by Dennis Gladden, By Green Pastures, ©2025
(Mar. 2, 2025) — Peter and John were on a mission they had performed nearly as often as they had birthdays. Jesus had sent them to prepare for Passover.
They were to find the ingredients for the evening meal and the lamb for the sacrifice. But before they set out, one question stumped them.
Where?
From the beginning, the laws of Passover required keeping the memorial with your household or, if you were too few, with your next-door neighbor.1
As disciples of a nomadic rabbi, they had no household. Even if they had a next-door neighbor, thirteen were too many to impose.
They had learned Jesus wouldn’t order something without knowing the details and they asked Him what he had in mind.
His directions were specific:2
- Go into the city and look for a man carrying a pitcher of water.
- Follow him to his house and ask the master for the guest room.
- Follow him to a large upper room. It will be furnished. Prepare for us there.
Things went as Jesus said. John and Peter found the man, the house, and the room—as though they were waiting for them.
As customary as the preparation was, this Passover meal was unlike any before. After they ate, Jesus had much to say and raised many questions.
He washed their feet, saying, “A servant is not greater than his master.” But what does it mean when the master becomes the servant? Their teacher was treating them like masters. “Do as I have done to you,” Jesus said.
He revealed that He knew one of them was about to betray Him, a treachery none of the twelve had detected. Each one asked, “Lord, is it I?”
Then, Jesus let on that He not only would be betrayed, but also that Peter would deny Him.
The meal had turned somber, troubling. Jesus lightened it with a promise.
Let not your heart be troubled. In My Father’s house are many mansions … I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.3
Jesus had been preparing the disciples for months for the events immediately ahead and more than once told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.“4
But now He disclosed what He would be doing during His absence: getting ready for their reunion. When they saw Him again, a home with His Father would be waiting, all prepared, ready for them to move in.
I imagine the disciples, at that moment, marveled. It is a promise we memorize. They are words we underline in our Bibles.
But are they believable? Who has seen the Father? Who has been to His house? How can we be certain about any of this?
When I ask these questions, Jesus’s promise brings me back to where He gave it. When I wonder about a place in heaven prepared for me, it is as though Jesus answers from His seat in The Upper Room.
Look around you. You didn’t know about this room until I told you.
You found this house because I provided someone to lead you.
We kept Passover in this room because the master of the house submitted to My Father’s will.
And the room was already furnished. We ate tonight in a room prepared for us.
You did nothing but obey when I sent you. You believed that the things I told you would come to pass, and here we are.
Let this Upper Room assure you that if these things were not so, I would have told you. A place in heaven will await you as certainly as this room was prepared for us today.
I keep My word. And the one who keeps these words, My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.5
Not a one-day visit like this Passover meal, but we will dwell together.
Forever.
1 Exodus 12:3-4
2 Luke 22:10-12
3 John 14:1-3
4 Matthew 17:22-23
5 John 14:23