A Blossom Bible Podcast
A Blossom Bible Podcast
Mark 14:12-16 Daily Drugeries and Divine Appointments
We'll be in Mark, chapter 14 today. Mark, chapter 14, verse 12. All right, well, today has a title. It doesn't happen all the time, but it just came to me. Title Daily Drudgery and Divine Appointment. See Daily Drudgery and Divine Appointment. Okay, I'll get in here. All right, divine Appointment is what we're talking about today.
Speaker 1:In normal everydayness of life, christian perspective is that God has a special and peculiar purpose and plan. A lot of big words in there. Life is divinely designed. It's not a chance. Now we are coming close to the cross in our account. Here we are we could say Thursday of that Passion Week and we are getting close here to the Last Supper. That's what's being planned in our passage today. Let's look at verse 12. We'll just read a little bit, I think up to verse 16, so not much today.
Speaker 1:Now, on the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him where do you want us to go and prepare that you may eat the Passover? And he sent out two of his disciples and said to them go into the city and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him wherever he goes in. Say to the master of the house. The teacher says where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples? Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared, there make ready for us. So his disciples went out and came into the city and found it, just as he had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. So here we are, thursday, and the disciples are looking for where should we prepare this Passover meal.
Speaker 1:One thing to kind of look at as we're getting close to the cross is the issue of time. This is just kind of a technical note here. The issue of time can be kind of tricky in the Bible because not all cultures consider time the same way. In the Gospels we're mixing several different ways of considering time. Well, there's a way we look at time right.
Speaker 1:New Year's Eve comes around and we do the countdown at midnight. Three, two, one, happy New Year and our time. Many times the day starts at midnight. Now, not many of us do things at midnight other than New Year's Eve, but you know, the calendar changes. The day changes at midnight. Now, not many of us do things at midnight other than New Year's Eve, but the calendar changes. The day changes at midnight For the Romans.
Speaker 1:Their way of looking at time, we see, comes into play on the cross a lot. They considered the day to start at midnight for sure. That's when it flipped over. The calendar flipped over but the workday started at six. So when you see time from a Roman perspective, like on the cross, we see that it was the ninth hour when Jesus died on the cross. That would be 3 pm. You start at 6 am when the workday started and you count your nine hours and you get to 3 pm. So the Romans could consider time on that kind of schedule.
Speaker 1:The Jews consider time sunset to sunset. The day starts when the sun goes down. The next day starts. So we look at this and the day starts on Thursday. Friday would start when the sun goes down on Thursday, totally different way than way we would look at time. So Thursday night when this Passover feast happens, it's really Friday in the mind of the Jew. It's good to keep these things in mind as we look at time because it can get a little bit confusing. Now Passover we see here verse 12. Let's just look at our account Now.
Speaker 1:The first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover lamb. The Passover, you'll remember, was that Independence Day celebration where the Jews remembered God's deliverance from Egypt. And they did it by sacrificing a lamb. Remember, god said I'm going to go through the land. Death will go through the land, death to the firstborn. And wherever I see the blood of the lamb on the door, I'll pass over. And so this whole independence happened there, with the killing of the firstborn, but the deliverance of the firstborn through the blood of the lamb. So they remember this by the feast, the Passover feast. It's an independence day. Now they're totally dependent on the Romans at this point, but they're still able to celebrate this feast of remembering God's deliverance.
Speaker 1:And Jesus' disciples ask Jesus what's the plan and where do you want us to prepare for the Passover feast? Now they're not thinking far ahead. I like this because I'm a procrastinator, but it's that night that they're going to have this feast. And they're just now saying, well, where should we go prepare for this feast? Saying, well, where should we go prepare for this feast? And there's this plan.
Speaker 1:And notice, as we've looked at it, it involves a little bit of prophecy, right? Jesus doesn't just say, well, I'm glad you asked, I have it all figured out, you know. And you know, go talk to this guy. I've talked to him. It doesn't work that way. You see, it's a prophetic plan here, as Jesus says. Well, here's how it's going to go down. You're going to go into the city and you're going to see a guy, a guy with a pitcher of water. Follow that guy to the house. When he goes into the house, I want you to go in there and ask the master of the house where's the room that we can celebrate this Passover? And Jesus gives them this whole prophetic thing of how they're going to find a room.
