How Did They Know Which Man???:
This is Holy Week across the world. A time in the Christian calendar when we pauseto remember that period from the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday to the empty tomb on Easter Sunday. More words are in the scriptures about that 7-day period than any other 7-day period.There is one story, from that week, that has always been fascinating. Dr. Luke writesit this way... LK 22:7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations forus to eat the Passover."LK 22:9 "Where do you want us to prepare for it?" they asked.LK 22:10 He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meetyou. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with mydisciples?' 12 He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there." Okay, help me to understand. Experts tell us there were around 800,000 people in Jerusalem at that time. How do they know, when they see a man carrying a jar of water,that it is the right guy? This is the type of illustration that causes the skeptics to say, "See, the Bible doesn't make sense." That is, unless you know the culture of that day.In that day, women did the water carrying. Men did not carry water! To say to Peter and John that seeing a man carrying a water container would be the clue to the placewhere they would observe the Passover would not cause them to think, "How will wefind that one man?" but, "How will we find any man carrying water?"Not every question about the Bible can be answered that easily. But many can. The Bible is the inspired, accurate, Holy Word from the Almighty God. But it was not writtenin a vacuum. Real people, influenced by the culture of their day, to be read by others of that same culture, wrote it. It is often said, the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself. And that is true, But reading other commentaries, along side reading the Word, can help in a person's understanding and spiritual growth.
Paul Neighbors
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