Given December 30, 2014
While reading my daily Bible passage about the last days of Jesus, the part about preparing the upper room for the last supper brought a thought to my mind. Luke 22:10-12 tells us, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.” Jesus had a need and He had apparently prepared people ahead of time to meet that need. The man with the jar of water, the owner of the house, and his disciples were all a part of the plan. The Lord’s need was fulfilled by others. Almost immediately, other Bible passages came to my mind about similar circumstances where the Lord had a need.
Jesus was planning His final trip to Jerusalem which we know as, “The Triumphal Entry” and He needed a donkey to ride in on. “Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” (Matthew 21:1-3). The Lord needs them. The owner of the animals readily gave them to the Lord because He needed them.
Another time, Jesus was ministering to a large crowd on a hillside and His disciples were concerned that the people were getting hungry and needed to go get something to eat. Jesus told them to give the people something to eat and they complained that it would take half a year’s wages to feed so many. I can imagine Jesus saying something like, “OK then what do we have?” “Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” (John 6:8-9). Jesus had a need and a boy in the crowd offered his lunch. In Jesus’ hands, that small lunch fed around 15,000 people that day.
A home owner, a donkey owner and a boy with a lunch, they all had something the Lord needed and were willing to give it up for His use. Great things were accomplished as a result. Yes, Jesus could have miraculously created an upper room, a donkey or food for thousands but He wanted to use what was already there; to involve people in His plans. The Bible doesn’t say but I can imagine that those who gave were truly blessed. My question is this: What do we have that the Lord has need of? If the Lord directly asked you for something you had, would you give it? Of course you would. But what if someone else came and asked for something saying, “The Lord has need of it.” What would your response be? Do we hear His request when the offering plate comes by or when we hear of a benevolent need in our community? “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.‘”(Matthew 25:40).
In the coming year, let’s be more aware of the needs around us and be willing to offer our time, expertise, or money to help meet those needs. The Lord needs it and we have it. Offer it for His use and see what happens.