13He sent two of his disciples, and said to them, “Go into the city, and there you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him,14and wherever he enters in, tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ’15He will himself show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Get ready for us there.”
16His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found things as he had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.
13 He sent two of his disciples, and said to them, “Go into the city, and there you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him,
14 and wherever he enters in, tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ’
15 He will himself show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Get ready for us there.”
16 His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found things as he had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.
TYNDALETyndale New Testament (1534)
13 And he sent forth two of his disciples and sayde vnto them: Goo ye into the cyte and ther shall a man mete you beringe a pitcher of water folowe him.
14 And whither soever he goeth in saye ye to the good man of the housse: the master axeth where is the geest chambre where I shall eate the ester lambe with my disciples.
15 And he will shewe you a greate parlour paved and prepared: there make ready for vs.
16 And his disciples went forth and came to the cyte and founde as he had sayd vnto them: and made ready the ester lambe.
Show all 3 translations
GNVGeneva Bible (1599)
13 Then hee sent foorth two of his disciples, and sayde vnto them, Goe yee into the citie, and there shall a man meete you bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.
14 And whithersoeuer he goeth in, say yee to the good man of the house, The Master sayeth, Where is the lodging where I shall eate the Passeouer with my disciples?
15 And he wil shewe you an vpper chamber which is large, trimmed and prepared: there make it readie for vs.
16 So his disciples went foorth, and came to the citie, and found as he had said vnto them, and made readie the Passeouer.
Matthew 26:18-19(v13)He said, “Go into the city to a certain person, and tell him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your…
Luke 22:10-13(v13)He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him into the house…
Acts 1:13(v15)When they had come in, they went up into the upper room where they were staying; that is Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas,…
Revelation 3:20(v14)Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and…
2 Chronicles 6:30(v15)then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you,…
Show all 25 cross-references
Psalms 110:3(v15)Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of your power, in holy array. Out of the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your…
Proverbs 16:1(v15)The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.
Proverbs 21:1-2(v15)The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,…
Mark 10:17(v14)As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit…
Mark 11:3(v14)If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs him;’ and immediately he will send him back here.”
Luke 22:13(v16)They went, found things as Jesus had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
John 2:24-25(v15)But Jesus didn’t entrust himself to them, because he knew everyone, and because he didn’t need for anyone to testify concerning man; for he…
John 11:28(v14)When she had said this, she went away and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, “The Teacher is here and is calling you.”
John 13:13(v14)You call me, ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You say so correctly, for so I am.
John 16:4(v16)But I have told you these things, so that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them. I didn’t tell you these things…
John 21:17(v15)He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you have affection for me?” Peter was grieved because he asked him the third time,…
Acts 20:8(v15)There were many lights in the upper room where we were gathered together.
Hebrews 4:13(vv13, 15)There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an…
Matthew 8:9(v13)For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and tell another, ‘Come,’ and he…
Mark 11:2-3(v13)and said to them, “Go your way into the village that is opposite you. Immediately as you enter into it, you will find a young donkey tied,…
Luke 19:30-33(v13)saying, “Go your way into the village on the other side, in which, as you enter, you will find a colt tied, which no man had ever sat upon.…
Luke 22:35(v16)He said to them, “When I sent you out without purse, wallet, and sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.”
John 15:14(v13)You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.
2 Timothy 2:19(v15)However God’s firm foundation stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the…
Hebrews 5:9(v13)Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation,
25 distinct cross-references across this passage (26 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn v15The Greek word signifieth that part of the house…
The Greek word signifieth that part of the house that is highest from the ground, to what use soever it be put, but because they used to sup in that part of the house, they called it a supping chamber.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv13–1613 And he sendeth forth two of his disciples,…
