“Prepare the Passover”
Subtopic: “Prepare Your Heart”
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
Prelude: - There are 2 sides to every story, there are 2 sides of a coin, 2 sides of the street. Well, when it comes to the Word of God there are 2 sides as well, there’s the natural and the spiritual. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”. Two sides. 1 Corinthians 15:40-50 deals with the 2 distinctions when it talks about celestial and terrestrial bodies, corruption and incorruption, mortal and immortality. The number 2 conveys the meaning of a union, division or the verification of facts by witnesses. A man and woman, though two in number, are made one in marriage Genesis 2:23- 24. There is also a union of 2 between Christ and the church 1 Corinthians 12.
The testimony of God is divided into two Testaments Old Testament and New Testament. His agreements with mankind are divided into Old and New Covenants. Adam, the first man, sinned and brought death and destruction into the world. Jesus, however, as the second Adam brings Life, the hope of the resurrection and eternal life 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 45-49.
Those who ultimately refuse to repent and obey God will be put to death forever by being thrown into the lake of fire, which is called the second death Revelation 21:8. This act will eternally divide those who are righteous from those who were unrighteous.
Two Witnesses, in the End Time, will appear on the world scene to testify and uphold the truth of God against the Beast and the False Prophet Revelation 11. Jesus sent the disciples out in groups of 2 so that they could not only testify about his teachings and miracles, but also be witnesses of those who accepted or rejected the gospel Mark 6:7-13.
Two can also convey comparison and contrast. The Old Covenant was based on physical blessings for obedience while the New is based on those that are spiritual.
In the Old Testament, physical circumcision was required so that a person could qualify to be part of God's people, while the New Testament requires circumcision of the heart. God formerly required obedience only to the letter of his laws but now calls upon man to obey their spiritual intent as well.
Today it is my desire to expound on the natural and open up the spiritual understanding of this topic “Prepare the Passover”.
PRAYER: -
SCRIPTURE: - Luke 22:7-13 “Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the Passover”.
OPENING: - Often times when we read the Bible, we will read it so fast, because either it is so close to our bedtime, or we are so tired that we hurry through scripture to say I have read my Bible today but in the process of doing that we often miss out on the meat of the Word of God. Sure we get some milk but the real sustenance we deprive ourselves of because we read it to fast. I have been guilty of this myself from time to time, reading too fast and missing out on some deep spiritual understanding, the meat of the Word of God that God wants me to get.
In Mark 5 when Jesus raised Jairus daughter from the dead He commanded that something should be given her to eat 5:43. He didn’t say give her something to drink but give her something that will give her sustenance, not just something that is quick and easy, but something that will have sustenance to it and give strength.
So today I want to slow down & dissect this passage of scripture feasting on the meat of the Word of God and not just the milk. This is Palm Sunday and there will be sermons in most churches about Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and how we need to have a triumphal entry into our hearts, our situations, our finances, etc. We know this week is called Holy Week, with Friday being Good Friday and Sunday Resurrection Sunday the day Jesus rose from the dead. However, there are some very vital things that took place down through this week leading up to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that I need to bring out on today that will give you strength as we prepare our hearts as they prepared the Passover.
In most of the KJV of the Bible verses 7-13 have a title above them that reads “Preparation for the Passover”. This title lest us know that these verse deal with the natural process of preparing the Passover, we read how Jesus sent Peter and John to go and prepare the Passover; however, I want us to dig deeper into these scriptures today and bring out the meat of this passage a deeper spiritual meaning.
Verse 7 says, “Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed”. UNDERSTAND: - Passover is the major Jewish spring festival which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, the Passover celebration will last seven or eight days. Contrary to popular belief this has nothing to do with the Easter bunny, easter eggs or anything like that at all. You know the story and have seen the Ten Commandments. God tells Moses He is going to send the death angel into Egypt killing all the first born. So, take a lamb and kill it and apply the blood of the lamb over the door on the mantel and on the door post and when the death angel comes, he will see the blood of the lamb and Passover all those under the blood sparring the lives of those under the blood. Passover commemorates that which happened in Egypt. The keeping of Passover was for all generation Exodus 12:14.
WATCH THIS: - “Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed”. Notice it says Passover must be killed. It didn’t say Passover lamb must be killed but Passover. Now in the natural we understand that is the Passover lamb. The lamb is killed, and the feast takes place that’s the milk, but we are feasting on the meat of the Word of God, those things that are spiritually discerned. Stick with me for a minute I know where I am going. We know Jesus is the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world and must die on the day of unleavened bread and he did. However, Jesus dies once for all time so the atonement for sin has been completed Jesus is our Passover 1 Corinthians 5:7. Remember I’m talking about spiritual discerning scripture.
