My Hour has not Come

Lesson #25

Our lesson today will again cover the text from John 2:3 - 5 but will focus on the statement “Woman, why are you saying this to me? My time has not yet come.” In our last lesson we said, “When Jesus responded to Mary as “Woman” and not “Mother” he was beginning to push back from his physical family to establish the needed relationship, in the minds of people, with his heavenly family. When Jesus responded with “Why are you saying this to me?” he may have been trying to disconnect with the responsibility his mother was giving to him. The part we want to focus on in this lesson is the statement “My time has not yet come.”

“My time” or “My hour” as some translations say, is a reference to the time when Jesus would depart this world and return to the Father (John 13:1) to be glorified (John 17:1). But to accomplish that goal, Jesus knew that suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension lay ahead. Jesus also knew that this was not the time to reveal his identity as the Messiah. Gradually he must reveal his divine nature to the people and stimulate their belief in him.

As Jesus continued to teach and perform miracles, his listeners divided into three groups; those who believed, those who grew to hate him, and those who were still just watching and listening. Jesus was able to avoid physical harm from those who hated him, as we see in John 7:30 and 8:20, but in John 12:27 Jesus said, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” In John 12:24 Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” As Jesus spoke to his mother he knew his hour to suffer and die was not too far away and he knew by providing the wine needed for the wedding with a miracle was to start that fateful journey. To die physically on the cross is one thing, but for the holy Son of God to contaminate himself with our sin and cause his Father to turn away from him is beyond our comprehension. A short video has been included to help understand this.

Link to Video

Prayer

Lord, I am trying to understand how you must have felt as you spoke to Mary and fully realized what lay ahead; the rejection, anger and hate that would develop against you; the physical and mental abuse, the disrespect and the brutality of the scourging and the cross. How you must have felt as those thoughts came to mind as you said, “My time has not yet come.” But the time came and with your blood you purchased my salvation. For that I am so thankful. Lord, help me use my life to be a witness for you.