77 - The Greatest Miracle

They were in their final hours together. He would be arrested soon, and by nine o’clock in the morning He would be on the cross. So, Jesus devoted the time they had left to preparing His disciples for the future. Here were truths to which they would need to cling. Here were promises that would carry them through the trials they would face in the years ahead. He spoke of heaven, love, prayer, the Holy Spirit, obedience, persecution, and, of course, His return to set up the kingdom of God. And then He let them listen as He interceded for them before the Father. None of the topics He taught that evening is a surprise. All are foundational to discipleship. But what is surprising is the topic that He chose first. No sooner had He announced that He would be leaving them than He issued what He called a “new commandment,” and said that their obedience to that command would be the single most important miracle that would cause people to believe in Him. Nothing they could do would be more effective. Indeed, He would empower them to do supernatural works that were even greater than those He had done (Jn 14:12), but those miracles wouldn’t have the greatest impact, they wouldn’t be the most important way of convincing the world that He was the Savior or that they were His disciples. That powerful witness would happen only when they obeyed the new commandment, only when they chose to love each other as deeply as He had loved them. Today, let’s try to understand what that means, so we too can release the greatest miracle of all.