13 And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.
Ver. 13. {See Trapp on "Mat 26:17"} {See Trapp on "Mat 26:18"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv13–16And he sendeth forth two of his disciples,.... Peter…
And he sendeth forth two of his disciples,.... Peter and John, as appears from Luk 22:8;
and saith unto them, go ye into the city; the city of Jerusalem; for there only the passover might be eaten, Deu 26:2;
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and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water; a servant of the master of the house that was sent for water, to mix with the wine, at the passover:
follow him; into the house to which he goes.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv13, 15Go into the city, and there shall meet you…
Go into the city, and there shall meet you a man - It was highly seasonable for our Lord to give them this additional proof both of his knowing all things, and of his influence over the minds of men.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv13–15Verse 13. Bearing a pitcher of water] How correct…
Verse 13. Bearing a pitcher of water] How correct is the foreknowledge of Jesus Christ! Even the minutest circumstances are comprehended by it! An honest employment, howsoever mean, is worthy the attention of God; and even a man bearing a pitcher of water is marked in all his steps, and is an object of the merciful regards of the Most High. This man was employed in carrying home the water which was to be used for baking the unleavened bread on the following day; for on that day it was not lawful to carry any: hence they were obliged to fetch it on the preceding evening.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn v14Were is my refectory:[2] where I may eat the…
Were is my refectory:[2] where I may eat the pasch, or the paschal supper of the lamb sacrificed? Literally, in the Latin, where is my eating, or my refection? but it is generally agreed that here is meant a place to eat in. (Witham)
This is my Body.
Read full note →
===============================
[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Ubi est refectio mea, ubi pascha manducem? Greek: Pou esti to kataluma, opou pascha ... phago.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn v1313. Meet you a man — As the apostles…
13. Meet you a man — As the apostles enter the city from the east the water carrier with his filled pitcher is returning home from the west. Hence Dr. Barclay well argues that the tradition which places the coenaculum or last supper on the western part of Zion is incorrect. The two apostles having passed through the temple grounds, and crossed the great bridge, would not proceed far before they would meet him bringing his jar of fresh water from Gibon or Etham.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv13–1613. he sendeth forth two of his disciples] The…
13. he sendeth forth two of his disciples] The Apostles Peter and John (Luk_22:8).
and there shall meet you] Observe the minuteness of the directions and of the predictions as to the events which would happen. It is the same mysterious minuteness which distinguishes the preparations for the Triumphal Entry.
Read full note →
a man] It was generally the task of women to carry water. Amongst the thousands at Jerusalem they would notice this man carrying an earthen jar of water drawn from one of the fountains. We need not conclude, because it was a slave’s employment to do this (Deu_29:11; Jos_9:21), that he was a slave. The Apostles were to follow him to whatever house he entered.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv13–15(13) And he sendeth forth two of his disciples.—The…
(13) And he sendeth forth two of his disciples.—The number is given by St. Mark; the names, Peter and John, by St. Luke only. The sign of the pitcher of water is common to both Gospels, but not to St. Matthew.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv13–16And he sendeth two of his disciples. St. Luke…
And he sendeth two of his disciples. St. Luke (Luk_22:8) informs us that these two were Peter and John. It is characteristic of St. Mark"s Gospel throughout that Peter is never mentioned oftener than is necessary. Go into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. The bearing of the pitcher of water was not without its meaning. It was a solemn religious act preparatory to the Passover. This man bearing a pitcher of water was not the master or owner of the house. The owner is distinguished afterwards by the name oikodespothv , or "goodman of the house." The owner must, therefore, have been a man of some substance, and probably a friend if not a disciple of our Lord. Tradition says that this was the house of John whose surname was Mark; and that it was in this house that the disciples were assembled on the evening of our Lord"s resurrection, and where, also, they received the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost. It was to this house that Peter betook himself when he was delivered by the angel out of prison. Hence it was known, as one of the earliest places of Christian worship, by the name of "Coenaculum Sion; "and here was built a church, called the Church of Sion. It was the oldest church in Jerusalem, and was called by St. Cyril, "the upper church of the apostles." (See Joseph Mode, p. 322.)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv13, 15Mar_14:13; Mar_14:15
Mar_14:13; Mar_14:15
Go ye into the city.
