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John 7 "My Time"
After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jew’s Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world." For even His brothers did not believe in Him. Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come." When He said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?" And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people." However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. (John 7:1-13)
About six months had passed since Jesus had preached in
Jerusalem at the Passover feast that He was bread of life. The hatred
that the Jewish rulers had for Jesus had become so intense that Jesus
avoided Judea and confined His ministry to Galilee. But now the Feast
of Tabernacles, another major feast was approaching and all devout Jews
would be making the pilgrimage up to Jerusalem and many would expect
Him to be there. Jesus’ half brothers, sons of Mary and Joseph,
gave Him some words of advice. Basically they thought that as long as
He stayed out in the countryside of Galilee where nothing ever happened,
He would never amount to anything. If their brother wanted to succeed
as a teacher or prophet He had to go where the action was, Jerusalem.
"For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be
known openly." They urged Him to show Himself to the world. The
word tells us that they said this because even they did not believe
in Him. Now I think that it is impossible that they could doubt that
the miracles that He did were real. They knew that their brother was
special, that He could heal the sick and do miracles. That is why they
urged Him, "If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."
What they did not believe was that He was the Son of God. They did not
believe that He was really different than them, that He knew what was
in God’s heart. This is a testimony to how human Jesus really
became. The people closest to Him, His own brothers who lived in the
same house day after day, knew that He got hungry and tired and thirsty
and bled just like everyone else when cut. They knew His humanity so
well that they found it hard to believe that He was also divine. And
so they felt free to give Him their words of advice.
How often we are offered worldly wisdom that lacks faith. Advice that
sounds good but does not take into account that God could be part of
the equation, solutions that omit the one key ingredient that we dare
not leave out. The Feast of Tabernacles was a harvest festival, a time
of celebration. There was always plenty of good food and a festive atmosphere
as the very hard work of reaping was over and the people settled down
to enjoy the fruits of their labor. At the same time this celebration
was used to commemorate the time when God provided for His people when
they wandered in the wilderness. So each year at the Feast of Tabernacles
the people were instructed to build for themselves booths or little
makeshift shelters. One commentator called it the Jewish camping festival.
And indeed as all the pilgrims gathered around Jerusalem and everyone
slept outdoors in their little cabins there would be a lot of excitement
in the air. This was the perfect kind of informal setting where someone
like Jesus could make a name for Himself. Everyone would be there and
they would be in the mood to hear new things and to see something spectacular.
It was perfect for publicity. But Jesus wouldn’t go. "My
time has not yet come", He said.
As Christians and as a church, it is not hard to know what we are supposed
to do. It is all spelled out pretty clearly in the Word. There are a
number of different ways of saying it, but it boils down to the "Great
Commandment" and the "Great Commission" Jesus told us
that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love your neighbor.
The great commission means that we should not be satisfied with just
our little group of Christians but should endeavor to take the gospel
all the way to the ends of the earth. Some groups have phrased it this
way, "To Know Him and To Make Him Known" It means the same
thing. Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love Me… then feed my sheep.
Our lives are to be spent working out the balance between loving Jesus
and loving the world that He died for on the cross. It is not hard to
know what we are supposed to do, but it is much more difficult to figure
out the when, where, how and who. There are many good things that need
to be done, many worthwhile projects that need to be taken on, but that
doesn’t mean that we need to do them all, or that we need to do
them now. The most common error that we make is timing.