Passover was a tradition that was to be kept for all generations from the Exodus out of Egypt until the time of Jesus Christ here in this text. May I suggest to you that spiritually speaking when it says Passover must be killed that it is talking about it’s time to that traditions die, it’s time religiosity dies, it’s time that the customs and hinderances that keep a lost and dying world separated from a loving and forgiving God to be killed. The traditional must be killed, we must kill the traditions of religion, the rituals and move into relationship.
Let me also suggest to you that the Feast of Unleavened Bread spiritually deals with truth the bread of life and not bread as we may think. Unleavened means not polluted, there is no additives. In bread it would be yeast = leaven, yeast/leaven represents sin, carnality, traditions, religiosity, ignorance, arrogance, pride, etc. Spiritually speaking the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the celebration of Truth, unadulterated, no additives, just Truth. It’s time that this stuff be killed, and we prepare our hearts to receive not the traditional natural Passover but the spiritual.
Verses 8-9 says, “And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare”? Now let me suggest to you that Peter and John represent the church age, just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob represent the Old Testament saints, Peter, James and John represent the church age. An “age” is an historical period of time or an era. Some historians divide human history into many epochs and name them according to their defining characteristics: Middle Ages, Modern Age, Postmodern Age, etc. Biblical history, too, can be divided into different eras. When those divisions emphasize God’s interaction with His creation, we call them dispensations. Biblical history can be divided into two periods, roughly following the division of Old and New Testaments: the Age of the Law and the Church Age. The Church Age is the period of time from Pentecost Acts 2 to the rapture of the Church 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. It is called the Church Age because it covers the period in which the Church is on earth. It corresponds with the dispensation of Grace. In prophetic history, it falls between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel Daniel 9:24-27; Romans 11. Jesus said of the Church Age in Matthew 16:18 “I will build my church.” Jesus has kept His promise, and His Church has now been growing for almost 2,000 years.
So, Peter and John represent the church age. Peter was giving the keys to the kingdom to open up the understanding of the people to the things of Jesus and the Kingdom of God. John was a great thinker, and his name literally means graced by God. Naturally they are to go and prepare the Passover as was the custom and tradition, but spiritually if you will Jesus is letting them know (and us living in the church age, the dispensation of Grace) that there is a shift that is about to take place, that it is time to pass from tradition to truth, from religion to relationship. Remember Passover must be killed. There comes the time when we must pass from tradition into truth, from religion into relationship we can’t just go on what mom and dad said but we must move into our own relationship with God. Jesus sent Peter and John saying Go and prepare the Passover. That word Go is a verb, an action word that means to move on from this place, move from tradition and rituals and move unto something else.
Verse 9 says “And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare”? They said where. So many times we have been so inundated with all kinds of propaganda, rituals, false doctrines, traditions, and the rudiments of man that people don’t know where to go to pass over from death to life, from sin to salvation, from lost to found. So much unnecessary stuff has been added and polluted the church causing denominations, different sects, different interpretations, that people are so confused. They are lost, hurting, crying out where do I go and what must I do. They are blinded wondering what church to attend, do I have to give up this and stop doing that asking where do I and how do I prepare. Their hearts are ready and they are crying out where can I go to prepare my heart.
Peter and John ask Jesus where wilt thou that we prepare.
Verse 10 says, “And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in”. The number 10 represents Divine Order, the 10 commandments are the Divine Orders of God, there were 10 plagues that came upon Egypt which was the Divine order of God. OK stick with me here in verse 10 divine orders. Jesus says “when ye are entered into the city”. Notice He never said the name of the city because the name is not so important as what happens. May I suggest to you that spiritually speaking this city represents a mindset, a way of thinking, a shift that must take place. This city spiritually deals with a spiritual shift, the place where there is a shifting from tradition to truth, from religiosity to relationship. Passover which represents tradition, customs, religiosity must be killed and enter into a new understanding, being transformed by the renewing of your mind, having the mind of Christ.
Jesus tells Peter and John, who represent the Church age, when you come to the place where you put down carnality, when you separate yourself from the worldly system, when you come to the city where you leave customs, leave rituals, shift to a new way of thinking, when you come into the light walk there in, for at the entrance of thy word there is light. When you get out of self and realize there is more than church on Sunday and Bible class on Wednesday. When you come into the city where there is a shift in the way you used to do things. When you get tired of church as usual, when you make up in your mind I want more. The city a place of transition, a place of different thinking.