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The finding the guest chamber
We might expect that Christ, knowing to how great effort the faith of His followers was about to be called, would, in His compassionate earnestness for their welfare, keep their faith in exercise up to the moment of the dreaded separation. He would find or make occasions for trying and testing the principles which were soon to be brought to so stern a proof. Did He do this? And how did He do it? We regard the circumstances which are now under review, those connected with the finding the guest chamber in which the last supper might be eaten, as an evidence and illustration of Christs exercising the faith of His disciples. Was it not exercising the faith of Peter and John-for these, the more distinguished of the disciples, were employed on the errand-to send them into the city with such strange and desultory directions? There were so many chances, if the word may be used, against the guest chamber being found through the circuitous method prescribed by our Lord, that we could not have wondered had Peter and John showed reluctance to obey His command. And we do not doubt that what are called the chances were purposely multiplied by Christ to make the finding the room seem more improbable, and therefore to give faith the greater exercise. Again, there would have been risk enough of mistake or repulse in accosting the man with the pitcher; but this man was only to be followed; and he might stop at many houses before he reached the right. But Christ would not be more explicit, because, in proportion as He had been more explicit, there would have been less exercise for faith. And if you imagine that, after all, it was no great demand on the faith of Peter and John that they should go on so vague an errand-for that much did not hinge on their finding the right place, and they had but to return if anything went wrong-we are altogether at issue with you. There was something that looked degrading and ignoble in the errand, which required more courage and fortitude than to undertake some signal enterprise. And the apparent meanness of an employment will often try faith more than its apparent difficulty; the exposure to ridicule and contempt will require greater moral nerve than the exposure to danger and death. We believe that it is very frequently ordered that faith should be disciplined and nurtured for its hardest endurances, and its highest achievements, through exposure to petty inconveniences, collisions with mere rudeness, the obloquy of the proud, the sneer of the supercilious, and the incivility of the ignorant. Nowhere is faith so well disciplined as in humble occupations; it grows great through little tasks, and may be more exercised by being left to the menial business of a servant than by being summoned to the lofty standing of a leader. And we do earnestly desire of you to bear this in mind; for men, who are not appointed to great achievements and endurances, are very apt to feel as though there were not enough in the trials and duties of a lowly station for the nurture and exercise of high Christian graces. Whereas, if it were by merely following a man bearing a pitcher of water that apostles were trained for the worst onsets of evil, there may be no such school for the producing strong faith as that in which the lessons are of the most everyday kind. But there is more than this to be said in regard of the complicated way in which Christ directed His disciples to the guest chamber where He had determined to eat the last supper. He was not only exercising the faith of the disciples by sending them on an errand which seemed unnecessarily intricate, and to involve great exposure to insult and repulse-He was giving strung evidence of His thorough acquaintance with everything that was to happen, and of His power over the minds whether of strangers or of friends. You must consider it as a prophecy on the part of Christ that the man would be met bearing a pitcher of water. It was a prophecy which seemed to take delight in putting difficulties in the way of its own precise accomplishment. It would not have been accomplished by the mere finding the house-it would have been defeated had the house been found through any other means than the meeting the man, or had the man been discovered through any other sign than the pitcher of water; yea, and it would have been defeated, defeated in the details, which were given, as it might have seemed, with such unnecessary and perilous minuteness, if the master of the house had made the least objection, or if it had not been an upper room which he showed the disciples; or if that room had not been large; or if it had not been furnished and prepared. And whatever tended to prove to the disciples their Masters thorough acquaintance with every future contingency, ought to have tended to the preparing them for the approaching days of disaster and separation. Besides, it was beautifully adapted to the circumstances of the disciples that Christ showed that His foreknowledge extended to trifles. These disciples were likely to imagine that, being poor and mean persons, they should be overlooked by Christ when separated from them, and, perhaps, exalted to glory. But that His eye was threading the crowded thoroughfares of the city, that it was noting a servant with a pitcher of water, observing accurately when this servant left his masters house, when he reached the well, and when he would be at a particular spot on his way back-this was not merely foreknowledge; this was foreknowledge applying itself