Speaker 1:Now it seems rather simple, though, because in verse 16, the disciples went out. Notice, they went out, they did what Jesus said. They came into the city and they found it just as Jesus had said to them, and they prepared it. So it seems rather simple in the end, because the disciples find it exactly the way Jesus said, and they did it. Now this is a practical thing. We see, preparing the Passover We'll see some more practical stuff here.
Speaker 1:Today Seems rather simple, but when you pull back and look at it, in this daily drudgery of planning and getting water and things like that, there is this divine appointment. Jesus has a divine plan the way things are going to go down and he gives it to them Notice there by telling them about this servant carrying water. We assume that this guy was a servant, because men typically not my idea, this is the way it went down in those days men typically didn't do things like get water unless they were servants. That was typically a woman's job. So this guy is most obviously some kind of servant. He goes to a room it's a bigger place, honestly, it's a bigger house so probably somebody who is rather well-to-do. But the servant is part of the plan and it's the normal daily drudgery of getting water. He was going about his business and I point that out because this is something of application for all of us.
Speaker 1:We all have a daily drudgery. We might call it the grind. Right, it's our job. Now, some of us enjoy what we do. Maybe you enjoy what you do and so you would never call it that. But you know, the funny thing is that anything that you do for an amount of time, it becomes drudgery to some degree it becomes a grind. What you do, the chores of life, the errands of life, school, that's a grind, sometimes right Not right now because it's summer, but you know it's that feeling of this is just what I do. I don't know too many of us that are like Snow White, that wake up, you know, and the butterflies and the birds are tweeting. We just go it's another beautiful day to do what I meant to do. It's just something that we do.
Speaker 1:I point that out because it's so easy to resent the normalcy of what we do, the drudgery of what we do. But I think it's interesting and we'll see this over and over again in the Bible, and we'll see this over and over again in the Bible that it's in the normal drudgery of life that God orchestrates divine appointments Every single time, across the board. It's in the normal everyday things that God orchestrates divine appointments. Divine appointment that's a very Christianese thing to say. Right, that's a very Bible thing to say. That doesn't even make sense. But you know what I mean. Right, it's a Christian thing to say.
Speaker 1:A divine appointment that God has a plan. And we can picture it God's planner, calendar Before smartphones. Right, you had the planner, you know calendar kind of thing that you would buy in the new year and you'd write down the things that you had planned. God has a planner. So it seems Now, because he's God, it's not quite that simple, right, because he's omniscient, right, god knows everything. It's not so simple as God just plans the days of our life.
Speaker 1:There's this thing of free will, right, I'm a big advocate of free will. You have a choice to come here today or not to come. You have a choice to do the things that you do Every single day. You have free will. I think we see that pretty clearly. But for God, he knows, he already knows the beginning and the end. That's kind of one of those things we see about him. So when we look at God's calendar, it's all filled with the things that we would end up doing. Did God determine it? Well, maybe right, did we decide it? It seems that way. So our brain can kind of hurt over these things. It's kind of a God issue, so we kind of have to loose grip that. But check this out.
Speaker 1:Here's what David says in Psalm 139, verse 14. Psalm 139, verse 14. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works and my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from you. When I was made in secret and you skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth, your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. And in your book they are all written the days fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them. So David looks at this idea before I was even born, you were there forming me, right?
Speaker 1:The prophet Jeremiah hears something really similar to this. He says before you were born, I ordained you a prophet to the nations. And David says the same thing here's God making us before we were born. And he goes here's why I've made you the way I've made you. All the characteristics. He puts them in us. He goes it's not just because I wanted to make you the way I made you, it's because I have a plan. And David here looking at it, he says in your book, god, I don't know where that book is, it's not a literal book, I don't think in this case. But he says all your days are fashioned for me. God, not only do you make me, but you make the plan for my life. Now again, how does it work? We'll let that play out in life, but there is this idea that God has a plan for our lives. It's established. He's made us for that plan. There's no accidents and we'll get into it. But the days are divinely appointed. Sometimes, it would seem God lets us peek into what these appointments are all about, but I think a lot of times we'll just have to wait and see.
