In my October 28th, 2009 post "When All Else Fails, Read the Instructions", Jesus gave some mysterious instructions to His disciples. Their complete obedience resulted in the fulfillment of a prophecy over 500 years old, proclaimed by Zechariah (Zech. 9:9).
Once again, in Mark 14:13-15, Jesus gives mysterious instructions to His disciples, and just as had happened before, the disciples "found things just as Jesus had told them" (Mk. 14:16).
In novels, movies, and television, we're fascinated with this concept of a protagonist receiving mysterious instructions which have virtually no probability of actually happening, and could not have been orchestrated. Yet, when followed, the plot plays out exactly as we were told - and results in amazing things. But rarely do we experience such things in reality.
Or do we?
In this account, Jesus sends two disciples into Jerusalem with detailed instructions to follow a man carrying a jar of water (Mk. 14:13), to ask the owner of the house he enters where they would eat the Passover (Mk. 14:14), and that the man would show them a large upper room already furnished (Mk. 14:15)!
How did Jesus know there would be a man with a jar of water, and how did Jesus know that this particular man would take them to the location where a furnished room for 13 would be waiting? And what prompted the man to prepare it for them? So many questions, so mysterious.
But is it really? Aren't we told that God knows all things and that Jesus is God? Can't the God who revealed to Zechariah something which would happen 500 years after his death also know something about a guy carrying water to a house in Jerusalem?
And by extension, can we trust that God knows exactly what will happen to us in the next moment - the next decade and in the next life?
We live in linear time and cannot escape it. God lives in eternity and is able to see past, present, and future all at once. We should therefore trust His every instruction, His every command, and His perfect will for us. In His good time, He may well reveal to us this unsolved mystery.