to the insignificant and unknown. Then, again, observe that whatever power was here put forth by Christ was put forth without His being in contact with the party on whom it was exerted. Christ acted, that is, upon parties who were at a distance from Him, thus giving incontrovertible proof that His visible presence was not necessary in order to the exercise of His power. What a comfort should this have been to the disciples. It is easy to imagine how, when His death was near at hand, Christ might have wrought miracles and uttered prophecies more august in their character. He might have darkened the air with portents and prodigies, but there would not have been in these gorgeous or appalling displays the sort of evidence which was needed by disquieted and dispirited men. But to ourselves, who are looking for the guest chamber, not as the place where the Paschal lamb may be eaten, but as that where Christ is to give of His own body and blood, the pitcher of water may well serve as a memento that it is baptism which admits us into Christian privileges; that they who find a place at the supper of the Lord must have met the man with the water, and have followed that man-must have been presented to the minister of the Church, and have received from Him the initiatory sacrament, and then have submitted meekly to the guidance of the Church, till introduced to those deeper recesses of the sanctuary where Christ spreads His rich banquet for such as call upon His name. Thus may there have been, in the directions for finding the guest chamber, a standing intimation of the process through which should be sought an entrance to that upper room, where Christ and His members shall finally sit down, that they may eat together at the marriage supper. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Providential meetings
There are no chance meetings in this world. They all are providential. They are in Gods plan. On many of them great possibilities hinge. You enter a railroad car, and take your seat among strangers. A proffered courtesy brings you into conversation with a fellow traveller. An acquaintance is the result. Years of helpful Christian co-work follow in the train of that first meeting. You visit a place of winter resort for health seekers. At the dinner table you meet a man unknown to you until then. An entire change in the aim and conduct of his life is one consequence of that meeting; and his labours for good may be far more effective than yours in your whole lifetime. You look in upon a celebrated preparatory school, where two hundred young men are at their studies. One face impresses you. Your meeting with him affects your course and his for all time, and involves the interests of a multitude. Your meeting of another young man in a Sunday school where you are present only for that one session has more influence over his life than all other agencies combined-and scarcely less over yours. You may even meet on the street one whom you wished not to see, one whom at that moment you were seeking to avoid; and as a result more lives than one are affected in all their human course, and in their highest spiritual interests. All these illustrations are real incidents; and there are thousands like them. It behooves us to consider well our duty in every meeting with another. We can fail to improve our opportunity and lose a blessing. We can fill our place just then, and have reason to rejoice eternally that we did so. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do-when next I meet one whom thou hast planned for me to see? (Sunday School Times.)
The Masters question
The Master saith! Has the charm of the Masters name vanished in these latter days? Are we, men and women of the nineteenth century, children of a modern life and civilization which is ever extending itself with feverish restlessness and painful throes of new birth, are we grown familiar with strange voices, with forces unknown in that ancient world, and those ancient days spent under the blue Syrian sky; are we become superior to the claims, the force, the beauty, and the authority of a great personal life? Have we relegated Jesus of Nazareth merely to a place, however great, in the development of history? Is He merely the product of social forces and political and historical traditions? The Master saith! Being dead, doth He yet speak; yet so as through the faint vibrations of memory-of memory which grows weaker as the ages roll behind us into the eternity of the past; or is it a living voice still which I hear-a voice which no results of time can shake with the tremulousness of age? Do not our own hearts-we who have become disciples, we who, constrained by a force which we could not resist, have exclaimed, Master, Thou art the Christ who hast conquered me, Thou art the Christ who hast died for me-do not our own hearts passionately exclaim, He liveth still to make intercession for us, and to rule us with the supremacy of perfect love? Will ye also admit the Master within? Will ye hear Him? Will ye let Him talk with you? This night, as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, I bring the word to you also: The Master saith! The voices of all His disciples are but weak echoes of the mightier and abiding voice which is His. The Master saith! But where? Hath His voice a local habitation and a name? Doth He reach me through the channel of my senses, or how doth He touch my living spirit? It is here that the Master saith!