Episode 50 - Jesus' hour has not fully come - John 7:1-13

John 7:1   After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him. 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

John 7:10   But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

The setting here is another feast in Jerusalem. In chapter six, there was the Passover feast which is around April. This feast, the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, was one of the major feasts that people were expected to attend. It is in October of our calendar. It is essentially a harvest festival and a time for the Jews to remember their ancestors wandering in the wilderness. In this text, the expectation by Jesus’ brothers and the people at Jerusalem is evident. 

What is also evident is that Jesus’ brothers have the same kind of attitude about Jesus’ identity as the Jews in chapter six. John says outright that “not even his brothers believed in him.” Something that struck me about his brothers’ attitudes was how their words to him parallel the same kind of challenge the devil through at Jesus in his temptation recorded in both Matthew 4 and Luke 4. The devil and his brothers are both saying, “If you are who you claim to be, do this!” They both want to have control over him and for him to submit to their demands. It’s a subtle form of mocking and they are mocking God. We should take note of that to not let anyone or anything provoke pride to do something. 

What most strikes me about this text however, is that twice Jesus says “my time has not yet come.” (vv. 6,8)  We’ve seen this before in John’s gospel. In the second chapter when Jesus and his disciples attend the wedding in Cana and Jesus’ mother tells him they’ve run out of wine. There is an expectation that he might do something. His response reveals not just to her but to his disciples and to us that his ultimate authority is from the Father. Jesus’ time is the hour of his death on the cross and his purpose is solely focused upon doing exactly what the Father wants, when the Father wants it done, and how the Father wants it done. Jesus knows that the cross awaits him in the not too distant future.

So, Jesus is telling his brothers, “I will be revealed to the world in the Father’s time, not yours and not anyone else’s.” Then, in verse 8 he tells them to go to the feast and that he is not going up to “this feast.” In the Greek text, it could be translated, “I am not ascending to this feast.” I strongly suspect that this is another one of those expressions of Jesus in which a prophetic truth is stated, yet it’s expected that the unbelievers would misunderstand it. Just like when Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up,” the Jews thought he was speaking of the temple building where they were standing. But, John points out that he was speaking of the temple of his body. In the same way, Jesus will ascend to a feast. But, it’s not the one planned by earthly leaders with evil motives. 

This helps us understand what is going on when he tells his brothers he is not going to this feast, but shortly after they leave, he also goes to the feast at Jerusalem albeit privately. He has not lied. He is going to go up to a feast, but in going to Jerusalem to the Feast of Booths at the temple is all under the direction and plan of the Father and not of the people with unbelieving and evil motives.

I find great encouragement in seeing how God carefully orchestrates His plan and carries it out and people cannot manipulate it. It’s the light that is not overcome by darkness.