Wednesday October 28, 2020

Today’s Reading: Mark 14:12-16

So the disciples went out, entered the city, and found it just as He had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

Mark 14:16

Reflection: God’s timing is perfect. When the disciples are directed to prepare a place for the Passover meal, Jesus instructs them on how they will find everything provided. As they enter the city, they meet the man who is ready to receive them with all that they need, just as Jesus has stated.

Jesus and His disciples share their last supper together during the time of the Jewish festival of Passover. Passover was a time when the Jews remembered how God delivered them from Egypt. After sending plagues upon Egypt to convince Pharoah to let the people go, God revealed a plan for His people to flee from Egypt in one night. That evening, every Jewish household was instructed to sacrifice a lamb to God, and to use its blood to mark their door posts. All firstborn males in every household throughout the country would die, except for those whose homes were marked by the blood of the lamb – these people were spared from God’s final plague upon Egypt. With this sign of God’s power, His people escaped out of Egypt on foot and began their journey to the Promised Land.

Passover was a time not only to recall God’s great deliverance from the bondage of slavery, but also a time to point to a greater deliverance that He would afford His people through the sacrifice of the Spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ. Jesus would offer Himself to free God’s people from the bondage of sin and death. His blood would be shed to mark those who believe in His Salvation. Passover paints a picture of God’s great and abounding love. While His people are in bondage, God through Jesus comes to rescue them, to deliver them just as He did back in Egypt.

How fitting is it that Jesus, in God’s perfect timing, gives His life on the Cross during the time of Passover. God in His mercy times things in order to connect the dots of His overarching Work through centuries, and also watches our personal timelines, appointing miraculous happenings (like the disciples’ preparation for Passover) perfectly. He is faithful to provide all that we need exactly when we need it. He uses His timing not only to meet our needs, but also to remind us our ability to trust in Him. We can always assume that God’s timing is perfect.

Prayer: Almighty God, You behold all time. You are not bound by it, but are powerful to work in and through it in Your Sovereignty. Thank You for showing me that You time all things perfectly, and that You provide our greatest needs as You see fit. Thank You for the ways that You provide Your constant care. Thank You especially for Jesus, and for doing the perfect Work of Salvation through Him. I praise You Lord, in Jesus’ Holy Name, AMEN.

Thru the Bible in a year (credit: Biblestudytools.com: Mark 14:1-31; 1 Kings 8; Hosea 9:17-10:15