Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 64
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IMMERSE
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MESSIAH
21:32–22:16
know that the Kingdom of God is near. I tell you the truth, this generation
will not pass from the scene until all these things have taken place. Heaven
and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
“Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware,
like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth. Keep
alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these
coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.”
Every day Jesus went to the Temple to teach, and each evening he returned
to spend the night on the Mount of Olives. The crowds gathered at the
Temple early each morning to hear him.
The Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is also called Passover, was approaching. The leading priests and teachers of religious law were plotting
how to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the people’s reaction.
Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples, and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard
to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted, and
they promised to give him money. So he agreed and began looking for
an opportunity to betray Jesus so they could arrest him when the crowds
weren’t around.
Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is
sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the
Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”
“Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.
He replied, “As soon as you enter Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of
water will meet you. Follow him. At the house he enters, say to the owner,
‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover
meal with my disciples?’ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is
already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” They went off
to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared
the Passover meal there.
When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the
table. Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you
before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal
again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
