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

I clearly remember watching the clock in school and aching because it wasn't moving fast enough for recess or the end of the day. My time had not yet come, obviously, despite my desire to be free of school. Jesus said his time had not yet come as an excuse for not going to the festival. He might have known he had to face the cross and it wasn't yet the time. His disciples and brothers were pushing him to go, and he did go finally in secret. All of us have faced a time when we knew something wasn't right. We might have avoided or we went and it was terrible. Jesus clearly knew captivity was coming. We aren't so perceptive. We are encouraged today to trust the internal clocks, to not be anxious but to wait on the Lord.

Gracious Creator, you have all time in your hands

and bring us what we need when the time is right

holding us close when we are anxious and undone.

We try to rush things and want to control time

we think you have forgotten us and do not care

and we try to rush ahead and fall into traps.

Help us to trust you Lord, with every hour

make us patient and prayerful in everything

so all we do is governed by your love for all. Amen.