What does Matthew 26:18 mean?
The disciples have asked Jesus where they should go to prepare the Passover meal for all of them to eat together (Matthew 26:17). None of them lived in Jerusalem. They didn't have a natural spot to prepare a meal for at least 13 guests. Also, the law required the meal to be eaten within Jerusalem's walls. The city was packed, and places to eat as a large group would have been scarce. On top of all of that, it was already the crucial day. The meal was to be eaten after sundown, just a few hours away.Jesus' answer to them is mysterious. He tells them to go into the city, Jerusalem, to a "certain man." Matthew leaves out the details added in Mark: They will be met by a man carrying a jar of water. They are to follow him to whatever house he enters and then talk to the owner of that house (Mark 14:13–14). They are to say to that man that the time is short and that they will keep the Passover at his house. Mark adds that the man will show them to a large, furnished upstairs room (Mark 14:15), that later became known simply as the "upper room," the place of the Last Supper.