“Understanding and Accepting God’s Timing”

John 7:6 “So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready.”

John 12:20-26 “Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these people then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and were making a request of him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. But Jesus answered them by saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”

Introduction

The Gospel of John is, in my assessment, a riveting presentation of the revelation of who Jesus is, and what Jesus did- what theologians commonly refer to as, “the Person and Work of Jesus Christ”. Right out the gate, John makes a compelling statement as the introduction to his book:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. 5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it. (Jn 1:1–5.)

The richness of these first 5 verses cannot be overstated. We are given a definitive statement about prehistory: it all started with “The Word”. The Logos, which was “with God” and “was God”. And just to make sure he was not confused with any other “gods” (lower case “g”), we are told that everything exist because of Him and there is nothing- literally NO THING- that exists apart from Him. Whoa! John gives us a lot to chew on. He wants it to be understood that the One he is describing here, and will talk about about throughout his book in vivid detail, is the One upon whom all of human history is founded. In fact, the the first phrase in the first verse, “In the beginning was the Word”, in the original greek is “Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος”, phonetically, you can hear a word that you’re familar with: archaeology (it’s very close when you drop the word “ἦν”). Archaeology is, “the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains.“ So when you say, “In the beginning was the Word”, you are literally embarking upon the study of human history!

In our text, Jesus had been ministering publicly for about three years. His disciples had seen Him heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and even raise the dead. Their hopes that He would proclaim Himself Israel’s long-awaited Messiah were growing stronger with each day, each miracle, and each display of His mighty authority and power. Yet whenever the time seemed ripe for Christ to overthrow the Romans and claim the throne of David (which was the Jewish interpretation of the messianic prophecy), He would utter some variation of the same disappointing and anti-climactic statement: “My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4; 7:6; 8:20). Eventually the crowds became so eager to crown their king that they tried a new tactic—coronation by force: In John 6:15 “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself”.

Therefore, after three-plus years of this, hearing their Lord confidently proclaim “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23) must have signified the culmination of all of the disciples’ hopes and expectations. “Finally- an end to Roman oppression, an end to our suffering. Let us crown our King…let His reign (and by extension, ours) begin!” is likely what they were thinking. It was not yet understood that God’s “...thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are [our] ways [like His] ways”, to slightly paraphrase Isaiah 55:8. Jesus, through His own life & ministry, shows us that God’s timing- that is to say His specific methods to accomplish His purpose at a particular place in time- almost never looks like what we have envisioned it to be.

So how do we understand God’s timing? How can we comprehend when He wants us to move or stay…speak or remain silent?

Let me add a little more information to the context of John 7. Jesus’ brothers- likely the other biological children of Joseph & Mary, like James & Jude)- were trying to get Jesus to attend the Passover festival, but for their own selfish purposes. They may be referring to his religious obligation (despite the danger) or be pushing him to make his public debut as the Messiah. Either way, they do not believe in him, nor were they seeking to glorify God at this event.

God’s timing will insure that He alone is glorified- not men. Don’t be motivated by how hard- or how easy- a particular task is. Instead ask yourself, “Does this give God glory…alone?” In John 7:28 “Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.” He remained focused on God’s will, in every season and with every decision.

God’s timing will require us to step out into the open. The behavior of the crowd in John 7 parallels that of Jesus: they will not speak “openly” just like Jesus cannot come to Jerusalem “openly.” Both Jesus’ appearance and the crowd’s questionings is done privately. Jesus was not only focused on completing every objective given to Him by the Father, but it is clear that He knew that the people were not ready to fully embrace Him publicly. At the end of chapter 6, Jesus speaks to the Jews in the presence of His followers about “eating His flesh & drinking His blood” (Jn 6:50-58).Many of His own discples had been walking away because of His hard sayings. Jesus even challenged the Twelve in verse 67 asking them, “You want to leave me also, don’t you?” Peter wisely responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 And we have already believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” in verses 68–69. It’s time for us to make an open confession of our Faith to this generation, so God can openly bless His church. In Mark 8:38 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”” With our lives- not just our lips we must declare, Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes."

In John 12, Jesus declares it is finally time. But what happened…what was the indication that “the hour has come”? Jesus is responding to the Greeks who are seeking to see Him (v.23). How can we accept God’s timing- meaning, how do we perceive & follow His instructions?

Accepting God’s timing will provoke us to respond to the needs of others for Jesus. The term “Greeks” used here (Gk: Hellênes) refers to anyone who is not Jewish, regardless of their nationality—from a Jewish perspective, more or less synonymous with “Gentiles.” They are also likely not converts to Judaism or else they’d have been described as such (see Ch 6:1). These Greeks who are “God-fearers,” Gentiles who admire the Jewish faith and respect its traditions. They represent the people who sense the Truth that is Christ, but have not accepted His offer- the very offer we were commissioned to make to the world. Right now, our culture is buring through their life’s fuel- burning through sexual & idealogical liberation, casting their morality into the flames, and burning themselves in the process. But their tanks are almost empty. They won’t need to hear our “I told you so’s”, the self-righteous judgement that was found among the Jews, the followers of Christ then & now- they need our compassion. They need a people who will follow the example of their Savior, and when people who are not like them come seeking Jesus they say to themselves, “the hour has come.”

Please note that immediately after Jesus acknowledges that it is His time for glorification, He immediately speaks of the necessity of His death.

Accepting God’s timing will require us to die to ourselves. Jesus says, “The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.” (Jn 12:25.) By this He means that we must reprioritize our lives so that we are more concerned about eternal gain that earthly endeavors; we are to see the worth of His gift of salvation- for us, and thew world that He has sent us to redeem- that we almost hate our lives by comparision. It’s like comparing the sun to a candle; both bring forth flames, light & heat, but the difference is so vast that the less of the two is practically nothing by comparision. Such is the “sacrifice” we are called to give, in exchange for a gift that couldn’t not be bought at any price, because it’s worth cannot be measured. Please know that I am not saying the Christian life should be a joyless sacrifice as we wait for the Lord’s return; on the contrary, knowing that we have been given life, and that more abundantly () we should be overflowing with joy- even through life’s difficulties, because we know that no matter what the day brings, Jesus is with us every day of our lives- and in the life that is to come!

*Closing prayer- special prayer for college & all school age students

*Source reference for historical comentary found in Gary M. Burge, “Gospel of John,” in John’s Gospel, Hebrews–Revelation, ed. Craig A. Evans and Craig A. Bubeck, First Edition., The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary (David C Cook, 2005), 115–116.