-even now. These poor temples of ours, they are for the most part but shapeless structures of stone and lime, yet they are clothed with the spiritual and unfading beauty of a Divine guest chamber; a voice which is not my voice overpowers my struggling will, subdues by gentle and beautiful processes my efforts to make my own will my law and arbiter of duty, and speaks through me. And most of all is it of infinite moment to know that there is one called Master, and who does speak. This is what I need to know and feel. In Jesus of Nazareth life and duty are reconciled. In Him I recognize the Master whom I need. To Him, in whom gentleness was so perfectly blended with strength, I come, craving to touch but the hem of His garment, contented in that I have seen my Lord. The Master saith! If His voice is the voice of an authority, sublimely enforced through self-denial, patience, gentleness, suffering, and death, why should I crave more? Shall I not say, It is enough; He calleth me, and I must answer? He bids me arise, and I must arise. For me the highest virtue is obedience, for it is the Master who saith. (J. Vickery.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v15Make the preparations for us there
Make the preparations for us there
They were to prepare the meal for Jesus and his disciples to eat. AT: "Prepare the meal for us there" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On v1314:13-15 Jesus’ instructions to the disciples are similar to…
14:13-15 Jesus’ instructions to the disciples are similar to those of 11:2-6, suggesting that Jesus had prearranged a place for eating the Passover and Last Supper with his disciples. Jesus’ careful preparations for this meal emphasize its importance. The two disciples were to prepare the Passover meal, which included the lamb (which had to be slaughtered, skinned, cleaned, and roasted over an open fire), unleavened bread, a bowl of salt water, bitter herbs, and a bowl of a fruit puree, or kharosheth. Enough wine mixed with water was needed so that Jesus and the disciples could each drink four cups to celebrate God’s fourfold blessing (Exod 6:6-7).
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v15 The Greek word signifieth that part of the house…
The Greek word signifieth that part of the house that is highest from the ground, to what use soever it be put, but because they used to sup in that part of the house, they called it a supping chamber.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–16 13 And he sendeth forth two of his disciples,…
13 And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.
Ver. 13. {See Trapp on "Mat 26:17"} {See Trapp on "Mat 26:18"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv13–16 And he sendeth forth two of his disciples,.... Peter…
And he sendeth forth two of his disciples,.... Peter and John, as appears from Luk 22:8;
and saith unto them, go ye into the city; the city of Jerusalem; for there only the passover might be eaten, Deu 26:2;
Read full note →
and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water; a servant of the master of the house that was sent for water, to mix with the wine, at the passover:
follow him; into the house to which he goes.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv13, 15 Go into the city, and there shall meet you…
Go into the city, and there shall meet you a man - It was highly seasonable for our Lord to give them this additional proof both of his knowing all things, and of his influence over the minds of men.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv13–15 Verse 13. Bearing a pitcher of water] How correct…
Verse 13. Bearing a pitcher of water] How correct is the foreknowledge of Jesus Christ! Even the minutest circumstances are comprehended by it! An honest employment, howsoever mean, is worthy the attention of God; and even a man bearing a pitcher of water is marked in all his steps, and is an object of the merciful regards of the Most High. This man was employed in carrying home the water which was to be used for baking the unleavened bread on the following day; for on that day it was not lawful to carry any: hence they were obliged to fetch it on the preceding evening.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v14 Were is my refectory:[2] where I may eat the…
Were is my refectory:[2] where I may eat the pasch, or the paschal supper of the lamb sacrificed? Literally, in the Latin, where is my eating, or my refection? but it is generally agreed that here is meant a place to eat in. (Witham)
This is my Body.
Read full note →
===============================
[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Ubi est refectio mea, ubi pascha manducem? Greek: Pou esti to kataluma, opou pascha ... phago.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v13 13. Meet you a man — As the apostles…
13. Meet you a man — As the apostles enter the city from the east the water carrier with his filled pitcher is returning home from the west. Hence Dr. Barclay well argues that the tradition which places the coenaculum or last supper on the western part of Zion is incorrect. The two apostles having passed through the temple grounds, and crossed the great bridge, would not proceed far before they would meet him bringing his jar of fresh water from Gibon or Etham.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–16 13. he sendeth forth two of his disciples] The…
13. he sendeth forth two of his disciples] The Apostles Peter and John (Luk_22:8).
and there shall meet you] Observe the minuteness of the directions and of the predictions as to the events which would happen. It is the same mysterious minuteness which distinguishes the preparations for the Triumphal Entry.
