MY HOUR

 

According to the Apostle John, Jesus, right at the beginning of his ministry, performed a miracle that impacted many: the turning of water into wine at a wedding in the city of Cana. On that occasion, in conversation with his mother, he spoke a surprising sentence: "My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). What did Jesus mean by those words? Fact is that this subject, "Jesus' time", appears in several parts of the Gospel narratives (Matthew 26:45; Mark 14:41; Luke 22:53; John 2:4;7:6,30; 8:20;12:23,27;13:1;16:32;17:1). What is its meaning? What is its relevance?  

It was in this context that the beloved Apostle recorded that Jesus' brothers, on the occasion of the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles, suggested to Jesus to go to Jerusalem and show himself to everyone, because he should not perform his miracles and preaching in secret. He should rather show himself to the world. But according to John, "Jesus said to them, 'My time is not yet here; for you any time will do'" (John 7:3-6).In fact, the Gospels show that Jesus acted discreetly so as not to draw the attention of the religious and the people, because he had an agenda of teachings to fulfill with his disciples. Jesus feared that this process would be interrupted before the time was right.  

Such an attitude can be noticed, for example, in the episode of the healing of a leper, after the sermon on the mountain. After healing him, Jesus said to him, "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them" (Matthew 8:1-4). Jesus did the same, several other times, with the people He healed (Matthew 9:30;1216; Mark 1:44;5:43;7:36; Luke 8:56). He "did not want his death to be precipitated, that is, to occur before He finished his ministry" [1]. 

Yes, He was careful, because right at the beginning of his work, the Jewish religious decided to kill him. That is why Jesus developed his ministry in the small towns near the Sea of Galilee, and only went to Jerusalem during the Jewish Festivals. This fact can be seen with the evangelist Mark who tells the episode in which Jesus healed a man who had an atrophied hand while listening to him in a synagogue. As He had done the healing on a Sabbath, "the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus" (3:1-6).  

This situation Jesus was experiencing was very delicate in view of the impact of his miracles on a society marked by pain and suffering. That leper, for example, who was healed by Jesus, instead of remaining silent, according to Mark, "Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere" (1:45).  

That is why Jesus said to his mother, "My hour has not yet come". The importance of this phrase of Jesus lies in the fact that it reveals that Jesus had, all the time, the awareness that he was the Son of God and that his life would culminate in his death for humanity. At the end of his ministry, near his prison, he prayed to God, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him" (John17:1-2).  

The hour of Jesus, about which had spoken to his mother, was the hour of his death. After having supper with his disciples for the last time, Jesus went to Gethsemane to pray. At the end of his prayers, he went to his disciples, who were a little far away, and said, "The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners" (Mark 14:41). When the chief priests, the temple officers and other religious leaders arrived to arrest him, he said, "this is your hour —when darkness reigns" (Luke 22:52 and 53). The next day, at fifteen o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus died (Mark 15:33-41).

Antônio Maia - M. Div.

Copyright

[1] NVI, Bíblia Comentada. São Paulo: Ed Vida. 2003, p. 1629