TWO KATALUMAS
Kingdom Kids yield personal will to Yahweh in this Lenten series
Luke 22:7-13
Luke 22:11-12: “and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.” Emphasis added.
When Jesus was born, all the inns were full. Mary and Joseph used a stable and rested Him in a manger, or a feeding trough (Luke 2:7). The Greek word for inn is kataluma [kat-a-LU-ma]. In the opening Scripture, Jesus used the same Greek word kataluma for “guest room”, and upper room. Luke uses the Greek word kataluma only twice in His Gospel book. Both times, kataluma is borrowed space.
What a contrast of the two katalumas! The Bethlehem kataluma holds the helpless infant Lord Jesus. The Passover Supper shows adult King Jesus taking charge as our host. He “poured out His soul to death” (Isaiah 53:12b). He “poured out [His blood] for you” as a “new covenant” (Luke 22:20).
Mark 14:14 reports that Jesus uses the Greek word, kataluma, to describe the upper room a bit differently. Jesus uses kataluma as personal space here, not borrowed space. “Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is My guest room, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’” Emphasis added.
See the difference?
In every celebration of Holy Communion—people kneeling to receive the “Lord’s Supper”—Jesus is our host. He welcomes all His dear disciples into His kataluma. He serves us His body and blood, willingly sacrificed. Because of His awesome love for His creation, Jesus mimics our heavenly Father’s love for us.
Depending on how people view Jesus, John 1:11-13 explains the difference between borrowed space and a place where Jesus takes possession: “He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children not born of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
Take Home Nugget
Handing us gifts “to go,” Jesus also offers His disciples forgiveness of sins, resurrection hope, and everlasting life.
Check out the Psalm lesson linked below to see how King Jesus might have directed His Spirit to inspire King David’s writing. Their anguish was similar. Saul pursued David to kill him (1 Samuel 18:1-11), and Jesus was targeted for death by Jewish Pharisees (Matthew 12:13, Mark 14:1).
Holiest LORD Y’shua, thank You for being such a gracious host, taking possession of me and my spiritual brothers and sisters to feed us Your precious body and blood. Amen.
Adapted from “The Kataluma”, a devotion by Rev. Erik J. Rottmann. March 9, 2018. Portals of Prayer devotional magazine. Missouri.
J.D. Griffith
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