Day 144

2 Samuel 4:1–6:23; John 13:31–14:14; Psalm 119:17-32; Proverbs 15:31-32

IN OUR READING from 2 Samuel today, David became king over all of Israel. Saul’s son (and David’s rival) Ishbosheth was assassinated, and his head was brought to David. David saw the injustice of this act (just as with Abner’s murder) and executed the murderers. Once again, the people saw David’s humility and character, and he was crowned king of Israel.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus was enjoying the final meal He would have before His freedom was stripped away and He experienced unspeakable suffering. Considering this, we should offer our heart’s full attention to the words Jesus spoke during this meal. These are the final things Jesus wanted to convey before He was separated from His friends. Nothing would ever be the same for any of them after this meal, and this reality gives Jesus’ words an urgency that we don’t always appreciate.

“I am giving you a new commandment,” Jesus said. “Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:34-35).

Notice that this is a “new commandment.” No longer are we only to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, but we are also to love one another as God loves us. And notice how completely impossible any of this is if we have no true and devoted relationship with God.

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me,” Jesus said. “There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:1-3).

Do you see Jesus’ care for the hearts of His friends, who were about to see things that they could never forget? Allow that comfort to wash into the anxieties you are facing and hear Jesus say, “If this weren’t true, I wouldn’t have said it.”

“I am the way, the truth, and the life,” Jesus said (John 14:6). These are the very things all of humanity is searching for. We all want to know the way to make life work. Everyone wants to know the truth rather than being lied to. We are all searching for life. A precious few hours remained in Jesus’ life as He spoke these words, and He would spend those hours suffering beyond words to make this truth ours to grasp.

And then Jesus dropped a bomb into the conversation:

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

Jesus insists that He is telling us the truth. And if this is the truth, then we are commissioned and empowered to do the same work Jesus did, after the same fashion that He did it. Living into that reality would make us like Jesus —Christlike.

The final words of Jesus shared at His final meal could revolutionize our lives and touch everything within us, if we would believe them. They force us to face the darkness without and within. They force us to declare once and for all whether we really believe in all of this.

Spend some time rereading these final words of Jesus at His Last Supper. Chew on them. Ponder the implications. Hear Jesus speaking within you, I’m telling you the truth. If it were not so, I would have told you.

PRAYER:

Be good to your servant, that I may live and obey your word. Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions.