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 So His brothers said to Him, “Move on from 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 ^[a]when he himself is striving to be known publicly. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵ For not even His brothers believed in Him. ⁶ So Jesus *said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify about it, that its deeds are evil. ⁸ Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this feast, because My time has not yet fully arrived.” ⁹ Now 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 though in secret. ¹¹ So the Jews were looking for Him at the feast and saying, “Where is He?” ¹² And there was a great deal of talk about Him in secret among the crowds: some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He is misleading the people.” ¹³ However, no one was speaking openly about Him, for fear of ^[b]the Jews.

¹⁴ But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple area, and began to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, not having been educated?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. ¹⁷ If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. ¹⁸ The one 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 Moses not give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why are you seeking to kill Me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill You?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did one ^[c]deed, and you all are astonished. ²² For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and even on a Sabbath you circumcise a man. ²³ If a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry at Me because I made an entire man well on a Sabbath? ²⁴ Do not judge by the outward appearance, but judge ^[d]with righteous judgment.”

²⁵ So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this man not the one whom they are seeking to kill? ²⁶ And yet look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the ^[e]Christ, do they? ²⁷ However, we know where this man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.” ²⁸ Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and you 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 do know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” ³⁰ So they were seeking to arrest Him; and yet no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

Psalm 139:14-17 says: I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You When I was made in secret, And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my formless substance; And in Your book were written All the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God! How vast is the sum of them!  In today’s text it says: Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and you 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 do know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” So they were seeking to arrest Him; and yet no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. In Luke 4:28-30 there is another account which says: All the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and brought Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, so that they could throw Him down from the cliff. But He passed through their midst and went on His way. How much better would our lives be if we truly believed that God has planned and ordained our days? We could worry, struggle and strive less if we trusted Him fully. Isaiah 54:17 says: “No weapon that is formed against you will succeed; And you will condemn every tongue that accuses you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord. In John 14:21;23 Jesus says: “The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him… If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.” If we are fully submitted to God in Christ, nothing can touch us that He does not allow. In John 16:33 Jesus says: “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”  Nothing can come against us that He has not already overcome.

In Matthew 6:27-33 Jesus says: “Which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.”  In Matthew 11:28-30 He says: “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”

May the words of the psalmist be our prayer today as we fully trust in the Lord.  The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For the sake of His name. 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life, And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever.  Amen