<p>14:12 <i>And on the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the Passover, his disciples said to him: Where will you have us prepare for you the Passover to eat?</i>- Lk. 22:8 adds the detail that actually this was said in response to Peter and John being told to go and prepare the Passover. Mk. 14:15 brings out the paradox that the Lord directed them to an upper room that was already &quot;prepared&quot; (s.w.), and there they prepared the Passover. The Lord had taught that the festal meal was already prepared for His people (22:4 s.w.). The Lord was surely using the language of Passover preparation in saying that He was going to the cross to prepare a place for us (Jn. 14:1-3)- and He said that at the very time Passover was being prepared. His request that&nbsp;<i>they</i>&nbsp;prepare Passover was therefore asking for a mutuality in response from them.</p><p>We feel we must <i>do</i> something before we can expect anything from God. And yet in condescension to this, the Father sometimes almost goes along with us in this. Reflect how the disciples, with all the petty pride of the practical man wishing to do something practical for the leader he adores, earnestly asked the Lord where to prepare for Him the Passover. He told them to find a certain man, and ask him where the Master would eat Passover <i>with His disciples</i>. He would show them an upper room furnished and already prepared. '<i>There'</i>, the Lord added with His gentle irony, 'prepare for <i>us</i>, not just me but you as well, to eat. Even though I've already arranged it all, and I'm inviting <i>you</i> to eat with <i>me</i>, well, I understand you must feel you do your little human bit, so there <i>you</i> prepare; although I've already prepared it all'. 'What love through all his actions ran'. This was grace and understanding and accommodation of men <i>par excellence</i>.</p>