Bible Study with Danelle

When I am reading through these first-hand accounts of the stories of Jesus, I try to put myself in the shoes of the people He interacted with.

The Master of the House

First, I want to talk about the Master who’s home Jesus and His disciples used for the last supper. We don’t know much about this man, but what we do know is a few things:

• He was a relatively well-off man if he had servants carrying water and doing chores in his home.
• He knew who Jesus was and possibly was a follower.
• He had prepared a room for a Passover dinner, but did he plan to use it for his own family or did he feel a call to prepare it not knowing what for.

Do you ever have the urge to do something, but you didn’t understand why? Did you ever plan something and then nothing goes as planned? I am not saying all the time, but God has a way of working in mysterious ways that we don’t always understand. In the case of this man, he either was following that call or he had to give up his original plan to serve Jesus.

The Disciples

Second, let’s move on to the Lord’s Supper and Jesus telling the disciples that one will betray Him. As a disciple and after everything they have been through, it is probably unimaginable that they would betray him. Judas is probably panicking a bit at this point because he knows Jesus knows. While it is awful that one betrayed Him, it had to happen in order for all the events to play out as they were supposed to. Still, Jesus says

…woe to the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.

Mark 14:21

Jesus is warning us not to reject His forgiveness and leadership. Our eternity depends on it.

Jesus then goes on to tell them that the broken bread and the wine were a symbol of the new covenant. That they symbolized His body and blood. As a disciple with no idea what is about to happen in the next few days, I can’t imagine how confusing that would have been to hear. But they are familiar with God’s covenants of the past. Jesus tells them that His blood will be poured out for many. Meaning, His death will be the penalty for our sins and will provide forgiveness and spiritual salvation that is available to everyone. Not just Jews. Everyone. I can’t even imagine hearing this as a disciple, sitting in that room. At this point, I don’t know what I would think. I would have seen so much, but still I think I would have not fully understood what was about to happen.

Peter

Lastly, let’s talk about Peter. As they leave the home and go to the Mount of Olives, Jesus tells them they will all be scattered like sheep with no shepherd. Peter is adamant that he will not fall away. He would die with him and not deny him. But, Jesus tells him that he will deny Jesus three times before the crows twice. When I think of Peter, I can’t help but imagine the actor from The Chosen. (If you have not watched it, this week is a great time to binge-watch all three seasons!) I imagine in my head Peter so devoted, protective, and faithful to Jesus that you would never think he would deny him. His tough exterior hides the insecure interior. And, as we find out later (spoiler alert), Peter does deny knowing Jesus to save his own life.

I can’t say that I would have done any differently in the circumstances. I would love to be like Peter and say “I would die for you Jesus!”, but if put to the test, what would I really do? In our American society, if we stand up for Jesus, we may lose friends or other 1st world consequences, but in other parts of the world, people do lose their lives if it is found out they are followers of Jesus. I heard on the radio today that in many Asian countries, they do not have access to the bible at all. Many have to hide them if they do have one. It can be a scary place in other parts of the world to be a follower of Jesus. This is similar to what the disciples were facing. What Peter was facing. With Passover happening, Jerusalem was crowded with people from all over. The religious leaders of the time did not want Jesus’ following to grow any larger and they were going to use the opportunity to make an example out of Him.

I pray that as you continue through the week, we all examine our hearts on what we would have done in the disciples’ shoes. Some Christians are living this out today. They are losing their lives to follow Christ. At some point, you may be faced with a lesser extreme consequence when standing up for Jesus, but are you prepared in your heart to do that?