Children, What does Jesus mean when he says "My time has not yet come"? Or later, "his hour had not yet come"? What is Jesus' hour? Have you ever been expecting something really great? You may have been waiting for it for a long time, eagerly expecting that wonderful thing! You spent days, weeks, maybe even months hoping for it. And then it happened. And it was over just like that. Jesus' whole life was focused on his "hour." But Jesus' hour was not merely an important event in his life; It was the most important event in all of history. All of the ages--past and future--would be centered on this hour.

We have already seen in John 6:15 that Jesus wants to avoid the crowds who wish to make him king. He is indeed the Prophet of whom Moses had spoken, but his hour has not yet come.

Likewise at the end of John 6, John tells us that Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him. Further, Jesus even says explicitly in 6:70 "Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." And John explains that Jesus knew that Judas would betray him.

John is beginning to move his narrative toward the cross. John 5:18 says that the Jews were seeking to kill Jesus because he made himself equal with God. Now 7:1 reminds us of this. The rest of John's gospel is going to keep us focused on this. In every passage from John 7-11 there will be an emphasis on the attempt to arrest and kill Jesus. And regularly John will say that Jesus hour, or time, has not yet come. 2:4 Jesus said this to his mother: "my hour has not yet come." 7:6 Now he says it to his brothers: "My time has not yet come" 7:30 no one lays a hand on him because "his hour had not yet come" 8:20 They do not arrest Jesus because his hour has not come Finally in 12:23 and 13:1 Jesus makes it clear that the hour has come.

What is the "hour"? What is the "time" that Jesus is waiting for? Jesus addresses this question at the Feast of Booths-or Tabernacles. Jesus taught in John 6 that he is the bread of life-around the feast of Passover. Now in John 7 he explains that he is a sojourner-during the feast of Booths. The Feast of Booths was designed to remind Israel of their wilderness wanderings. Israel was to spend seven days living in booths as a reminder of how God provided during their 40 years in the wilderness. Jesus has been "exiled" from Judea, in a sense. He is wandering in the wilderness of Galilee. His brothers urge him to go to Judea and proclaim himself openly. They do not believe in him, so they mock him. But Jesus replies: (Verses 6-8) The time for revealing his true mission has not yet come. When Jesus says "I am not going up to this feast," he is answering their call for him to go up and reveal himself. He will go up secretly, but not yet openly as Israel's Messiah. This is not yet his time. This is their time. Jesus adds a second phrase in verse 8: "my time has not yet fully come." Jesus told the Samaritan woman, "the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth." (4:23) Jesus said in 5:25 that "an hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." In the incarnation of Jesus, the hour is both already and not yet. Insofar as the age to come is dawning in his own ministry, Jesus says that it is coming and now here. But it is still incomplete. There are signs and pictures of the age to come in the life and ministry of Jesus, but his time has not yet come. The kingdom has come in Jesus, but it has not yet come for us. And so Jesus says to his brothers: This is your time. You are immune to the world, because you are part of the world. If you have any doubt about what Jesus is saying, look at John 15:18-19 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." Jesus tells his disciples that their hour will also come. (16:2). But for now, it is the time of the world. So Jesus says to his brothers: Go up to the feast; pretend to be strangers and wanderers. Jesus is the true wanderer whose time will soon come.

Later, however, he goes up in private. He is going to show his brothers that his time has not yet come. They do not realize that his "time" refers to his death. The Jews were looking for him, and the people were muttering about him. The crowds were in turmoil. Jesus had created a big stir Some said he was a good man, but others thought that he led the people astray. But no one spoke openly of him. His time had not yet come.

But in the middle of the feast, Jesus began to teach in the temple. And his teaching amazed even the leaders of the Jews. (Note that in verses 1, 13, 15, and 35, the "Jews" are the leaders, while in verses 12, 20, 25, 31, and 32, the "crowd" or the "people" is used) Jesus, this unlettered carpenter's son (which suggests that he did not have rabbinical training) knew the scripture intimately.

Perceiving their amazement, Jesus declares (verses 16-19). I simply teach what my Father taught me. If you had been taught by my Father, then you would believe my teaching. Remember that Jesus taught in chapter 5 regarding the fourfold witness: The Father testified, his works testified, and Moses testified to Christ. Now he turns to the authority of his teaching. How do you know that Jesus' teaching is authoritative? Can you go to some neutral intellectual starting point and prove it? No. Only those who are taught by the Father will recognize Jesus' authority. Sure, if neutrality were possible, then Jesus could prove his case. But no one is neutral. It is interesting to see the argument of verse 19: Moses gave you the law. If you kept the law aright, then you could judge from a neutral starting point. But none of you keeps the law. The Jews' problem-for that matter humanity's problem- is not an intellectual one. It is a moral problem. Cornelius Van Til suggested that man is like a saw that cuts perfectly straight every time. The problem is that the saw is at an angle. If you are trying to cut a right angle, but the saw is set on 30 degrees, then no matter how straight you cut it, the result will be skewed. Jesus says, you are trying to judge me, based on your own skewed moral compass.

The crowd doesn't get it. They think that Jesus is getting paranoid. "You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?"

Jesus again cuts straight to the heart of the issue: referring back to his healing of the invalid at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus says that he did that one deed. What was the point of that healing? He was giving rest to the man's body. So Jesus compares that with circumcision. Circumcision was seen as a symbol of healing or cleansing. The snipping off of the foreskin symbolized the death of the old man. If this spiritual act could be done on the Sabbath, why not a bodily healing as well?

Some of the people were beginning to wonder. "Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?" But they were uncertain-because they believed Jesus to be from Galilee.

Jesus does not correct their misimpression. It would do no good to tell them that he had been born in Bethlehem. Oh, it might gain a few more camp followers, but Jesus isn't interested in numbers. He did not come to gain a following-he came to die. And his hour has not yet come. So all he says is: "You know me? You know where I come from?" I don't think so! "He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me." (Verses 28-29)

Again they seek to arrest him, "but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come." And in spite of all his indirection, many of the people believed on him. They have seen the signs, and while they don't understand who he is, they do understand that this is the Messiah. Unlike their leaders, they know the Father-and they have heard his voice.

John talks about this again in his first letter. 1 John 3:1 says that "the reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him." And in verse 13-"Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death." And in verse 16, "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." What was Jesus' hour? Jesus' hour was when he laid down his life for us. Jesus' hour was the cross. All of history was narrowing down to that one moment. No longer was the focus on the everlasting covenant, or the age to come. It was not even the Year of God's favor, or the Day of his Visitation. It was the hour-the precise moment- the crux of history-when all things would be laid bare. And in that hour the cosmos would tremble at the revelation of God's justice and mercy. And because that hour has come, you can never be the same again. Because Jesus has laid down his life for you, you must lay down your life for others. How do you hear that? Is it "because Jesus died for me, therefore I have to do this..." If so, then you are missing the point. 1 John 4:7-21

Copyright © 2003 Peter J. Wallace