Read full note →
a man] It was generally the task of women to carry water. Amongst the thousands at Jerusalem they would notice this man carrying an earthen jar of water drawn from one of the fountains. We need not conclude, because it was a slave’s employment to do this (Deu_29:11; Jos_9:21), that he was a slave. The Apostles were to follow him to whatever house he entered.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–15 (13) And he sendeth forth two of his disciples.—The…
(13) And he sendeth forth two of his disciples.—The number is given by St. Mark; the names, Peter and John, by St. Luke only. The sign of the pitcher of water is common to both Gospels, but not to St. Matthew.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv13–16 And he sendeth two of his disciples. St. Luke…
And he sendeth two of his disciples. St. Luke (Luk_22:8) informs us that these two were Peter and John. It is characteristic of St. Mark"s Gospel throughout that Peter is never mentioned oftener than is necessary. Go into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. The bearing of the pitcher of water was not without its meaning. It was a solemn religious act preparatory to the Passover. This man bearing a pitcher of water was not the master or owner of the house. The owner is distinguished afterwards by the name oikodespothv , or "goodman of the house." The owner must, therefore, have been a man of some substance, and probably a friend if not a disciple of our Lord. Tradition says that this was the house of John whose surname was Mark; and that it was in this house that the disciples were assembled on the evening of our Lord"s resurrection, and where, also, they received the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost. It was to this house that Peter betook himself when he was delivered by the angel out of prison. Hence it was known, as one of the earliest places of Christian worship, by the name of "Coenaculum Sion; "and here was built a church, called the Church of Sion. It was the oldest church in Jerusalem, and was called by St. Cyril, "the upper church of the apostles." (See Joseph Mode, p. 322.)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv13, 15 Mar_14:13; Mar_14:15
Mar_14:13; Mar_14:15
Go ye into the city.
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The finding the guest chamber
We might expect that Christ, knowing to how great effort the faith of His followers was about to be called, would, in His compassionate earnestness for their welfare, keep their faith in exercise up to the moment of the dreaded separation. He would find or make occasions for trying and testing the principles which were soon to be brought to so stern a proof. Did He do this? And how did He do it? We regard the circumstances which are now under review, those connected with the finding the guest chamber in which the last supper might be eaten, as an evidence and illustration of Christs exercising the faith of His disciples. Was it not exercising the faith of Peter and John-for these, the more distinguished of the disciples, were employed on the errand-to send them into the city with such strange and desultory directions? There were so many chances, if the word may be used, against the guest chamber being found through the circuitous method prescribed by our Lord, that we could not have wondered had Peter and John showed reluctance to obey His command. And we do not doubt that what are called the chances were purposely multiplied by Christ to make the finding the room seem more improbable, and therefore to give faith the greater exercise. Again, there would have been risk enough of mistake or repulse in accosting the man with the pitcher; but this man was only to be followed; and he might stop at many houses before he reached the right. But Christ would not be more explicit, because, in proportion as He had been more explicit, there would have been less exercise for faith. And if you imagine that, after all, it was no great demand on the faith of Peter and John that they should go on so vague an errand-for that much did not hinge on their finding the right place, and they had but to return if anything went wrong-we are altogether at issue with you. There was something that looked degrading and ignoble in the errand, which required more courage and fortitude than to undertake some signal enterprise. And the apparent meanness of an employment will often try faith more than its apparent difficulty; the exposure to ridicule and contempt will require greater moral nerve than the exposure to danger and death. We believe that it is very frequently ordered that faith should be disciplined and nurtured for its hardest endurances, and its highest achievements, through exposure to petty inconveniences, collisions with mere rudeness, the obloquy of the proud, the sneer of the supercilious, and the incivility of the ignorant. Nowhere is faith so well disciplined as in humble occupations; it grows great through little tasks, and may be more exercised by being left to the menial business of a servant than by being summoned to the lofty standing of a leader. And we do earnestly desire of you to bear this in mind; for men, who are not appointed to great achievements and endurances, are very apt to feel as though there were not enough in the trials and duties of a lowly station for the nurture and exercise of high Christian graces. Whereas, if it were by merely following a man bearing a pitcher of water that apostles were trained for the worst onsets of evil, there may be no such school for the producing strong faith as that in which the lessons are of the most everyday kind. But there is more than this to be said in regard of the complicated way