Speaker 1:But here's another verse that kind of says this Ephesians 2.10. It's one you know, and listen to this if you could. Ephesians 2.10, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. That's interesting. God makes us the idea there is that we're his poema, his work of art. Right, you know that workmanship. We're created in Christ Jesus for good works. Now check this out which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So that's a huge truth. God creates us for good things, and those good things he's already figured out beforehand. Now we're looking at this from this really distinct perspective that God has a plan, divine will. Now, the thing we see about this and this is where my brain started to go all over the place this morning is that through the Bible you see this over and over again. I think it would be great to read the Bible with this in mind. God's plan, how God works out his plan. Let me just share a couple with you. Try to tune in all right.
Speaker 1:Genesis 24, an example of this it's Abraham. He already has his son Isaac, and he sends his servant, eleazar, to go get his son a wife. That's the way it worked back then, right? And Eleazar, the servant. He prays when he gets there to find his master's son a wife and he says this it's good to pray in times like this. Now, let it be that the young woman to whom I say please let down your pitcher that I may drink, and she says drink, I will also give your camels a drink. That's pretty huge, right, let her be the drink. I will also give your camels a drink. That's pretty huge, right. Let her be the one that you've appointed for your servant, isaac. And by this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master. So it's a pretty tall order here, right?
Speaker 1:Eleazar comes to this well and he says I want to know that I'm doing what God wants me to do, that this is a person God wants Isaac to have as a wife. And he says God, when I get there, let it be that when I ask somebody for a drink, that she says oh, I'll give you a drink and I'll give your camels a drink too. That's no small order, right To you know. Put a bucket down in a well and gather water. And we find out that, as he was saying this, verse 15 says, before he had finished speaking, that, behold, rebecca came and the whole thing goes down. Right, it's the right time, the right place. And Eleazar says, hey, can you give me a drink? Rebecca says, sure, and I'll just get water for your camels too. And he sits there and he just goes. Whoa, how did this just work out so completely? It was confirmation, but it was a divine appointment, right, normal, everyday thing for Rebecca to get water. And she came at the right time and she had the right heart and says this totally extravagant thing, I'm going to get water for your camels. And it changed the rest of her life, right, not an accident, notice, joseph had one of these things, had a bunch of these things actually, joseph, in Genesis 37, it's always tripped me out.
Speaker 1:Genesis 37, joseph is sent to check on his brothers. Things don't go well after that point. He gets thrown in a pit and all these things. That's part of the process. But Joseph is sent to check on his brothers. Now, in chapter 37, there's this one point that has always just tripped me out, because he's walking in a field. It literally says this he's walking in a field. Picture Joseph in a field of whatever wheat you know. And in the middle of this field he runs into this guy. It says, and he says where are my brothers? Have you seen them? Oh, yeah, I heard them. They said they were going to Dothan. And so Joseph goes to Dothan. Now you look at that and go well, that's weird. What is that doing there? Random guy in a random field pops up and says yeah, they're over there. Well, because from that point and maybe this isn't the best example of God's leading, but from that point Joseph's life went on a totally different trajectory. When he found his brothers, they threw him in a pit right, they sold him to some passing Ishmaelites, he was sold to Potiphar and time goes on. Process of everything, he becomes second in command over Egypt. There's a lot that goes on in the middle of that, by the way. But you look and you go what did this guy? Why is he wandering around in this field? I think I mean the Bible gives us that occurrence. I think it was specifically to say Joseph go over there. And he did.
Speaker 1:Now, it wasn't a pretty story until the very end, but it was a divine appointment in the drudgery of life, right Walking through a field, right time, right place. You could look at Moses in the book of Exodus. I mean we see his birth and his preservation and all that kind of stuff and you could point out plenty in that. But he ends up getting a job, so to speak, taking care of sheep in the desert. And there comes a point where one of his sheep wanders away and he follows it and he turns aside and he sees this burning bush and you look and you go. You know taking care of sheep is not what I would want to do. I've done that in elementary school. I did it at a camp we went to. It wasn't fun For two days. It was not fun cleaning up after sheep. But he was in the right place at the right time for the right occurrence. You could look at Joshua, his assistant. He was there as an assistant and the whole purpose was that he would eventually lead God's people into the promised land.
