Skip to main content

What Did Jesus Mean When He Said His Time Had Not Yet Come?

In John 2:4, when the mother of Jesus shares with Him her concern that the hosts at Cana had run out of the wedding wine, Jesus replies to her that His time had not yet come. But, then He goes ahead and turns water into wine. So, why did He say that His time had not yet come? What did He mean by it?

Again in John 7:6, when His unbelieving brothers suggest to Him to go to Jerusalem and show His works there so that people could see and believe, He answers that His time had not yet come but their time was always ready. Then, He tells them to go up to the feast and that He wasn't coming because His time had not fully yet come. However, when after they go, He secretly does go up to Jerusalem. So, what did He really mean when He said His time hadn't fully come? Did it mean that the time when He went up to Jerusalem was time He was actually talking about? Or did it mean something else?

The Gospel of John has strong purposes in highlighting certain phrases and "time has not come" and "time has come" are important motif phrases. Thus, later on, the Gospel doesn't forget to tell us what this "time" was all about:
John 12:23 – Hour Has Come for the Son to Be Glorified
John 13:1 – Hour Has Come to Depart To the Father
John 17:1 – Hour Has Come to Glorify Son, so That Son Will Glorify Father
Evidently, the hour and time that Jesus was talking about was His time to be glorified by the Father.

In contrast, Mary was more concerned about the earthly glory and respect of the wedding and the brothers were also thinking in terms of earthly honor and glory, which was what Christ came against... To destroy the old world of sin and sinful self-respect and bring in a new order of submission to the Father and His will.

No matter what He did, "this world" could never accept Him, for "this world" or "this worldly order (cosmos)" was characterized by open rebellion to God and His Son. It could only crucify Him and put Him to shame.

But, the glory of the Father was in this, that what the world considered to be the dishonoring and defacing of the Son of God, He turned it into the hour of glory of Him.....

Jesus didn't perform the miracle at Cana because of the concern of Mary or go to Jerusalem because of the concern of His brothers--their concerns belonged to this worldly order and framework of honor, recognition, and respect; He worked in a different framework of time, the time-framework of His Father's cosmic arrangement of things. In Him, the end of the old and the beginning of the new are cosmically fulfilled; for those who accept Him, new life, and for those who reject Him, eternal alienation from the life of God.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Placebo and the Philosophy of Mind and Matter in Drug Research

A placebo is a non-therapeutic substance administered under the camouflage of medication to deceive patients into believing that they are receiving medications; this done solely for psychological and not for physiological effects. Placebo may usually be used to compare its effects with the effects of other drugs in drug research. Let's take the case of an experiment that tries to establish whether a particular drug, say to treat weariness, is genuine or merely has the effects of a placebo. Suppose 20 candidates are chosen for this experiment. 10 are given the drug and the rest are put on a placebo while they are told that the placebo is a genuine medication. They need to make sure that the deception is well carried on for the success of the experiment. If both the groups make similar improvements after taking the treatments, the new drug seems to only function as a placebo in effect. The basic hypothesis of the placebo raises the question of mind over matter. Of course, this pushes...
Post a Comment
Read more

7 Ghastly Sins of Ministry (Micah 3)

Text: Micah 3 1.  Hatred of Good and Love of Evil (Mic 3:2) A. Values that are Self-Centered, Not Christ-Centered B. Values that are Self-Defined, Not Spirit-Defined C. Values that are Self-Glorifying, Not God-Glorifying A confused value-system that honors culture, man, and the world rather than the Law of God Luke16:15 And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. 2. Exploitation of the Sheep (Mic 3:2) A. Manipulating People Like Things and Not Treating Them as Persons B. Over-Demanding C. Not Caring for the Well-being of Sheep Mat 20:25-28 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let hi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reliability, Predictability, and Paul the Octopus

Paul the Octopus has recently become very famous after his predictions for Germany and Spain during the World Cup 2010 came right. The 100% accuracy tag distinguishes him from any other diviner who had attempted a prediction during the World Cup. There were responses and reactions from various people including sportsmen, statesmen, and mathematicians. Whatever, the use of Paul has demonstrated once again that mankind's search for an extra-temporal, psychic foresight has not quelled through the historical calendar returning a decade over this millennium. The question before us is can such predictions as those of Paul be counted on as reliable (in other words, can they be seriously taken as true)? The mathematicians have plumped for chance. It's all a matter of probability, they say ( BBC News ). However, the argument of chance in itself is weak. The mathematics of chance will calculate that the probability of Paul being right seven times out of seven is 1/128. But, the conclusi...
3 comments
Read more