Luke 22:7-13 A Jar of Water
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: November 29, 2018 Luke 22:7-13
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.” They said to him, “Where will you have us 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 tell 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; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
(Understanding the Text) Jesus was aware that the priests were after Him, so He took care not to be predictable or isolated. Did He go to the temple every day partly to be surrounded by crowds? He knew that He had to keep His future locations secret from all of the disciples, even Peter and John. He sent those two to prepare the feast because He could trust them to follow His directions and not betray His location. Jesus may have already made a secret agreement with someone for a place where He could have this last supper with His disciples and give them the last lessons that they needed, or it may have been a Spirit-directed situation, but I think it makes more sense that Jesus had made arrangements with someone secretly ahead of time.
The supper is thought to have been held at the home of John Mark’s mother named Mary. I studied about this when I was reading the same story in Mark and John, I think. I’m not sure who the man with the jar of water was, but he might have been one of Mary’s servants, or he might have simply been another of Jesus’ followers who He could trust, maybe one of Mary’s friends. I learned when I studied this before that a man carrying a jar of water would have stood out because women were usually the ones carrying jars of water. There was also a code phrase to ensure that the two disciples made it to the correct house. If this was Mary’s house, her husband was still alive and a follower of Jesus because the disciples were instructed to speak with the master of the house.
Peter and John looked around as they heard Jesus call them over to Him. They hurried over to see what needed to be done. Jesus told them that their job would be to prepare the Passover for everyone. Okay. Where? They asked this expecting to be told a specific place. Instead, they were a little confused to hear instructions about following a man with a water jar and speaking a set sentence to the master of the house. However, this was not the first time they had been sent on this kind of strange mission. Earlier in the week before the triumphal entry, they had been sent to get a donkey that they had not known anything about either.
I wonder if participating in these two subterfuges had put Peter into a spy frame of mind? Instead of focusing on the lessons of his Master, was Peter picturing himself as a spy that King David might have had? Was he dreaming of sneaking into enemy territory and coming out as a great soldier like one of David’s mighty men? If so, he didn’t realize how pathetically unqualified he was for that role. He didn’t understand that the very qualities that qualified him to be one of the twelve and Jesus’ choice for leading out in the formation of church was his simple straightforward honesty and obedience and trust in His Master. It was Peter’s simplicity, not subtlety or fighting skills, that fitted him to serve God.
The two disciples may not have liked having kitchen duty, but they were obedient to their Master’s wishes doing the best they could. I wonder what they spoke about as they worked. Did they discuss what they would do when their Master became King of the Jews? Did they talk about the events of the past few days? Did they have young John Mark following them around asking them questions about their adventures and their Master?
(Revelation of God) Jesus said that unless we become like little children, we cannot enter into heaven. God does not need us to be cunning and skillful. He needs us to trust Him. He is wiser, more cunning, more competent, more aware of all the variables of a situation, more of an expert in tactics, and more knowledgeable about our enemies than we will ever be, so we need to let Him lead while we follow trusting in His love, power, and wisdom.
(Application) My application for myself is that I need to stop dreaming about great results and holding up other people’s standards as my standard of being successful for Jesus. My usefulness is in my simplicity, directness, love and acceptance of others, and in any humility that I am capable of. My obedience and willingness to follow where Jesus leads is my skill. I need to stop judging myself by holding up a standard set by others in the church or a stereotype of what a successful servant of God is like and go back to the simplicity of being with Jesus and listening for His voice and accepting whatever role He gives me.
(Prayer) Dear God, please help me to always remain willing, obedient, simple, and loving. I can do none of these on my own.