Speaker 1:You could look at Ruth. You can do a deep dive into the book of Ruth this summer and find just God's divine appointments. Some of them are really ugly right. Some death involved there in the book of Ruth, there in the book of Ruth. But you know her family situation, having Naomi as a mother-in-law. It changed the course of her life and really it ended up being a part of the DNA of Jesus from the book of Ruth. And so you look at this, it's just like playing the ball where it lies kind of situations and God works.
Speaker 1:David, her grandson just a couple more because there's so many of them. David, her grandson 1 Samuel 17. His father, jesse, says son, I want you to go check on your brothers, I want you to bring these 10 cheeses Great study on the 10 cheeses there in 1 Samuel 17. But David is sent as a messenger to his brothers with 10 cheeses I don't know what kind of cheeses they were, but cheeses. And while he's there, goliath comes out and starts storming about send me somebody to fight. You fight me, you cow, you know. And David says God could do this and you know the story. But it changed the course of his life. And how did it come about? Was when he was delivering 10 cheeses? Right, he was faithful with the things that were in front of him, the drudgery of doing that. He was faithful to it and it was all part of the plan.
Speaker 1:Now one last one and we'll turn, just so you guys stay awake. The book of Esther. Because it is so pointed, the book of Esther. We might need a couple seconds to find the book of Esther. Because it is so pointed, the book of Esther, we might need a couple seconds to find the book of Esther. I guess it's before the Psalms. There's Nehemiah, ezra, nehemiah and Esther, right? Is that how it goes? Is it after Nehemiah? There it is Esther, chapter 4. We want to see it in black and white here. Esther is an interesting book. The name of God never mentioned People. Some have a problem with this because God's name is never mentioned there in the book of Esther. But you know the story.
Speaker 1:Weird stuff happens in the book of Esther. Esther is one of the captives of Israel, there in the Persian empire, and there becomes a need for a new queen. Right, vashti drops the ball and the king says we need a new queen and there's a contest to find a new queen. That's what you do in the Persian empire, I guess. And Esther becomes the next queen. Well, while Esther is queen, a plan is hatched by evil Haman right Haman to exterminate the Jews. It's happened many times, right? It's happening today, right, a plan to exterminate God's people. And the plan is found out. And Esther is the one that, it seems, should go to the king and petition for her people. She's nervous, right, because you don't just walk into the king, even when you're the queen, you don't just do that. You could die if he's not in a good mood.
Speaker 1:And her cousin, mordecai, I think in chapter 4, verse 13. Esther's not so sure about this going to the king thing. Mordecai says this. Mordecai told them to answer Esther. Esther, do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews, for if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Now check this out. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.
Speaker 1:And you look at the whole story of Esther and what Mordecai says is profound here. He says, esther, you might be right here right now for this exact thing to bring deliverance to your people. And you go. Well, yeah, she's queen, I mean, at least that's a pretty nice thing, but she was just doing what was in front of her Right and there's that idea that perhaps and I will say more than perhaps, exactly that perhaps and I will say more than perhaps exactly God had her right where she was doing what she was doing for that exact moment. No accident, because that's the way God works, that's what all this means that we're looking at. There's just no accidents. Now, that's deep theology really. I'm not very deep, but that's deep theology. That's kind of like God has a plan, you know, because God knows everything and all these things. But I think we need to realize that in our lives, that even in the normal everyday things, god has a profound plan for you. It's good to remember that every single day, a divine appointment.
Speaker 1:Let's go back to verse 16, because you didn't think we would go back to Mark 14, verse 16. So Jesus lets them know it's gonna go down like this, and it did. But look at verse 16. This is kind of the process. So his disciples went out. That's obedience, right, his disciples went out, they went to it. Now, you know, maybe they weren't so surprised by these kinds of things from Jesus because he did it a few times. Right, go into the city. You'll find a horse, a donkey tied, get it. If they ask, say this. You know, it did kind of happen this way sometimes, but the deal is they actually obeyed, they went out, they got out of bed in the morning, they did what was in front of them. It started with obedience.
Speaker 1:I think, adding to this obedience, we do it because of this mystical nature of life, that life is not an accident. Your day is not just a waste of time. There's a plan. So this perspective adds to obedience. God, you know what you want and I want to obey. Now this happens in pretty profound ways sometimes in our life. Right, maybe it was a new job and you had the opportunity for a new job in your life and you prayed about it and you just had this peace. I think this is what God wants me to do and you step out and it's profound. New job, new thing In my ministry life I went to a place called Santee.
