Why Did Jesus Say, “My Hour Has Not Yet Come?” (John 2:3, 7:6, 7:8)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In John 2:3, 7:6, and 7:8 why did Jesus say, “My hour has not yet come”? Jesus followed a divine timeline because His Father ordained every event in His life. This is why we see Him saying He “must” do certain things, why He avoided being killed and arrested at certain times, and even why He avoided becoming King before the triumphal entry.

Jesus followed a divine timeline because His Father ordained every event in His life. This is why we see Him saying He “must” do certain things, why He avoided being killed and arrested at certain times, and even why He avoided becoming King before the triumphal entry.

The Times Jesus Said He Must Do Things

When Jesus was left behind at the temple:

Luke 2:48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

Notice Jesus’s use of the word “must.” He didn’t use “should” or “wants to,” but must. There’s urgency about the things He’s doing.

Just in Luke’s Gospel, consider the time Jesus said He “must” do other things:

Luke 13:33 I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following

Luke 19:5 Jesus told Zacchaeus, “I must stay at your house.”

Luke 24:7 I must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again

He also said He must fulfill Scripture:

Luke 22:37 [What] is written about Me must be accomplished

Luke 24:44 All things must be fulfilled which were written…concerning Me.”

The Times Jesus Said, “My Hour Has Not Yet Come”

This is the wedding at Cana. They ran out of wine…

John 2:3 When the wine ran out, [Mary said], “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

Mary wanted Jesus to perform a miracle. Jesus was going to perform miracles, so why not now?

Because this meant getting the events out of order. This had him performing a miracle before it was time.

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

John 7:8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”

The Times Jesus Avoided Being Killed

Think of the times people tried to seize Jesus, but He always escaped. Jesus returned to Nazareth. The people expected him to perform the same miracles in his hometown that they heard about him performing elsewhere…

Luke 4:23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’”

When Jesus told the people he wouldn’t be performing miracles in Nazareth, because of their unbelief, they were not happy about it…

Luke 4:28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.

For a moment, picture what this looked like. They brought Jesus to the top of a hill so they could throw him down. He has a cliff on one side and the crowd on the other. But somehow he was able to maneuver through the people to avoid a premature death. Here are two other examples…

John 8:59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

I can’t imagine how angry you must be to want to throw people off a cliff or stone them, but that’s how angry people were with Jesus.

They were in the temple, and I can’t imagine there were many places to hide, but Jesus was able to escape.

John 10:31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him…39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

Jesus escaped each time for two reasons. First, his time had not yet come to die. He hadn’t reached that obstacle on the course yet. Second, this is not how the Father determined he would die. He would die on a cross, not falling off a cliff or stoned in the temple.

Jesus was busy with his ministry when he was warned of a death threat…

Luke 13:31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”

There are lots of Herods in the Gospels. This is Herod Antipas, the king of Judea, who killed Jesus’s cousin, John the Baptist. In other words, Jesus knew he was more than capable of murder. But Jesus responded with…

Luke 13:32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.

Not the response you’d expect from someone afraid of dying. That’s because Jesus would continue his course, and he knew nobody could stop him, not even Herod.

Jesus wanted Herod to know that. He could have disregarded the counsel and quietly continued, but he wanted Herod to know that he wasn’t afraid of him. So, Jesus told the messengers to return and deliver that message to Herod. It is as though Jesus said, “I am going to continue doing what I’m doing until the third day when I’m resurrected and that’s when my course is complete. Nobody is going to stop me from going to the cross, dying, being buried, and resurrected.”

The Times Jesus Avoided Being Arrested

John 7:30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

This means his hour to be arrested and crucified. We see the same thing in John 8:20…

John 8:20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

The Times Jesus Said He Told People to Be Silent About Their Healing

Jesus cleansed the man of leprosy…

Mark 1:43 And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

This is surprising. Jesus told this man not to tell anyone about the miracle. Why would he do that? One reason is it wasn’t time for the people to recognize that Jesus was the Messiah. He was following the divine timeline set by His Father.

Another reason is that large amounts of publicity would hinder Jesus’s mission and divert public attention from his message to his miracles. He wanted to continue teaching uninhibitedly. He needed to be able to move around easily. If people knew about his miracles, He would be swarmed by so many people that he would be unable to enter towns where he could preach, which is exactly what happened because this man disobeyed him:

Mark 1:45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Unfortunately, this man did the opposite of what Jesus asked: he talked to everyone but the priests. Before Jesus cleansed the man he was able to minister in the town. But after the man told everyone, Jesus was forced “out in desolate places” where there were fewer people for him to reach.

Why did Jesus perform miracles if they were going to hinder his ministry? First, because he loved people and wanted to help them. But more importantly, they served as signs that he was the Messiah.

Jesus raises Jairus’s daughter from the dead:

Mark 5:43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Jesus raised her from the dead and said to feed her, but not tell anyone.

Jesus heals the deaf man and the blind man:

Mark 7:36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

Mark 8:22 And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” 

Jesus healed him, but not in the middle of the village because of the commotion it would cause. Jesus entered the village but then brought the blind man out to heal him. Then…

Mark 8:26 And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

Jesus told him not to return because, more than likely, everyone knew the blind man, and when they learned Jesus had healed him, the crowds would mob him. All of this relates to Jesus keeping a low profile until it was time for Him to be revealed.

