plan became concrete and was carried out on “the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed” (v. 7), contains a remarkably precise and shocking message from the perspective of redemptive history. An AI has divided its meditation into three dimensions to consider why Judas chose this particular time and how it relates to the essential meaning of Unleavened Bread (Internet):

      

1.   Historical and environmental background: The best timing to avoid the eyes of the crowds

 

The population density of Jerusalem: During the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread, hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over the world would flock to Jerusalem, where the temple was located.

 

The fear of the religious leaders: The chief priests and scribes wanted to kill Jesus, but they could not find a way because they were afraid that a riot might break out during the feast, for they “were afraid of the people” (v. 2).

 

Judas Iscariot’s betrayal: Judas knew the optimal place (the Mount of Olives, Gethsemane) and the right time to hand Jesus over when he could avoid the daytime hours when the crowds surrounded Jesus—“when no crowd was present” (v. 6).  In other words, the timing was exactly right: Jerusalem was at its most crowded because of the feast, while at the same time the religious leaders needed the “opportunity” to make a secret arrest.

 

 2.  Theological contrast: On the day when the “leaven” was removed, Judas himself became “leaven”

 

The central regulation of Unleavened Bread: As we considered earlier, the Feast of Unleavened Bread (τὰ ἄζυμα) was a time to search out every bit of leaven in the house, burn it, and remove it completely. Leaven represents sin and corruption.

 

Judas’s condition: Amazingly, the Bible records that precisely as this Feast of Unleavened Bread was approaching, “Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve” (v. 3).

 

Point for meditation: At the very time when all Israel was formally removing the leaven from their homes and preparing for purification, Judas allowed Satan, the “worst kind of leaven,” to enter and remain in his heart, thereby making himself an instrument of corruption.  This vividly reveals a state of spiritual blindness in which the outward appearance and the inward reality were completely different.

 

3.  Redemptive-historical significance: God’s sovereignty even in using Judas’s betrayal

 

     Sovereignty over the timing: Judas probably thought that he had calculated the most advantageous time to betray Jesus.  But in reality, that moment was God’s appointed time when “the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed” (v. 7).

 

     The requirements for the Passover lamb: The Passover lamb of the Old Testament had to be without blemish and had to be thoroughly examined and prepared before it was slaughtered.

 

     Point for meditation: Judas’s dark plot and betrayal ultimately became the means by which Jesus was led to the altar of the cross on the very day and at the very time when the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed.  We can meditate on the great sovereignty of God, who can even use humanity’s most evil sin—the betrayal—to accomplish the sacrificial offering of the true Passover Lamb for the salvation of humanity.

 

In summary, Judas chose the Feast of Unleavened Bread as an “opportunity” to hand Jesus over secretly, away from the eyes of the crowds.  Yet within God’s redemptive history, God sovereignly ordained history in such a way that, through Judas’s betrayal, Jesus Himself would become the true Passover Lamb who would remove the leaven of Unleavened Bread and bear the sins of the world (Internet).

 

(1)   Second, when I meditate on today’s passage, Luke 22:7–13, in the Greek Bible, I became interested in the similar expressions: “ἑτοιμάσατε ἡμῖν τὸ πάσχα” (hetoimasate hēmin to pascha), “Prepare the Passover for us” (v. 8); “Ποῦ θέλεις ἑτοιμάσωμεν” (Pou theleis hetoimasōmen), “Where do You want us to prepare it?” (v. 9); “ἐκεῖ ἑτοιμάσατε” (ekei hetoimasate), “Prepare it there” (v. 12); and “ἡτοίμασαν τὸ πάσχα” (hētoimasan to pascha), “they prepared the Passover” (v. 13).  What is the meaning of these sentences?

 

(a)  The continuous appearance of these expressions does not simply describe the household labor of preparing a Passover meal. Rather, it is a sophisticated theological device showing how Jesus’ divine sovereignty and command, and the disciples’ questions and obedience in response to it, work together to bring God’s history of salvation—the Passover—to completion.  An AI analyzed the deeper meaning of each sentence as follows (Internet):

 

1.   Verse 8: “ἑτοιμάσατε ἡμῖν τὸ πάσχα” (hetoimasate hēmin to pascha)

 

Meaning: “Prepare the Passover for us.”

 

Point for meditation [the Lord’s initiating command]: Here, hetoimasate is a second-person plural aorist imperative.  The disciples were aware only that the day of Passover had arrived, but they had no specific plan for preparing it. At that moment, Jesus specifically designated Peter and John and first gave them the active command, “Go and prepare.”  This shows that the feast of salvation was not something initiated or planned by human beings first; rather, the Lord Himself initiated it and gave the command.

 

2.   Verse 9: “Ποῦ θέλεις ἑτοιμάσωμεν” (Pou theleis hetoimasōmen)

 

Meaning: “Where do You want us to prepare it?”

