Orchid picture Picture by Jerry Torres
Our Blog is inspired by The Holy Spirit.
Wednesday of Holy Week
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said,
“What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Where do you want us to prepare
for you to eat the Passover?”
He said,
“Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘“
The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,
and prepared the Passover.
When it was evening,
he reclined at table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
He said in reply,
“He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me
is the one who will betray me.
The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,
“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
He answered, “You have said so.”
Underline and emphasis mine: Matthew 26:14-25
“Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, “The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”” Emphasis mine Mark 14: 12-14
When the day of the feast of Unleavened Bread arrived, the day for sacrificing the Passover lamb, he sent out Peter and John, instructing them, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover. They asked him, “Where do you want us to make the preparations?” And he answered them, “When you go into the city, a man will meet you carrying a jar of water. Follow him into the house that he enters and say to the master of the house, “The teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”” Emphasis mine Luke 22:7-11
St. John is silent on how the site for the Last Supper was picked. His Gospel started with the washing of the feet.
The question that has been in my mind for decades has always been, why didn’t Jesus just say go to the fifth house on the right on Straight Street.
But Jesus didn’t say that. The answer is veiled and I never knew the reason until last year’s Lent when Tim Gray talked about the betrayal of Judas.
Judas’ betrayal occurs before the Last Supper. In Luke 22: 1-5 Judas, He accepted their offer and sought a favorable opportunity to hand him over to them in the absence of a crowd. Underline mine.
If Jesus had said go to the fifth house on the right on Straight Street, Judas would have known, and had Jesus arrested at the Last Supper, (No crowd).
This is so obvious I can’t believe I couldn’t figure out the way Jesus told them how to find the room for the Last Supper.
What I also just realized is Jesus was always being attacked by satan, it never stopped. When He was Born Herod wanted to kill Him. At the Last Supper Judas wanted to betray him, but couldn’t until Jesus went to Golgotha, and every event points to the Power and Glory of God. satan doesn’t control the event, God does.
If you don’t think satan is always in your life, maybe you should take some time to reflect that if satan was always attacking Jesus, why would it be any different for you?
One last thought, any fact about Jesus that appears in three Gospels is important.
Prayer:
If you want to grow in Love, Joy and Peace, this is a result of growth in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
Update from last week: Bryan, who said he would do the first week’s communion service, thought about it further, and realized at this moment he had a lot on his plate, and declined doing the service, and I realized that what he told me earlier was a lot on his plate.
Some of you are thinking so much for the “Help” Prayer.
Wrong. The minute I heard this we Prayed “Help” and at Mass, that night, The Holy Spirit pointed out a man who sits behind Gail and I and who is a Eucharist Minister.
I hadn’t met Mike, we said hello, and we (The Holy Spirit and I) asked him if he would consider doing the first week’s communion service?
He said ”Yes,” and I couldn’t have been more excited. Yes, I thanked my Father many times as we walked out of church.
But
Some of you are thinking, why the three tries, if you aren’t I did, and realized, we were able to give some prayer advice to each of the other men which I pray will help them. The prayers are the same ones we have talked about for the past four plus years.
satan of course suggested I, yes I, should quit trying to recruit a person, give the task to someone else, but we told satan to get behind us, and moved on, and found Mike.
Picture:
I (like many) think orchids are beautiful. In addition to the flower, I see a bird element in all of these. God sure does have the most fascinating ways of entertaining us and making us aware of His majesty. At least to those who have eyes to see. Picture by Jerry Torres
Please keep Snapping!
And if you want the ten calling cards shown above, email me and I will send you my address, send me a STAMPED self-addressed envelope and I will send you ten cards.
The offer for the cards is for American readers only. The Post office won’t accept foreign stamps.
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed.
Send an email to: fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
