Monday, November 09, 2015

A phrase that appears throughout John’s Gospel has to do with “time.” Jesus occasionally pointed out His time had not yet come. Then in John 13:1 we read, “Jesus knew that the time had come.” He was aware of Who He was and where He was and the appropriate thing He should be doing at that particular time. Others were not aware of the same. Once, His brothers, sensing His popularity growing, thought that the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem would be the right time for Him to announce His agenda. The problem was, first, they had not grasped His agenda. They didn’t know why God the Father sent Him into the world. Second, they were off on the timing. If you read the account in John 7 it’s clear they were close on the timing. But with an erroneous idea about His agenda, a matter of hours would seem like ages. Jesus left for the festival a few hours after His brothers, but He got there at just the right time. When He did address the crowd His message was “timely,” to say the least. It was not what His brothers were expecting. It was a message for those who were ready to hear it. It set the stage for the climax of Christ’s mission. It inspired anticipation of what the result would be of Christ fulfilling His mission. What they could expect if they believed and followed Him. Listen to His message, “‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive” (John 7:37-39).