 

Point for meditation [human limitation and questioning]: Here, hetoimasōmen is an aorist subjunctive form, functioning in a deliberative question about what they should do or where they should prepare it.  The disciples had received the Lord’s command, but they were perplexed. Since it was the day of the feast, all the rooms in Jerusalem were likely already occupied, yet they did not know the specific place (Ποῦ, “where”) or understand the Lord’s will (θέλεις, “You want”).  This represents the practical limitations and ignorance that human beings encounter when they attempt to carry out the Lord’s commands.

 

3.   Verse 12: “ἐκεῖ ἑτοιμάσατε” (ekei hetoimasate)

 

Meaning: “Prepare it there.”

 

Point for meditation [divine authority and the designation of the place]: Jesus gives the confused disciples a supernatural sign: they are to follow a man carrying a jar of water.  Then He points them to the large upper room that the owner of the house will show them and once again uses the imperative (hetoimasate), commanding them, “Prepare it right there (ἐκεῖ).”  Although the disciples were uncertain about what to do, Jesus had already foreseen and prepared every circumstance and location.  The place where we are to obey is the place the Lord has already designated.

 

4.   Verse 13: “ἡτοίμασαν τὸ πάσχα” (hētoimasan to pascha)

 

Meaning: “They prepared the Passover.”

 

Point for meditation [fulfillment through obedience]: Here, hētoimasan is an aorist indicative form, declaring that the preparation was finally completed.  When the disciples laid aside their own calculations and anxieties, entered the city, and “found everything just as He had told them,” everything was ultimately prepared perfectly.  This shows that when human obedience aligns with the Lord’s divine provision and preparation, God’s work of salvation (the Passover) is finally and completely set in place on earth.

 

The overall message conveyed by the structural repetition:

 

These four sentences form a complete spiritual cycle: [The Lord’s command (v. 8) → the disciples’ ignorance and question (v. 9) → the Lord’s answer and renewed command (v. 12) → the disciples’ obedience and fulfillment (v. 13)].

 

At first glance, it may appear that the disciples were the ones running around and preparing the Passover with their own efforts.  But when we follow the Greek context, we are led to confess that Jesus had already been governing every circumstance and even the heart of the owner of the house, and that He Himself was truly “preparing” the real Passover. T he disciples merely participated in that great preparation of the Lord through “steps of obedience” (Internet).

 

(i)       Here, I receive grace and comfort from the fact that, as God brings His work of salvation (the Passover) to completion, the practical limitations and ignorance we face when He first gives us an active command may leave us feeling at a loss, but the Lord has already designated even “the place” where we are to obey, and He gives us the command again. (This made me think of the prophet Jonah receiving a second opportunity from the Lord in Jonah 3.) Knowing this grace, I believe that we need the faith and obedience to respond to the Lord’s renewed command as Abraham did when he was called by God—obeying and “going out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb. 11:8).

 

          1.   Jonah’s helplessness vs. the Lord’s renewed command (a second opportunity)

 

Jonah’s flight and limitation: When Jonah first received God’s command, he encountered the limitations of his own prejudice and ran away to Tarshish.  Eventually, he reached a seemingly hopeless dead end—the belly of the fish.

The disciples in Luke: The disciples, too, were at a loss in the face of the practical limitation of a crowded Jerusalem, asking, “Where shall we prepare it?”

 

The gracious renewed command: God came to the discouraged and failed Jonah again and gave him another opportunity, saying, “The word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time” (Jonah 3:1).  Likewise, Jesus showed the confused disciples a specific way forward by saying, “Prepare it there” (Lk. 22:12).  Our ignorance and weakness cannot cancel God’s plan of salvation.  The Lord is a God of grace who will surely guide us again to “the place” where we are to obey.

 

2.  Abraham’s “not knowing where he was going” vs. the Lord’s “having already designated the place”

 

Abraham’s faith: According to Hebrews 11:8, when Abraham was called, he was not given an exact map or detailed plan showing him where the land he would receive as an inheritance was located.  He simply trusted the One who had spoken to him and “went out, not knowing where he was going.”

 

The disciples’ steps: Likewise, the disciples in Luke entered the city holding only the Lord’s seemingly mysterious instruction: “Follow the man carrying a jar of water” (Lk. 22:10).  They still did not know their specific destination and remained in a seemingly uncertain situation.

 

Point for meditation: The greatest comfort for us is the fact that although “we do not know where we are going,” from the Lord’s perspective, He has already designated “that place (ἐκεῖ, ekei)”.  Even though it may seem that we are wandering because we do not know the way we are to go, if we simply take the first step in faith, we will eventually arrive at the “large upper room” that the Lord has already prepared and hidden from our sight.

 

3.   The awe contained in “they found it just as He had told them” (v. 13)

 

The conclusion the disciples encountered was: “And they went and found it just as He had told them, and they prepared the Passover” (Lk. 22:13).

