His hour had not yet come

John 7:1-30 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. ² Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. ³ Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. ⁴ For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵ For not even His brothers were believing in Him. ⁶ So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. ⁸ Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret. ¹¹ So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?” ¹² There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.” ¹³ Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴ But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. ¹⁷ If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. ¹⁸ He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

¹⁹ “Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel. ²² For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. ²³ If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

²⁵ So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? ²⁶ Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? ²⁷ However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” ²⁸ Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. ²⁹ I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” ³⁰ So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

Jesus knew His purpose, His mission to fulfill the will of the Father, to be the expression of God’s love, mercy and grace, to through the cross redeem, reconcile and restore all mankind to God. He knew the time would come when He would bear the agony not only of the cross itself, but also of bearing the sin of all mankind. Jesus knew He would die at the hands of men, but He also knew it was not yet His time. Jesus neither lived recklessly, knowing He would die anyway, nor did He try to change His destiny, to avoid His call and purpose.  

We too all know that we will die one day. Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 says:    There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.  A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.  A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.         Unlike Jesus, we do not know the method or the time of our death only that it will come. Jesus knowing that it was His purpose, His call to die on the cross, also lived His life to fulfill the will and purpose of the Father. In John 5:19-20 , Jesus says:   “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.”     That too should be our mindset, to both in life and death be obedient to God.

Jesus says:  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) The abundant life that Jesus gives us though is not a life of lavish, self centered and self seeking.  In Luke 12:18-20, the parable of the rich fool,  Jesus cautions against living a self satisfying, self seeking life:      Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and will build bigger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’       None of us know the day or the hour. One thing I do know is that whether we are given only a few years or  a hundred years, in the scheme of eternity it is but a twinkling of an eye. We need to live each day  focused on what really matters, like Jesus fulfilling the will and purpose of the Father. Jesus says:   “He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”

We need to have the balance in our lives that Jesus had, to neither fear death nor love life so much that it controls what we do. The psalmist understood death, in Psalm 23:4 he says: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.       Death, the death we all will experience in our physical bodies is merely a shadow. It has no real substance or power. For those who believe in Christ there is eternal life.  1 Corinthians 15:55 says:  "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"      In John 11:25 Jesus says: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.”      

There is another truth in the psalmist trust and confidence. He says:  Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.       We too, need to live our lives in the comfort of the rod and staff of Jesus, our shepherd. The rod was an instrument the shepherd would use both to defend the flock from predators and also for discipline when needed. The staff, the long stick with hook on the end was used for guidance, to pull a sheep to safety or to direct their path. There is no fear of death when we live our lives under the rod and staff of Christ, under His protection, His correction and His direction.  

In each of our lives there will be: — A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.  A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.  A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.  Whatever we do may it be done with Christ, to the glory of the Father. Jesus says:  "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, thank You that because of the cross and the resurrection, I don’t need to live in fear of death. It is merely a shadow. Thank You for Your rod and staff which comfort me.  Help me to live the abundant life You have given me. Whether I weep or laugh, whether I mourn or dance, I know that You are with me.  My desire is to live in a way that fulfills Your purpose for my life, to be light that others may see and glorify You.   Amen   

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