The Table of Grace

The blog below is something Elizabeth Sutter shared with us in a Thursday Bible study in November. Read and take courage!

"So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, ‘Go into the city and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him’.”

Mark 14:14 “Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples’?”

As it reads in Greek:

“And wherever if he might enter, say to the master of the house, The teacher says, ‘Where is the guestroom of me, where the Passover with the disciples of me, I might eat’?”

Breaking down from Greek:

Say:  lay it to rest, bring the message to closure, advise

Owner of house/Goodman: head of house

Roots indicate: a dwelling, family, church, race, nation where God is present, one’s entire property. All persons forming one family/household, family of God, Christian church. The house where God is regarded as present.

Authority figure who exercises complete jurisdiction, Lord, master, prince, correlated of a slave where despot (someone) has complete ownership and uncontrolled power.

Further roots: a man who is bound, tied fastened, imprisoned, put or thrown into chains, prisoner, b bound, captive, madman, bound hand and feet with grave cloths, put under obligation, law, duty.

In the Old Testament (Hebrew form of the word) it means the husband is not at home.

Say: lay it to rest, bring message to closure

Where: in what place (Do I lay it to rest)

Guestroom: lodging place, eating room, speaking of the breaking up of a journey.

Roots: to break up, , unharness, loosen thoroughly, to put up for the night, to halt for the night, to remove the straps and packs of beasts of burden, to unbound and take off. To set free, on that has been bound or swathed in bandages, bound with chains, in prison, discharged from prison and let go, to be free, bondage of disease(one held by Satan) by restoration of health, to release one bound by sin, to break up laws having a binding force, to destroy the bonds of death, to deprive of authority, to loose one bound (equals freedom).

To unyoke, tear down, overthrow, destroy, unleash, put end to, loose, untie, release, unbind so that something no longer holds together, to release bandages of feet.

Further roots: to come down from so that it flows down from his head, reaching down into the depth of extreme poverty, place where you join yourself to one thing and separate yourself from another.

To look or lie towards a goal, eye on goal

You are before the face of/in the presence of, before the eyes of Jesus

The idea of putting under denoting victory or rule over

Down from, higher to lower place

Passover:  accustomed to be offered for the peoples deliverance of old from Egypt.  In preparing to depart, Christ’s crucifixion is likened to the slain lamb over the dwelling to destruction passes over.

I might eat

To eat meat, live, feed, use,

Roots: to give one something to eat, to bring one something to eat, to dine, to feast in company of one

With one providing the meal at his house, to enjoy the blessings of salvation procured by Christ likened to a banquet with the people full of joy and reveling.

 

Insight:

The Holy Spirit orchestrates each word of the Bible - it all has meaning.  We see in Mark 14:13 that there are two disciples that he is speaking to and he tells them to follow the man carrying a jar of water.

The two is symbolic meaning “the matter is established as truth”, then we see a man carrying water. Water being symbolic of the Spirit. Then we see in vs. 14 that wherever he enters (the man carrying the water) you are to speak to the owner of the house.  The two disciples sent were said in the historical records that I referenced earlier to be Peter and John. Symbolically speaking of the exchange Peter meaning stone or the law and John meaning Grace.

In Mark 14, we see the master of the house being addressed.  This word has great depth in the Greek.

Jesus is showing us that this owner of the house represents many things. From the master of a dwelling place to nation, anywhere one has fixed his residence, one’s settled abode—any place where God is regarded as present. This is important because wherever the Holy Spirit enters is regarded as the place where God is present. So God is addressing the “goodman” and in studying the roots of this word, it refers to the fact that the Holy Spirit/God the Father/Jesus the Son as King may not have entirely established dominion over all his land due to the fact that the actual transforming work of the Spirit at any given moment is limited by our choice, thus we can withdraw ourselves from it. The roots of good man refer to a man who is still bound/ (reference to the definition). He is still under obligation and duty of the law.

The Old Testament form of the word means “the husband is not at home”!  . He is our total provider and He wants to provide for us in the areas of our needs/lacks/weaknesses.  He is provision. As we take the communion bread we recognize that at that point of our lack, He has what we need even if we do not yet experience it in our reality.  We are agreeing with this truth of provision by Faith, seeing and believing with eyes of Faith, calling it into manifestation with words of Faith.

The Holy Spirit leads us (all that call on His name as believers) into the guestchamber.

So as we follow along, Jesus is saying:    which means Laying it to rest, bring the message to a closure.

Where:     is the place (of rest).  I believe as Jesus sees us in those places of being bound, or those we are believing for being bound that He calls us to this guestchamber. “Where” is the place you are or others around you are in need/lack/sick.  He wants to bring us to this lodging place or guest room. Where we eat with him face to face, eye to eye, our audience of one, an intimate place with the Master.

The definition of guestroom (refer to definition).  This word again has great depth. It is the place where Christ has finished the work on cross procuring all our benefits in sonship /securing our inheritance. The guestroom is an open invitation, as is the cross for wholeness if we will receive and believe.  It is a place of rest for the believer, and it is where the exchange happens. 

When Adam and Eve were in the garden and Eve ate of the fruit, she did so based on the lie of Satan that God was withholding something good for her.  That partaking of the lie resulted in death for us all in spirit, soul and body,  Just as the fruit represented death, and the lie that God withholds good from us, causing us to doubt his goodness.

There is a correlation that when we partake of his “finished work” through the bread and the wine, we partake of the truth of life and that God withholds nothing from us. Rom 8:32  “ He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him graciously give us all things?” Believing this truth affects us spirit, soul, and body and a lamb for a household, as we pray and believe on behalf of others that they would receive of this truth.  Its all about the exchange, the exchange of the bound man (goodman-where the husband [source of provision] is not home) to the man who rests in the freedom of the finished work and is fully provided for.  AMEN!!!

I might eat:  I see Jesus giving us something to eat, bringing us something to eat often, serving us with Himself – wow!!!! Jesus is bringing us food, His food.  He is Provision, Deliverance, Salvation. His intention is that we feed on Him / take from Him as He is Life - that we put to use the food and provision.  That it brings us satisfaction (of our hunger and thirst) and that we are completely provided for when we feast in the company of One.  And what a place of feasting - what a place for celebration, when we recognize that the work is complete, all our needs/lack met. That would be the cause for rejoicing.  That every manifestation of death is swallowed up in His Victory!  1Cor 15:54. Swallowed in the Greek “to drink down, be devoured, destroyed, consumed. As we swallow the blood of Jesus, while taking communion, we are celebrating the victory that Christ won as every enemy has been consumed, or swallowed in Victory!!

The final symbolism for me was found in the reference of Mark 14:14. Biblically the numbers point to a double cycle of completion. The complete destruction and disarming of our enemies, and the complete and total freedom and wholeness we have when we have Christ!! I believe it is not by chance that these numbers are arranged like this, the Holy Spirit was making His point clear!!

So take communion today with the understanding that you are feasting with an audience of One who already provided for your every need.  Your very act of partaking His provision shouts the truth you have believed –  God withholds nothing good from us – and you have come to receive from Him.