Mark 14:13-25
It's time to celebrate the Passover. After spending the night in Bethany, Jesus sends two of his disciples into the city and tells them to look for a man with a pitcher of water and then to follow him, and then:
13 Say to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guest chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us.
I'll be honest, it was probably a little odd to be followed back to your house and have two men ask to use your guest chamber. But this goodman of the house must have known, or at least heard, about who Jesus, the Master, was. Because he was willing to give what he had to offer, he might have witnessed this most precious scene that the Church still models to this day. The love of Christ for His own powerfully displayed. When facing the greatest battle of the ages, He poured himself out for them, instructing them of things to come, explaining tangibly what was about to happen. It isn't enough to walk with Him, He wanted to take up residence within their hearts. He knew who would betray Him, but His grace and truth were extended to him without reservation.
17 And in the evening he cometh with the twelve.
18 And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me.
19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, is it I?
20 And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve that dippeth with me in the dish.
21 The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to the man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born.
22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.
You see, He intended to give it all for them. He satisfied the impossible demands created by our sin. He held nothing in reserve but paid it all to redeem us.
23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.
Oh, the precious blood of Jesus. Of all the treasures the creator has shared with mankind, it is the greatest. When the high priests entered the Holy of Holies to present the blood of the lamb in order to roll back the sin of the nation, he only created a pale illustration of the Resurrected Son of God presenting the blood before the Father in Heaven that would take away the sin of the world.
24 And he said unto them, This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many.
25 Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
What would it have been like to experience this? We can't travel back in time and sit with Him at the table in that borrowed room, but if you have surrendered your life to Christ and confess Him as your Savior, you will sit with Him at a much larger table and experience the profound honor of being served by Jesus himself. You will be the welcomed guest of The Lamb and a born-again child of God enjoying the presence of the Father. Not the upper room, but much, much higher.