in which Christ directed His disciples to the guest chamber where He had determined to eat the last supper. He was not only exercising the faith of the disciples by sending them on an errand which seemed unnecessarily intricate, and to involve great exposure to insult and repulse-He was giving strung evidence of His thorough acquaintance with everything that was to happen, and of His power over the minds whether of strangers or of friends. You must consider it as a prophecy on the part of Christ that the man would be met bearing a pitcher of water. It was a prophecy which seemed to take delight in putting difficulties in the way of its own precise accomplishment. It would not have been accomplished by the mere finding the house-it would have been defeated had the house been found through any other means than the meeting the man, or had the man been discovered through any other sign than the pitcher of water; yea, and it would have been defeated, defeated in the details, which were given, as it might have seemed, with such unnecessary and perilous minuteness, if the master of the house had made the least objection, or if it had not been an upper room which he showed the disciples; or if that room had not been large; or if it had not been furnished and prepared. And whatever tended to prove to the disciples their Masters thorough acquaintance with every future contingency, ought to have tended to the preparing them for the approaching days of disaster and separation. Besides, it was beautifully adapted to the circumstances of the disciples that Christ showed that His foreknowledge extended to trifles. These disciples were likely to imagine that, being poor and mean persons, they should be overlooked by Christ when separated from them, and, perhaps, exalted to glory. But that His eye was threading the crowded thoroughfares of the city, that it was noting a servant with a pitcher of water, observing accurately when this servant left his masters house, when he reached the well, and when he would be at a particular spot on his way back-this was not merely foreknowledge; this was foreknowledge applying itself to the insignificant and unknown. Then, again, observe that whatever power was here put forth by Christ was put forth without His being in contact with the party on whom it was exerted. Christ acted, that is, upon parties who were at a distance from Him, thus giving incontrovertible proof that His visible presence was not necessary in order to the exercise of His power. What a comfort should this have been to the disciples. It is easy to imagine how, when His death was near at hand, Christ might have wrought miracles and uttered prophecies more august in their character. He might have darkened the air with portents and prodigies, but there would not have been in these gorgeous or appalling displays the sort of evidence which was needed by disquieted and dispirited men. But to ourselves, who are looking for the guest chamber, not as the place where the Paschal lamb may be eaten, but as that where Christ is to give of His own body and blood, the pitcher of water may well serve as a memento that it is baptism which admits us into Christian privileges; that they who find a place at the supper of the Lord must have met the man with the water, and have followed that man-must have been presented to the minister of the Church, and have received from Him the initiatory sacrament, and then have submitted meekly to the guidance of the Church, till introduced to those deeper recesses of the sanctuary where Christ spreads His rich banquet for such as call upon His name. Thus may there have been, in the directions for finding the guest chamber, a standing intimation of the process through which should be sought an entrance to that upper room, where Christ and His members shall finally sit down, that they may eat together at the marriage supper. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Providential meetings
There are no chance meetings in this world. They all are providential. They are in Gods plan. On many of them great possibilities hinge. You enter a railroad car, and take your seat among strangers. A proffered courtesy brings you into conversation with a fellow traveller. An acquaintance is the result. Years of helpful Christian co-work follow in the train of that first meeting. You visit a place of winter resort for health seekers. At the dinner table you meet a man unknown to you until then. An entire change in the aim and conduct of his life is one consequence of that meeting; and his labours for good may be far more effective than yours in your whole lifetime. You look in upon a celebrated preparatory school, where two hundred young men are at their studies. One face impresses you. Your meeting with him affects your course and his for all time, and involves the interests of a multitude. Your meeting of another young man in a Sunday school where you are present only for that one session has more influence over his life than all other agencies combined-and scarcely less over yours. You may even meet on the street one whom you wished not to see, one whom at that moment you were seeking to avoid; and as a result more lives than one are affected in all their human course, and in their highest spiritual interests. All these illustrations are real incidents; and there are thousands like them. It behooves us to consider well our duty in every meeting with another. We can fail to improve our opportunity and lose a blessing. We can fill our place just then, and have reason to rejoice eternally that we did so. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do-when next I meet one whom thou hast planned for me to see? (Sunday School Times.)
