David Bahn – Reflections

John 7:1-13

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.² Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. ³ So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. ⁴ For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ For not even his brothers believed in him. ⁶ Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. ⁸ You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

¹⁰ But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. ¹¹ The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” ¹² And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” ¹³ Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

The Preacher says, “There is a time for everything, a season for everything under the heavens.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) You and I realize this. There are times to ask the boss for a raise: just after clinching a big deal. There are times not to: when you just blew the big deal. There is a time to spend: when you have saved up the money and are ready to buy that special person the gift. There are times not to spend: when your credit cards are maxed out.

In the case of Jesus’ life and ministry, the time had not yet come for the fullness of his redemptive work to be revealed and accomplished. It was too early for him to die on the cross. It was too early for the people to turn against him sufficiently that he would be thoroughly rejected – and in the midst of that entrust himself to God. It was time for the forces of evil to align and focus on him. It was time for the hatred of the world to grow against Jesus.

This is difficult for me to embrace emotionally: why would anyone hate Jesus? But the reality is that many would hate him and many do. Sometimes we fall into the group of people who will not say anything about Jesus. We fear the reaction of our co-workers. We fear the response of the culture around us. We don’t want to be labeled as fanatics.

But whether it is time or not for Jesus’ name to be invoked – graduation ceremony prayer, sporting event opening, civic ceremony, or moral issues facing our country – one truth remains: whether opposed, discounted, or hidden: Jesus is on the Father’s clock and will follow the Father’s time table for accomplishing the Father’s will. That’s why he is our Redeemer, and why we put our trust in him.