The Times Jesus Said He People to Be Silent About His Messiahship

Luke 9:18 Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

Lots of people were getting this wrong. People thought Jesus was everyone except the Christ: John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the other prophets raised from the dead. But Peter got it right. This is one of those times he opened his mouth and hit a home run.

Of course, Jesus will say, “Great, now go tell everyone the truth. Straighten them out because they have no idea who I am.” Nope…

Luke 9:21 And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Jesus told them not to tell anyone He was the Christ! Something similar happened right after the Transfiguration…

Matthew 17:9 Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

Jesus told them not to tell anyone they had seen Him in His glory, just as He told them not to tell everyone He was the Christ. Why? Because of the problems it would cause. Remember, most people, including even the disciples, didn’t know what Jesus would do as the Messiah. They thought he would be a conquering king sitting on a throne, and the transfiguration would further this view. They didn’t know he was a suffering Servant who would hang on a cross.

In other words, as long as they didn’t understand Jesus’s first coming, they couldn’t talk to people about Jesus because it would increase the confusion about who he was…they would almost be unintentional false teachers!

Imagine if they said, “We saw the Coming King transfigured. He’ll be on the throne of David any day now!” How confused would people feel when he was crucified instead? So, Jesus says, “Be quiet for now. After my resurrection, when it’s clear I would die, then you can preach about me!”

Craziest of all, the Jews tried to make Jesus king, and He wouldn’t let them:

John 6:15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

He’s supposed to be their king. He came to be their king. Why wouldn’t He let them make Him their king? He was following a divine timeline, and it wasn’t time yet.

When Jesus Said His Hour Had Come

Right after Jesus’s Triumphal Entry, He said:

John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 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.

It is a fascinating analogy: just as a seed is buried in the ground to bear fruit and bring forth life, so too will Jesus be buried in the ground to bear fruit and bring forth our eternal life.

Jesus repeatedly said, “My hour has not yet come,” but now, after the Triumphal Entry, he says it has. He’s in Jerusalem, and he knows it is time for him to die.

Right before Jesus washed the disciples’ feet:

John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

After repeatedly saying, “My hour has not yet come,” in His high priestly prayer, He said the hour had come:

John 17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,

He repeatedly avoided being arrested, but at Gethsemane, He said the hour had come for Him to be arrested:

Matthew 26:45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 

He even told Peter to put his sword away and not fight back. Why did He always try to escape earlier but not then? This was the time to be arrested.

Matthew 26:51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

When Jesus Presented Himself as King

There was one specific time when Jesus presented Himself as King and allowed the people to recognize him as King, and that’s the Triumphal Entry. Think about Jesus laying out with such precise detail how the disciples were to get the donkey for Him:

Luke 19:30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here.

Notice the certainty with which Jesus says this. He didn’t tell them what they might find. He told them what they would find. He even told them what to say when the owners objected:

Luke 19:31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’”

And it happened just as Jesus said:

Luke 19:32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.”

Jesus could see exactly what God the Father wanted to happen.

Luke 19:36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing nearalready on the way down the Mount of Olivesthe whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

This is the opposite of every situation from earlier. Instead of hiding, escaping, or silencing, there is no hiding or escaping, and there is even a declaration that there can’t be silence. If there was silence, the rocks would get loud. On this day there would be no silencing the welcoming of the Son of David, Israel’s king. The time has finally arrived for everyone to be talking about it. Nothing is going to take away from this day.

Additionally, earlier, Jesus didn’t want the news to spread because it would prevent him from entering towns. But there are no more towns to enter. He has entered the last one: Jerusalem. He’s approaching the very end of the course.

Jesus Fulfilled Daniel’s Seventy Weeks

The Triumphal Entry fulfilled Daniel 9:25. This is seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, or 69 weeks, or 483 years, or 173,880 days after March 14, 445 BC. This is April 6, 32AD. This is the Triumphal Entry of Messiah the Prince. All the Gospels record Jesus’ Triumphal Entry, but Luke’s account contains something not in any of the others:

Luke 19:41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,

Only Luke records this weeping; it would’ve been painful to watch if you consider what this situation looked like. Consider Jesus’s people calling out to Him and worshipping Him. It was so dramatic that the religious leaders told Him to stop because it looked blasphemous. This is what He’s been waiting for for 33 years. You’d think it would be a moment of great joy, but instead, He’s sobbing.

So why is He weeping? He says why in the next few verses:

Luke 19:42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

He isn’t crying because He knows He’s going to die. He’s crying because He knows how many Jews are going to suffer and die. He’s weeping because He knows the majority of the Jews didn’t recognize Jesus as their Messiah and because He knows many of these people who look like they do are the exact same people who will be calling for His crucifixion in only five days later. Jesus knows the terrible judgment that’s going to come on the Jews for rejecting Him: the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.

In verse 44 Jesus said they “did not know the time of [their] visitation.” And in verse 42 He singled out “this day,” or some Bibles say, “your day,” because it belonged to the Jews. The angel Gabriel told Daniel:

Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are decreed [for] YOUR people (the Jews) and your holy city (Jerusalem).

This day is so special because it is the day prophesied by Daniel’s Seventy Weeks. The angel Gabriel told Daniel the Messiah would enter Jerusalem 69 weeks of years, or 483 years, after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem in Nehemiah 2 on March 14, 445 BC. This brings us to April 6, 32 AD, when the triumphal entry occurred.

Consider the tragedy of this: The time of their visitation was supposed to be the greatest moment in Jewish history because they finally received their Messiah. But instead, it brought unimaginable judgment and suffering.