Speaker 1:I came to Texas and both of those times I just had to step out and say God, I think you might have a reason for us to go to these places and, looking back, it was right. Sometimes it's profound like that, but sometimes it's just more general. And listen, sometimes it's more general, it's just playing the ball where it lies. It's a job that we have and we're to do it. It's family to raise, and we do it. It's a class to go to and we do it. You know it's grandkids and we pray for them, right, and we can look at those things and the specific is really exciting and the everyday is kind of like it's a drudgery.
Speaker 1:But remember that God might have you in a place that you're in for such a time as this, that you're in for such a time as this. God has a plan and sometimes in these daily acts we see the calendar just kind of flipping by, right as they used to be the calendars. You flip by. I don't know what is this all about, but just to stay faithful to that, to do the thing that's in front of you. Faithfulness is important.
Speaker 1:So they went out Notice there in verse 16, his disciples went out, they came into the city and they found it, just as he had said. So they found it, exactly how Jesus had said. They discovered it was a divine appointment. I mean no joke here, the divine appointment, the guy with the picture. We follow him. We found a room.
Speaker 1:Now this is all pretty amazing. We don't have time for it, but you look at this, and Josephus tells us, in a few years after this, that the city of Jerusalem, during Passover, had two million people in it because everybody came to Jerusalem at that point. So picture the miracle of this whole thing. The city is packed, everybody's doing the same thing they're eating feasts, they're out-of-towners eating feasts, and it's the day of the feast, and there's this dude walking around with a pitcher, and he's got a room that's not taken. That's kind of a miracle, right, and it happens just the way Jesus said. We find it happens just the way God has planned. It happens just the way God has planned, and I think some of these things we see in our lifetime, right, some of these things go down and you look and you go, wow, that was a divine appointment. I think that person I talked to in line at the DMV, or whatever it's called here, you know divine appointment. You know that person I ran into at the store, you know divine appointment.
Speaker 1:Some of these things, though, I think will be the business of heaven. Maybe, right, I don't know that we're going to be watching VHS tapes up in heaven. You know, picture it that way. Sometimes we're going to watch our life. It seems kind of distressing maybe, but you know, I think in heaven we'll have plenty of time to go remember. Remember that one conversation you had, remember that one smile you gave to that person Save their life. Whoa, you know, and we'll see.
Speaker 1:But the idea here is to be faithful. That's hard, daily drudgery faithful. Here's a couple of verses. We'll read one and turn to one, then we'll be done. Listen to this Galatians 6, 8. Sorry, galatians 6, 9. And let us not grow weary. Now listen to it. Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. That's a promise, right? Don't grow weary in well-doing. The drudgery of life is very tiring For us adults. We all nod our heads. Right, it's tiring, but don't grow weary while doing good. In due season you shall reap if you do not lose heart. Let's turn to one last place, and this could easily be our benediction for today Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 20. Chapter 3, verse 20. And it's kind of a prayer. Paul says, ephesians 3.20,.
Speaker 1:Now to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all, we ask or think, and it's just another promise of who God is. Think about it. He's able to do exceedingly abundantly, above all we can ask or think I'm not even sure if that's proper English right. That's a lot of words, a lot of words in one little area Exceedingly abundantly, above all we can ask or think. He could have just said God can do above everything we can ask or think. God can do above everything we can ask or think, but he said exceedingly abundantly, above all we can ask or think.
Speaker 1:I think we hold on to that in our normal everyday life, this faith. God as I do what's in front of me, god, you'll do exceedingly abundantly, above all I can ask or think. We may not see it till heaven, but we trust that God will do it. So, god, in the little things of life, there's big things in life and those seem exciting. But it's the little things of life and the daily drudgery. But it's the little things of life and the daily drudgery, god, I pray that we wouldn't miss the idea that you have a plan for what we do Now, the people that we talk to, the way that we love the truth that we tell, the way that we patiently endure. God, you have a way of working good things and God, we can trust that in these things you'll do exceedingly, abundantly. Above all, we can ask or think, because you're just that good God. You don't give us this life to waste. God, we're here for a purpose. God, help us to rest in that. Even today we give you all these things in Jesus' name, amen.