In God's time

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.

In today’s text it says:   His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 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.” For not even His brothers were believing in Him. So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.”     Jesus brothers, because of their disbelief, challenged Jesus to prove Himself. Jesus though was not intimidated or manipulated by people.     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.”     Rather than do what people wanted, Jesus did only what the Father showed Him. He went when the Father said go. He waited when the Father said wait. His time and His timing were perfectly aligned with the Father. That’s why He said:  “My time is not yet here.”

The desire to prove or justify ourselves to others is a pride issue. We should not be concerned with proving ourselves to people, either to be accepted by them or to justify our faith. We need to understand that if we are like Jesus, much of the world will not like us. Jesus says:   “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.”   In John 15:18-20  Jesus says:  “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”      If, like Jesus, we will only do what the Father shows us, through the Holy Spirit, of whom Jesus says in John 16:13:   “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”  We then, by  yielding to the Holy Spirit rather than responding to the desires of people or our own desires, can, like Jesus, see, hear and know exactly what the Father’s will is for our lives and the circumstances we encounter.

Being in tune and in step with God is critical for us to walk in the fullness of His plan for us. Think about how critical a few seconds can be in terms of having or avoiding an accident. There are no accidents with God. In today’s text Jesus did not go in response to His brother’s challenge. But the text says:     But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret. So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?” 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.” Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews.     The people did not even speak openly about Jesus, for fear of the Jews. Fear of man is one of the greatest hindrances to the truth of God. If we seek the approval of or fear the response of people we will not speak openly, sharing the truth about Jesus. Jesus did not go to justify or prove Himself. He went, in the father’s timing to reveal the truth. The text continues:   But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 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. 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.”     We too, if we will walk in God’s timing, yielded to the Holy Spirit, can speak the truth of God’s word. We may not be able to quote scripture and verse. We may not be able to debate doctrine. Sometimes those things are done more to justify self in the sight of man than to glorify God. If we seek the glory of the One who sent us, doing the will of the Father, in His time, like Jesus we will reveal the truth of God’s word, giving glory to Him, not ourselves.

The text ends saying:  So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 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? However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” 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. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”  So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.     Jesus could not and would not avoid His destiny in the end. He would eventually be seized, arrested, persecuted and crucified. But it would be in the Father’s time. It would accomplish God’s perfect will. Jesus went to the cross in obedience to the will and the timing of God. The world did indeed hate Jesus because He spoke the truth. But God did not respond to the hatred of man. Instead:    God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)   On the cross, Jesus fulfilled the will of the Father. On the cross, in God’s time Jesus said:  “It is finished.”    We too, if we will walk in God’s time, will not be received and loved by the world. But we should not respond to their challenges, seeking their approval. Instead in God’s time our destiny, the path we walk in God’s time, will meet our destination. We too will say:  it is finished. Then we will hear the words: Well done good and faithful servant, enter the joy of your Master.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit help me to walk perfectly in step with You, that I might do only the things You are doing and say the things You are saying. May I not respond to the challenges from or the fear of man, but rather live as a demonstration of Your love, revealed in the cross.    Amen.