My Time Has Not Yet Come

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” (For not even his brothers believed in him.) Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, “He is a good man,” others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.” Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews. John 7:1-13 

Yesterday, in the morning before the heat really set in, we went to pick peaches. It was a quiet morning and there were just a few people out picking before a scorching afternoon. We walked through a grove of apple trees that were laden but the fruit was not yet ripe. It was so tempting, as they looked so beautiful. But they were not ready yet and we had a goal of getting peaches. often in life, we try to rush things with sour and rude results. We might be anxious today, but if we rush and push, we often end up with spoiled or even worse results. 

Jesus is being goaded and pushed by his brothers. We don't know their motivation, but we can guess they want to be seen with the latest celebrity. They couldn't imagine the results, the outcomes for him. Already, there were real threats on his life which his brothers and disciples wouldn't take seriously. We are invited today to wait for our time, to give everything and everyone the time they need to move into their roles. Jesus, the son of God, waited until his thirties to make miracles happen, and even then, he was cautious and thoughtful.

Today I ask God to help me be patient and thoughtful when the urge is to push, rush and be done with it. May we all give space and time so that beauty and love may grow.