The grace of “Jehovah-Jireh (the LORD will provide)” (Gen. 22:13–14), in which the Lord had already prepared a ram when Abraham was about to offer Isaac on Mount Moriah, is precisely reenacted in the upper room in Jerusalem where Peter and John arrived in today’s passage.

 

Our mission and obedience are never a lonely struggle of “banging our heads against the ground.”  They are simply a “journey of faith” in which we go to see with our own eyes the very place of “Jehovah-Jireh” (The Lord Will Provide) that the Lord has already gone ahead of us and prepared (set up). (Internet)

 

(2)   Third and last, I would like to meditate on Jesus’ words: “Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare it there” [κἀκεῖνος ὑμῖν δείξει ἀνάγαιον μέγα ἐστρωμένον· ἐκεῖ ἑτοιμάσατε (kakeinos hymin deixei anagaion mega estromēnon; ekei hetoimasate)] (Lk. 22:12).  In particular, here I would like to think about the “large upper room” [ἀνάγαιον μέγα (anagaion mega)] in connection with the first Holy Communion, as well as consider what the present identity and calling of churches that are now called “Mega Churches” should be.

 

(a)  The redemptive-historical significance of the “Mega” space Jesus prepared, and the spiritual message it conveys to modern megachurches

 

The AI has organized into three points the redemptive-historical significance of this “Mega” space prepared by Jesus and the spiritual message it conveys to modern megachurches (Internet):

 

1.    The redemptive-historical significance of “ἀνάγαιον μέγα” (anagaion mega) (“large upper room”)

 

The setting for the first Holy Communion: This “large upper room” was not merely a physical place where people ate a meal.  It was a sacred place where the Old Testament Passover sacrifice—the shadow—was brought to its conclusion, and where the first New Testament Holy Communion—the reality—was celebrated through the sharing of Jesus’ body and blood.

 

The cradle of the early church: Theologians often identify this large upper room with what is commonly called “Mark’s upper room.”  It was later the place where the disciples gathered and devoted themselves continually to prayer, experiencing the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:13–14), and it became the starting point from which the early church in Jerusalem emerged.

 

Point for meditation: The “Mega (large)” space prepared by the Lord was not designed as a place to display power.  Rather, it was deliberately prepared as “a channel of salvation where the bread of sacrifice is broken and the prayers of the Holy Spirit are accumulated.”

 

2.   The essence of “Mega” (“large”): Secular greatness or spiritual abundance?

 

In modern Christianity, a “megachurch” is often defined by its outward “greatness”—the size of its building, the number of its members, the scale of its annual finances, and so forth.  However, the “anagaion mega” (“large upper room”) in this passage asks what the true standard of “Mega” (“greatness”) should be for a megachurch.

 

Ἐστρωμένον (estromēnon, “furnished and ready”): This word refers to a condition in which carpets or cloths have been spread out and the furnishings needed for a meal have been “perfectly set up.”  The Lord did not merely make the space large; He also perfectly prepared the interior, so that souls could find rest there and enter into deep fellowship with the Lord.

 

Reflection for modern megachurches: If today’s megachurches focus only on increasing their outward size and scale (Mega), while lacking within themselves the gospel of the cross that remembers the body and blood of the Lord, as well as the careful hospitality and loving preparation (estromēnon) for souls, then they are not the “large upper room” that the Lord is seeking.

 

3.   The present identity and mission of the “megachurch” viewed through the “large upper room”

 

The true mission of a “large church” presented by this passage can be summarized as follows.

 

                    First, it must become a place of “sacrifice and humility.”

 

Jesus wrapped a towel around His waist in this large upper room and washed His disciples’ feet (John 13), and He gave His own body for them.  A megachurch should not be a fortress that displays its power.  Rather, it should become a “table of sacrifice” that humbles itself more and more and is willing to be broken more and more for others.

 

  Second, it must have a spacious embrace that welcomes “those who do not know where they are going.”

 

  The reason the Lord prepared the space to be “large (Mega)” was so that it could eventually contain the people of salvation who would spread from Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth.  Likewise, a modern megachurch should not merely strengthen its own exclusive circle.  Instead, it should become a generous spiritual space (anagaion) that welcomes, without conditions, wounded souls and those who have nowhere else to go.

 

Meditation summary”

 

The “anagaion mega (large upper room)” that Jesus showed the disciples was not a temple that boasted outward splendor. Rather, it was a space of worship and spiritual community where the Lord’s body and blood were given and where the work of the Holy Spirit began.

 

I am deeply reminded that the true value of a modern megachurch does not depend on the number of its members or the size of its building.  Rather, it depends on “how faithfully the gospel of Jesus’ cross is being proclaimed in purity within that spacious place, and how faithfully a table of love for souls has been prepared (hetoimazō)” (Internet).