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Mark 14:15
ESV And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us."
NIV He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."
NASB And he himself will show you a large upstairs room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.'
CSB He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there."
NLT He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.'
KJV And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us.
NKJV Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.”

What does Mark 14:15 mean?

Peter and John (Luke 22:8) are charged with preparing the Passover meal for Jesus and the disciples. They must find an unblemished lamb, unleavened bread, and herbs. Although Jesus had cleared the merchants out of the temple courtyard (Mark 11:15–17), the Mount of Olives is filled with booths selling everything they need. The Passover commemorates the night God "passed over" the Israelites, who had put the blood of a lamb on their doorframes, as He destroyed the firstborns of the Egyptians (Exodus 12:1–32).

Despite what Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece painting presents, Jesus and the disciples will not all sit on chairs on one side of a long table. They'll lie around a table on couches, leaning on a bolster or pillow as they reach for the food. It may not be so unusual that the room is already set up to serve so many people for dinner, as Jews from Judea, Perea, and Galilee have swollen the city's population. But that the room is still available means that either Jesus arranged for it in advance or the Holy Spirit directly acted.

Today, the Passover dinner, or Seder, is quite elaborate, but the requirements of the Mosaic law are simple. The main course is roast lamb or young goat (Exodus 12:5, 8). It was to be killed at twilight and roasted; none of its bones should be broken, and none of the meat should be kept overnight (Numbers 9:12; Exodus 12:10). It was eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, like horseradish (Exodus 12:8), and served with wine.

The similarities to the crucifixion are striking. Jesus is the bread of life (John 6:35) and His blood is the wine (Mark 14:22–24). His body is "broken," but not His bones (John 19:36). And He is given sour wine to drink (Mark 15:36). Like the Passover lamb, His feet were anointed at the beginning of the week (John 12:1–8) and His head at the end (Mark 14:3). While Jesus and the disciples celebrate the Passover the evening of 14 Nisan, like all Galileans, the Judeans will have their meal the next afternoon. That means Jesus will die on the cross as the Judeans slaughter their Passover lambs.
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