Follow the Man

Luke 21:29-22:13 Recently I heard Derek Prince talk about his life of over fifty years in the ministry. He has buried two wives and has traveled the world fulfilling the Great Commission. He shares that all he did these fifty years and more was to follow the Man. He shared then in great detail about the scripture we read today in Luke. It was the time of the Passover, and it also was the time Jesus would soon be betrayed and crucified. Jesus wanted to spend the Passover with His disciples because He knew His time on earth was short. He sent Peter and John to go ahead of Him and the other disciples to prepare the Passover for them, and He gave them these instructions: “Behold when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in” (Luke 22:10, KJV).

Derek shared that the man who bore the pitcher of water stood out in the crowd because in Jesus’ day only women carried pitchers of water. This man evidently was told by the Holy Spirit to get ready for a very important dinner, and he prepared a room to be used by the Master.

Derek continued, “All my life I have followed the Man, and He has never failed to go ahead of me and prepare the way.” Remember Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you: I go to prepare a place for you.” (See John 14.)

Derek shared how the Holy Spirit knew he would lose his second wife and would need provision of care when she died. He went ahead and prepared a lovely apartment in the home of a family his wife had befriended in Jerusalem.

The man with the pitcher in this passage represents the Holy Spirit who always leads us and guides us. Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, “He will lead you into all truth.” Those who are led by the Holy Spirit are called sons of God. Like Derek, all through my over fifty years as a Christian I have seen God’s faithfulness to send the Holy Spirit ahead of me to prepare me for every situation in life. Some of the rooms of life I have experienced have involved great trials, but before I reached those rooms, the Holy Spirit prepared me ahead of time to be ready. One very difficult room of life I experienced was when the car I was driving hit a little eight-year-old boy who was seriously injured. We didn’t know whether he would live or die, but thanks to the Lord, the boy was spared. I was even given the opportunity to lead him to the Lord. Six months before this great trial happened, the Lord spoke to me during communion and said, “You are going to go through a fiery trial, but just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you also will go through the fire and I will be with you, and you will come out of the fire without the smell of smoke on you.” It was this message that got me through this room in my life. Follow the Man, and the Man, the Holy Spirit, will always prepare a way for you where there seems to be no way.

READ: Judges 1:1-2:10; Luke 21:29-22:13; Psalm 90:1-91:16; Proverbs 13:24-25