12 On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” 13 So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” 16 So the disciples set out and went to the city and found everything as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal. 17 When it was evening, he came with the twelve. 18 And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” 19 They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” 20 He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. 21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”
Prayer Focus: This is the second dinner that Jesus shares with his disciples in the 14th chapter of Mark. As opposed to the one in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, this one seems highly orchestrated – much like Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem at the beginning of the week. The Gospel of Mark connects this second meal with the Passover meal. Remember that the Passover meal celebrates God’s deliverance of the people from Egypt. And yet, Jesus recognizes that one at the table with him will betray him. Without that betrayal, our liberation from sin would not have happened. But the betrayal still troubles Jesus and distresses the disciples. Pray for one who has betrayed you. Pray for forgiveness and liberation for the other, and for you.
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