The Masters question
The Master saith! Has the charm of the Masters name vanished in these latter days? Are we, men and women of the nineteenth century, children of a modern life and civilization which is ever extending itself with feverish restlessness and painful throes of new birth, are we grown familiar with strange voices, with forces unknown in that ancient world, and those ancient days spent under the blue Syrian sky; are we become superior to the claims, the force, the beauty, and the authority of a great personal life? Have we relegated Jesus of Nazareth merely to a place, however great, in the development of history? Is He merely the product of social forces and political and historical traditions? The Master saith! Being dead, doth He yet speak; yet so as through the faint vibrations of memory-of memory which grows weaker as the ages roll behind us into the eternity of the past; or is it a living voice still which I hear-a voice which no results of time can shake with the tremulousness of age? Do not our own hearts-we who have become disciples, we who, constrained by a force which we could not resist, have exclaimed, Master, Thou art the Christ who hast conquered me, Thou art the Christ who hast died for me-do not our own hearts passionately exclaim, He liveth still to make intercession for us, and to rule us with the supremacy of perfect love? Will ye also admit the Master within? Will ye hear Him? Will ye let Him talk with you? This night, as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, I bring the word to you also: The Master saith! The voices of all His disciples are but weak echoes of the mightier and abiding voice which is His. The Master saith! But where? Hath His voice a local habitation and a name? Doth He reach me through the channel of my senses, or how doth He touch my living spirit? It is here that the Master saith!-even now. These poor temples of ours, they are for the most part but shapeless structures of stone and lime, yet they are clothed with the spiritual and unfading beauty of a Divine guest chamber; a voice which is not my voice overpowers my struggling will, subdues by gentle and beautiful processes my efforts to make my own will my law and arbiter of duty, and speaks through me. And most of all is it of infinite moment to know that there is one called Master, and who does speak. This is what I need to know and feel. In Jesus of Nazareth life and duty are reconciled. In Him I recognize the Master whom I need. To Him, in whom gentleness was so perfectly blended with strength, I come, craving to touch but the hem of His garment, contented in that I have seen my Lord. The Master saith! If His voice is the voice of an authority, sublimely enforced through self-denial, patience, gentleness, suffering, and death, why should I crave more? Shall I not say, It is enough; He calleth me, and I must answer? He bids me arise, and I must arise. For me the highest virtue is obedience, for it is the Master who saith. (J. Vickery.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v15 Make the preparations for us there
Make the preparations for us there
They were to prepare the meal for Jesus and his disciples to eat. AT: "Prepare the meal for us there" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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The disciples left
"The two disciples left"
as he had said
"as Jesus had said"
translationWords
Passover
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v13 14:13-15 Jesus’ instructions to the disciples are similar to…
14:13-15 Jesus’ instructions to the disciples are similar to those of 11:2-6, suggesting that Jesus had prearranged a place for eating the Passover and Last Supper with his disciples. Jesus’ careful preparations for this meal emphasize its importance. The two disciples were to prepare the Passover meal, which included the lamb (which had to be slaughtered, skinned, cleaned, and roasted over an open fire), unleavened bread, a bowl of salt water, bitter herbs, and a bowl of a fruit puree, or kharosheth. Enough wine mixed with water was needed so that Jesus and the disciples could each drink four cups to celebrate God’s fourfold blessing (Exod 6:6-7).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.