Attention to Detail

A fresco in the Vatican, with the filoque, in Greek. Attention to detail!

Scripture:

Luke 22:7   Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸ So Jesus^a sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.” ⁹ They asked him, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?” ¹⁰ “Listen,” he said to them, “when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters ¹¹ and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ’ ¹² He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.” ¹³ So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

Observation:

Jesus had already taken care of all the details surrounding what would become known as, “the Last Supper.” At this moment, he became the host, who would provide for his disciples. 

Had Jesus given the disciples an address for this meal, Judas would have known where to send those who wanted to arrest him. The smallest details were already cared for by Jesus, and this included the way in which they would find the room for the meal. Peter and John are placed here in direct contrast with Judas. Judas will betray Jesus, while Peter and John willingly follow Jesus’ direction, even when it didn’t quite make sense to them. 

Women usually carried the jars of water, therefore, it would have been easy to spot the man. Everything is now set, and Jesus has made certain that he can have this special Passover meal together with his disciples in an uninterrupted setting. This, a meal, to be repeated throughout the generations of Christianity. 

Application:

Sometimes we wonder about the role that we play in the kingdom of God. In this story we find a man, carrying a water jar, and he may not have known the significance of what he was doing. This leads you to believe that Jesus had gone and met with the man and made all the arrangements in advance. Part of that arrangement was to ask a man to do a job he wouldn’t normally do, something that was left for women. 

I wonder what his initial reaction was to that request. He wouldn’t have understood the significance of this particular job, and yet, it was necessary for the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation for the world. A man, carrying a water jar! 

There are days when the Lord will ask us to do something that we may deem menial. From our perspective, it’s a job that someone else ought to be doing, and maybe it feels like a waste of our time. However, our Lord is still in the business of paying attention to the details. Our responsibility is to be obedient, even when it may not make sense to us. The smallest, most insignificant task may have kingdom implications. Pay attention, even when God is asking you to care for the smallest detail. 

Prayer:

Lord, help me to have ears to hear what you are saying to me today. Please, don’t let the things of this world distract me from divine assignments. Amen.