Jesus said, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always
ready." We tend to think of the timing last. We make our plans
and like to think that whenever we do it, it will succeed because we
have planned so well. This was Jesus’ comment about His brother’s
plan. They thought that Jesus was running out of time. They thought
that the sooner He did something the better. But Jesus was actually
waiting for the best moment to come. When my family goes to the hot
springs we like to play air hockey in the game corner. My son’s
strategy is to keep moving the paddle back and forth in front of the
goal as fast as he can. He thinks that if he can keep it moving fast
enough that we won’t be able to sneak the puck through. This is
often our strategy in life. We think that the best thing to do is just
to keep busy. As long as we are busy we think that we won’t miss
the opportunities that come along. But actually, it is because we are
busy that we miss what God is doing. We run back and forth trying to
do everything that we think a Christian should do and miss the one thing
necessary. Another game in the arcade is called "Mogura Ban-Ban"
in Japanese. In it you hold a hammer and try to hit little gophers on
the head as they pop up out of their holes. The problem of course is
that you don’t know when or where they are going to pop up. Again
we end up just bopping the holes as fast as we can at random. This is
our problem in life too, I think. We don’t know the when and where
of God’s plan and so we try to make up for our lack of inspiration
with perspiration. As a church we are tempted to make the Feast of Tabernacles
into a religious circus with ourselves in the center ring. We are tempted
to do whatever it takes so that the good work that we are doing for
God will go forward. We feel the pressure of time running out and think
to ourselves that if we don’t do something soon we will miss our
chance. But God has a perfect time for us. Jesus did not let His brothers
persuade Him into going too soon. Instead when the time was absolutely
right. After all the pilgrims had already arrived in Jerusalem and He
could go unnoticed, Jesus went discreetly and appeared suddenly right
in the middle of the event.
Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and
taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know
letters, never having studied?" Jesus answered them and said, "My
doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His
will he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or
whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks
his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is
true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. Did not Moses give you the law,
yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me? The people
answered and said "You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?"
Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.
Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses but
from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man
receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should
not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely
well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge
with righteous judgment." (John 7:14-24)
Sometime, in the long history of Jewish tradition someone
decided that every year during the Feast of Tabernacles someone should
get up and read the scroll of Ecclesiastes. During the middle of all
the fun and festivities, this ultra-pessimistic little book from the
Old Testament would be read. Now the basic message of the book is that
all is vanity. The Hebrew word "hebel" has been translated
many ways but perhaps the best that I have heard is this, "soap
bubbles". The Preacher writes that everything we do in this life
is like trying to catch soap bubbles. We work so hard to save money
only to lose it when we die. We try to make a name for ourselves only
to have our children destroy it after us. We are busy chasing after
pleasure, or wisdom, or fame or honor, but none of it lasts. This message
is the perfect balance to the joy of the harvest. It is not the harvest
that we seek after but the Giver of the harvest. It is the fear of God
that lasts, our relationship with Him, not the blessings that we get
from Him.
Jesus came at the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles to give this message
to the Jews. He did not come to make a name for Himself. He was not
after any of the worldly things that His brothers gauged success by.
He came to show the Jews the vanity of their religious circus and point
them back to the fear of the Lord. Jesus instructed them, "Do not
judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
This is the same message as the Preacher of Ecclesiastes. To the Jews
their traditions and laws were all important, but Jesus saw through
them as vanity. The whole crowd was simply chasing after wind. According
to their law, Jesus was wrong to heal the man on the Sabbath. But by
the very same law they broke the Sabbath themselves when they circumcised
a man. Jesus exposed their religious posturing as ridiculous. "hebel".
So why did Jesus heal the man on the Sabbath? Because it was the right
time. Why did Jesus come in the middle of the feast and not at the beginning?
Because it was the right time. In Ecclesiastes chapter three we learn
that, "to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose
under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant,
and a time to pluck what is planted: A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a
time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast
away stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, and a time
to refrain from embracing; A time to gain and a time to lose; A time
to keep and a time to throw away; A time to tear, a time to sew; A time
to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to
hate; A time of war, and a time of peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) God’s
time. God’s perfect time. How do we know? How do we know that
it is His time and not just our own? The only way to know God’s
time is to know God. Otherwise we chase after wind, never knowing when
the next thing will come. The only way we can be ready is to quiet ourselves
before Him and wait for Him to show us. "He has made everything
beautiful in its time." It also says, that He has put eternity
in our hearts. We cannot figure out all of what God is doing. Even if
we could see His plan I am sure we would not be able to understand it.
But we know that there is more to life than the vanity of this world.
And in Jesus we have faith that God will share His perfect time with
us.
Copyright 2000 Jonathan Wilson
All Rights Reserved
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