You shall meet a man bearing a pitcher of water follow him into the house he entereth. Now this is significant because according to tradition according to what you are accustomed to there is going to be a shift. Tradition says the women carry the water. All through scripture it was the women that carried the water, the Samaritan woman at the well that Jesus met came in the heat of the day to draw water from the well. When the servant was sent to find a bride for Isaac Rebekah was coming to the well to draw water. Here Jesus says You shall meet a man bearing a pitcher of waterMay I suggest to you that when Jesus sent Peter and John into the city, He was letting them and letting us know that there is a shift that is taking place. They were going to be shifting from Jesus in the flesh to the Holy Ghost which will lead and guide you into all truth. When you see the man bearing a pitcher of water follow him. Men carried water in skins for drinking, women carried the pitchers to supply water to the house for all the needs. So a man carrying a pitcher of water is something different, it’s not things as usual, it’s not the traditional way, it’s a shift.
WATCH THIS: - Water in the Bible represents truth the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost. Water cleanses, it purifies, it refreshes, it sustains life. What does the Spirit of God do – it cleanses, it purifies, it refreshes, it sustains. When Jesus performed the miracle at the wedding feast in Canaan after they ran out of wine, He had them fill 6 clay vessels with water to the brim. 6 is the number of man, man was created on the 6th day. The vessels of clay were earthen vessels representing our hearts 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us”. They were to fill the vessels to the brim with water. This represents being filled with truth because water represents truth the Spirit of God, The Holy Ghost, then after they are filled with water (Truth) Jesus then turned the water to wine which represents the Spirit of Joy.
After you come into the city, the place of shifting then you meet the man that Beareth the water picture, not the ritualistic and traditional ways of doing things but it is the truth because water represents truth, follow him into the house where he entereth in. After the spirit of truth (Holy Ghost) has come it will lead and guide you into all truth John 16:13.
Verse 11 says, “And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples”.
WATCH THIS: - May I also suggest to you that the goodman of the house represents mankind, you and me. We are the goodman of the house, this temple. When the Holy Ghost, the spirit of truth begins to rise inside of us, when we have that desire to shift from religion to relationship, rituals to relationship, when we are ready to Passover from a form of godliness to power of God we must open our hearts to His Word, His Will and let the Holy Ghost lead and guide us into all truth. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” QUESTION: - who is going to open the door the goodman of the house you and me.
The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, the guest chamber represents the heart, the place where God says in Revelation 3:20 I stand at the door and knock. The guest chamber is the place where the prophet stayed. 2 Kings 4:10 says, “Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither”. This is the Shunamite woman saying they need to make a room for Elisha. The guest chamber was also the place where all festivities were held. We must prepare and always have our hearts ready to receive from the Lord what He has for us.
Verses 12-13 says, “And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the Passover”.
WATCH THIS: - And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished. Upper room not a lower room, not a back room, not a side room, but an upper room. This was an upper room indicating that it was on another level. God wants to take us to another level in Him. God wants us to reach higher heights and deeper depths in Him. He wants us to search the deep things of Him. He desires for us to reach another level not be so comfortable with things as usual but come to another level. One song writer said it like this “Come on let’s go Higher in the Lord”.
And he shall shew you a large upper - in the upper room that is the place of greater discernment, the place where you can finally put to death carnality and develop the mind of Christ. The upper room is the place where your life is changed. The upper room is the due north position of our spiritual walk in Christ. The upper room is the place where you are endued with power from on high. The upper room is the place where the sound of a might rushing wind takes place. The upper room is the place where tongues of fire fall. The upper room is the place we experience firsthand Agape the unconditional love of God. The upper room is the place where we are delivered from rejection, alienation, loneliness, abandonment, self-hatred, anxiety, fear, and insignificance and the place where God convinces us of our acceptance, security, and significance in Christ.
The upper room is furnished indicating that everything you need is supplied. If you want it God’s got it, He’s got everything you need. You want joy unspeakable and full of glory – it’s in the upper room. You want peace that passeth all understanding – it’s in the upper room. You need hope for tomorrow – it’s in the upper room.
CLOSING: - In my closing I would ask as we celebrate Palm Sunday and enter in Holy Week with people celebrating the natural Passover. Are you ready to prepare the Passover – are you ready to prepare your heart by opening it up and letting Jesus come into your life.
Are you ready to go from religiosity and tradition to relationship are you ready to go to the city and experience a Holy Ghost shift in your life and follow truth.
UNDERSTAND: - Preparing your Heart (the Passover) requires that we lay aside churchiness and become kingdom minded people of God. Preparing your heart means you forget about traditions and rituals and concentrate on Him.
Preparing the Passover causes us to be steadfast and unmovable, rooted and grounded in the Word and Work of the Lord.
Prepare the Passover.
Prepare your Heart.
Like the song says, “Lord prepare me to be a living sanctuary for you”.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
