Living Stones – Thursday, October 12, 2017
God’s time, not ours
John 7:6
Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.
In John chapter 7 and verses 1 to 6 we get a glimpse of some of the cut and thrust between Jesus and His siblings. The New Testament generally does not shed any light on Jesus’ family life, but every now and then a few verses here and there raises the curtain. This passage is one such example.
The Feast (or Festival) of Tabernacles (around September-October on our current calendars) was an 8-day festival that was one of the obligatory festivals, and every adult Jew within 15 miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to attend and others further afield did what they could to attend. That Jesus was going to attend should not, therefore, be in question. But he was going, as we like to say here – in His own sweet time.
The brothers of Jesus were getting set for the road trip and noticed that He was hanging around and not making the move. So, they get on His case.
His brothers made some telling points, they told Him that, “your miracles were not done in Jerusalem!” At least they acknowledged that miracles had taken place. And, they were right! – all the big miracles were in Galilee. In John 2, He changed water to wine at a country wedding. In John 4 – He healed a nobleman’s son, in John 6 – He fed 5,000. In John 5, He did actually heal the impotent man at the pool in Jerusalem, but for them that one didn’t count. That was on a Sabbath day and it became an issue of Him being a lawbreaker rather that an issue of a miracle.
Secondly, they told Jesus that if He wanted to be popular and carry a crowd He needed to get out of the obscurity of country and get a big audience in the city. Become a celebrity.
Jesus responds by getting into a conversation with them about time. In English – the word time could mean so many things – the time on the clock, the opportunity or timing, the times/seasons and so on. The Greek language of the New Testament was more specific about what kind of time was being referred.
Jesus often spoke about His time or His hour (like when He responded to His mother in John 2 at the wedding “Woman my hour is not yet come”) the word there tended to be “hora” which is more like the destined hour of God.
In this passage John uses a specific word “kairos” here we are talking about opportunity or the best time in which to do something – the right moment. Here’s a quick explanation from Wikipedia.
Kairos (καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment). The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time in between, a moment of indeterminate time in which something special happens. What the special something is depends on who is using the word. While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative nature.
His brothers were in tune with the world so, for them, anytime was the right time. They viewed His agenda as a personal one for self-promotion, as such they urged Him to take any opportunity for a crowd. Jesus however was in tune with God’s agenda and not His own. Jesus was not looking for public adulation, rather, He was going to confront the public about their selfishness and ungodliness.
Sometimes in our lives we are under pressure from others to do things in their time, and not our own or God’s! Often others have an agenda for us, and sometimes we have an agenda for ourselves neither of which is based on what God would have us do.
(This is not an excuse for procrastination, procrastination is a problem and there is a time for everything and we should do everything in its proper time and season.)
In circumstances where our actions are public, there is an easy way to test our agenda and timing – would our action bring Glory to God or to ourselves?
Think on these things:
- Do you crave the limelight for yourself?
- Do you seek a sense of God’s timing in the major actions you are going to undertake?
- Are the things you do and the time you do them bringing glory to God?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would move at God’s timing.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex