My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready

 

 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 Jews' 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 had 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 

 

 In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to the religious authorities, who accuse Him of blasphemy for making Himself equal to the Father:  "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.  If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

 

  After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.   The lectionary skips over chapter 6 of John's Gospel (to be read later in the Lenten period).  In chapter 6, there is the story of the feeding of the five thousand in the wilderness.  When the people seek to make Him king, Jesus preaches prefiguring the Eucharist, referring to Himself as the bread of heaven, and the eating of his flesh and blood.  This dispute took place in the synagogue at Capernaum.  As a result Jesus lost many disciples.  The period of chapter 7, which we begin today, starts after these things take place.  In Jerusalem (which is located in Judea), the religious rulers plot against Him for His declaration of equality to the Father.  The term the Jews, we remember, is most often used as a political term in John's Gospel, and refers to the leaders of the people at the time, not to the Jewish people.  All the people in these stories are Jews, including Jesus and the attributed author of the Gospel, the disciple John.

Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  The events that stretch over nearly three following chapters (John 7:1-10:21) speak of Christ's visit to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.  The entire section covers eight days, the duration of the feast.  My study Bible comments that this festival took place during the final year of Christ earthly life.  As we will read, Jesus taught in the temple and attracted very much public attention.  Some thought He was made and other believed He was the Messiah.  Many in the religious leadership considered Him to be a threat.  Again we note that those who sought to kill Him are the religious leaders, and not the people in general.  The Feast of Tabernacles is succoth or Sukkot in Hebrew.  It is an eight-day autumn harvest festival which commemorates the time when Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai.  At that time, the people lived in tents, or tabernacles.  My study Bible notes that together with Passover and Pentecost (the Feast of Weeks, which Jesus attended in chapter 5), this was one of the three most important festivals of the ancient Jews.  It included numerous sacrifices and celebrations (Leviticus 23:33-43).  In later times, the final day also included drawing water from the pool of Siloam to be mixed with wine and poured at the foot of the altar, as purification and also in remembrance of the water flowing from the rock that Moses struck (Exodus 17:1-7).  Moreover, it included the stunning lighting of great lamps in the outer court of the temple.  Each of these events will figure as background to Jesus' teachings as we read.

 

 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 had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  Jesus' brothers are His relatives, and the term can indicate any number of relations.  My study Bible notes that Abram called his nephew Lot "brother" (Genesis 14:14).  Boaz spoke of his cousin Elimelech as his "brother" (Ruth 4:3), and Joab called his cousin Amasa "brother" (2 Samuel 20:9).  According to our understanding, Christ had no blood brothers, as Mary had one Son, Jesus.  The brothers mentioned here are either stepbrothers (that is, sons of Joseph by a previous marriage) or cousins.  Indeed, even today in the Middle and Near East, the term "brother" is used to refer also to cousins and other relatives.  One revealing detail regarding the status of Jesus is His committing of His mother at the Cross to the care of His disciple John (John 19:25-27).  In the context of the culture would have been unthinkable if Mary had other children to care for her. 

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.  My study Bible tells us that not openly means not with a grand, public entrance, as on Palm Sunday (John 12:12-16).  Let us note the atmosphere at this feast, where Jesus is a center of controversy, but no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the religious leaders, who are already known to plot against Him.

Jesus walks "quietly" and in an "unknown" way into the midst of the controversy that swirls around Him in Jerusalem.  Although He is the center of that controversy, He does not go into Jerusalem with a bold announcement of His presence.  He goes not openly, but as it were in secret.  His brothers give Him the worldly, and unbelieving, perspective:  "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."  This is the perspective of that which wants proofs on demand, manipulation of images, and the grand triumphant show of spectacle.  But this is not what faith in Christ teaches.  Jesus says, "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."  Jesus again introduces us to this dichotomy of the worldly, and the faith-filled perspective.  He says to them that "your time is always ready."  But Christ's "time" is different.  His life is through obedience to the Father, and the right "time" for Him is the one that is produced through discernment, and by faith.  This is a type of illustration of what Christ implies when He says, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).  There is a particular way He must go in life, He is called for specific things and the right time to do them.  For the worldly, there is always the right time for an array of "broad" and "wide" options, with choices that look good or options for manipulation or simply a kind of thoughtless grasping at whatever might look good at the moment -- or maybe serves an agenda someone else puts in front of us, to follow the crowd.   But the way of faith, the way of discernment, is different.  There is a deeper perspective to acquire, and one that asks us for a point of view produced through an inner connection to something more than the obvious, or whatever particular thing attracts at the moment or seems like a good idea at the time.  Jesus speaks of a prayerful way of life, one in communion with something greater than ourselves, which offers goals that serve something bigger and grander, and might ask of us a sacrifice for something better that we can't immediately see in front of us.  When Jesus speaks of time in this manner, He is referring to the proper and good and fitting time for something to occur.  We note how careful He is, even distinguishing between the time to go up to Jerusalem with great fanfare and announcement of His presence, and the time to go as it were "in secret."  Although Jesus will be speaking out openly and teaching in the temple, and cause a great deal of controversy, and attracting much attention at this festival, there is still a great deal of difference between this "time" and the time that will come on Palm Sunday for what is called the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem with all of His disciples.  For now, let us consider what this means that Jesus makes such an explicit differentiation between the sense of time that is His, and the one that belongs to His unbelieving brothers.  Let us think for ourselves of times we discerned the presence of God in a particular choice, or a season of change we were only to realize later, or perhaps the proper time to sit and be quiet, to go to our inner room, and shut the door, and pray to our Father who is in the secret place and who sees in secret (Matthew 6:6), for this is also a time of great and important significance, even when no one else knows about it -- even if the worldly cannot discern its meaning or benefit.  For this is what we do when we have faith, we walk with the One in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).  We are expected to have a dimension and meaning within our lives that isn't obvious to everyone, but that nonetheless makes a great deal of difference -- at times perhaps prompting us to speak out, to act decisively, to seize the day, and yet at other times teaching us to withdraw or to act "in secret" as Jesus does.   The Gospels give us many varied times of withdrawal or open teaching on Christ's part, including times when He withdraws altogether for prayer.  Let us consider discerning the use of our time, and following that depth of presence that helps us to know how to do so -- and even, like Jesus, when there are those who surround us who cannot understand.