Go and Prepare — TDW Kids

Where Do You Want Us to Prepare?

☐

On the Day of Unleavened Bread, Jesus gave two of His disciples a job: “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat” (Luke 22:8). Every step of that day shows a Lord who knew what was ahead.

They asked first. Mark says the disciples asked Jesus, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?” (Mark 14:12). They did not choose a place on their own. They asked Jesus what He wanted.

Asking the right Person. The disciples could have picked any house in Jerusalem. Instead they asked Jesus. Prayer is how we ask Him today, and His Word is where He answers.

Peter and John. Mark says Jesus “sent out two of His disciples” (Mark 14:13). Luke tells us who they were: Peter and John (Luke 22:8). Both were fishermen whom Jesus had called to follow Him, and He trusted them with this work.

A man with a pitcher. Jesus said, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him” (Mark 14:13). Jesus did not give them an address or a name. He gave them a sign to look for.

The Teacher says. They were to tell the owner, “The Teacher says, ‘Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’” (Mark 14:14). The owner most likely knew who the Teacher was. Matthew adds that Jesus' message said, “My time is at hand” (Matthew 26:18).

A room made ready. Jesus said the owner “will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared” (Mark 14:15). Someone had already gotten the room ready. Jesus knew it would be ready before His disciples arrived.

Room for Jesus. When Jesus was born, “there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). On His last night before the cross, a guest room was waiting for Him.

Getting the meal ready. God's law said the Passover lamb was to be eaten roasted, “with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs” (Exodus 12:8). Preparing most likely meant getting these things and the room ready for Jesus and the twelve.

The meal He was ready for. At that table Jesus would say His body was given for them and His blood was shed for them in a new covenant. The room was ready for the Passover, and Jesus was ready to give Himself for our sins. On the third day He rose again.

What to do. Before you decide how to serve Jesus, ask Him. Pray, read His Word and ask what He wants. Then do the next thing He shows you.

Matthew 26:17-19, Mark 14:12-16 and Luke 22:7-13 tell how the Passover was prepared. Every step shows a Lord who knew every detail and disciples who learned to trust Him one step at a time.

The question (Mark 14:12). “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?” The disciples' first move was to ask Jesus what He wanted. Serving the Lord starts with asking the Lord.

Directions without an address (Luke 22:10). “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.” Jesus gave Peter and John a sign, not a map. They would learn the next step only by taking the first one.

Katalyma (22:11). “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” The word for guest room is katalyma (say: kah-TAH-loo-mah). Luke used the same word at Jesus' birth: “there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). At His birth there was no room; on His last night before the cross a room was waiting.

Furnished and prepared (Mark 14:15). The upper room was already “furnished and prepared.” Someone had readied it before Peter and John arrived. Matthew adds Jesus' message to the owner: “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples” (Matthew 26:18). Jesus knew His hour. Nothing about that night caught Him by surprise.

What the law asked. The meal followed Exodus 12:8: the lamb “roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs.” Peter and John were most likely the ones who gathered these things and set the room in order.

The Lamb at the table. The One who sent them to prepare the Passover was preparing to give Himself. At that table He would say, “This is My body which is given for you” and speak of “the new covenant in My blood.” The next day He died for our sins, and on the third day He rose.

For you. Following Jesus often looks like Peter and John's day: ask Him what He wants, and take the step He shows you. You do not need the whole plan to obey the next part of it.

Just as He Had Said

☐

Peter and John went into the city to do what Jesus had told them. “So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover” (Luke 22:13).

Each Gospel says it. Mark says the disciples “found it just as He had said to them” (Mark 14:16). Matthew says, “So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them” (Matthew 26:19).

Obey, then see. Peter and John did not see the man with the pitcher until they went. They did not see the room until they followed him. They saw that Jesus was right after they obeyed.

A question about a tax. Another time, men who collected the temple tax asked Peter, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” (Matthew 17:24). Peter went into the house, and Jesus spoke to him about it before Peter could bring it up (17:25).

Jesus knew first. Jesus already knew what the men had asked Peter. He knows what you are facing before you tell Him, and He still wants you to tell Him.

Strange directions. Jesus told Peter, “go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you” (17:27).

For Me and you. Jesus did not only give an order. He promised to supply what Peter needed: a coin to pay the tax “for Me and you.”

A colt. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, two disciples were sent to bring a colt. They “found it just as He had said to them” (Luke 19:32). Again and again, Jesus' word proved true. He said His words “will by no means pass away” (Luke 21:33).

The greatest promise. At the Last Supper Jesus said His body was given and His blood shed for us in a new covenant. Earlier Jesus had said, “And the third day He will rise again” (Luke 18:33). On the third day He rose, just as He had said.

What to do. Think of one thing Jesus tells you in the Bible that you have not been doing, like forgiving someone or telling the truth. Do it this week, and trust Him with what happens next.

“So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover” (Luke 22:13). Mark says the same (Mark 14:16), and Matthew puts it this way: “So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover” (Matthew 26:19).

Hetoimazo. The word for prepare is hetoimazo (say: het-oy-MAHD-zoh), to make ready. Jesus said, “Go and prepare the Passover for us” (22:8), and by evening “they prepared the Passover.” What Jesus commanded, they did.

Obedience before sight. The proof came after the obedience. They had to enter the city before they could meet the man, and follow him before they could see the room.

Jesus spoke first (Matthew 17:24-25). When collectors of the temple tax questioned Peter, “Jesus anticipated him”: He raised the matter before Peter could. Then He asked whether kings take taxes “from their sons or from strangers.” As God's Son, Jesus owed nothing, yet He chose not to give offense.

Supply inside the command (17:27). “Go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.” The command sounded strange, but it carried its own supply. Jesus promised Peter what He asked of him, and He counted Peter in with Himself: “for Me and you.”

Free, yet willing. Jesus' question showed that the Son owes no tax for His Father's house. Yet He provided for it, “lest we offend them” (17:27). The Son who owed nothing would soon pay a far greater debt that was not His: our sin.

The same words (Luke 19:32). When the two disciples were sent for the colt, they also “found it just as He had said to them.” Every time Jesus' word was tested by obedience, it proved true. The same Lord who was right about a pitcher, a room and a colt is right about sin and forgiveness.

The word that mattered most. That night Jesus said His body was “given for you” and His blood “shed for you” in the new covenant. Earlier Jesus had said, “And the third day He will rise again” (Luke 18:33). The cross and the empty tomb came just as He had said. The risen Lord is the One we remember.

For you. Is there something Jesus has already made clear in His Word that you are waiting to understand fully before you obey? Peter and John went first and saw second. Take the step.

📖

Complete all sections to finish!

Read each section and answer the questions correctly.