Sunday, March 17 - Fifth Sunday in Lent

He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks: ‘Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there. (Luke 22: 10-12)

Scripture tells us He foresaw is own death. Three of the Gospels have this same story about His predicting what the disciples would find in the city. But I don’t think this passage is about Jesus' ability to find a place in the city or see into the future. Rather I think it is more about the importance in which He held the ritual of the Passover meal and what became His institution of the Lord’s Supper. What follows this passage is the core of our collective worship – the bread and wine of a shared communion, the meal which gives us solace and strength. This passage about finding the upper room to share a solemn meal reminds us that we are to prepare ourselves for receiving this shared sacrament. Jesus was intentionally engaging his disciples in this task so they would all come together in that upper room. Together, they received His body and blood, as together we receive His body and blood. Together, they prepared for this feast, as together we prepare for this feast – an intentional act of faith.

Tom O’Brien