Following

Following

Mark 14:12-16, NLT

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you?” 13So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions: “As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. 14At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 15He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” 16So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.

Setting the Scene

The Passover took place on one night and at one meal, but the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was celebrated with it, continued for a week. The first day of the feast was technically the day after Passover, but the two were often seen as the same. Thus, this was either Wednesday night (the day before Passover) or Thursday of Jesus’ last week (the night of the Passover meal). The highlight of the festival was the Passover meal, a family feast with lamb as the main course. The sacrifice of a lamb and the spilling of its blood commemorated Israel’s escape from Egypt after the blood of a lamb painted on their doorposts had saved their firstborn sons from death. After applying the blood, the Israelites were to prepare the meat for food and eat it in their traveling clothes.

Jesus and his disciples had celebrated Passover together in previous years, so Jesus’ disciples assumed they would again have the Passover meal with Jesus. The meal had to be eaten in Jerusalem, however, so the disciples asked Jesus where they should go to make preparations. His response indicates he had made plans in advance.

After being with Jesus for three years, learning from him and learning about him, these men were becoming real disciples. The first words of their question “Where do you want us to go?” reveal their willingness to do whatever Jesus said they should do. Notice that after Jesus answered their question, they didn’t express doubts or question him further. Instead, after receiving their instructions, “the two disciples went”; or as Matthew wrote, “the disciples did as Jesus told them” (Matthew 26:19, NLT). Then, as they followed Jesus’ instructions, the men “found everything just as Jesus had said.”

These faithful men could not know what each day would bring, but they were learning to follow Jesus step-by-step. Each step was guided by God’s sovereign will. They wouldn’t fully understand Jesus’ identity and mission until after his resurrection and ascension, but they certainly had progressed far beyond where they had started in their relationship with him. They were coming to understand the partnership of their calling: They go, God provides; they work, God blesses.

Getting Personal

How long have you been following Christ? In what ways has your faith grown over those years?

Which aspect of “following” do you find most difficult: asking for instructions, being willing to do what God instructs, or obeying him? Why?

How can you know what God wants you to do?

The key to following Christ is submission: asking him for instructions, having the attitude of being willing to do whatever he says, and then following through—obeying him. We don’t know how God is preparing the way or working out the details of our journey, so we ask in faith, “Where do you want us to go?” Then we go, also in faith, excited about seeing God’s plans unfold. Regardless of how long you have been a Jesus-follower, the process is the same. Daily ask him to reveal what he wants you to do (usually that happens through his Word). Then, when you know, do it! That’s submission.

Talking to God

In a culture that celebrates individualism and autonomy, it is increasingly countercultural to submit your own plans and desires to anyone or anything else. But in your prayer time today, submit yourself to the lordship of Christ without fear, because his plans for you are for your ultimate good and for his glory.