Timing is Everything
Introduction
Welcome
In the LOTR movie, the Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf the wizard says, "A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to." And while that's a humorous way for the character to get around the fact that he showed up late, it points us to the idea that there is a perfect time for an event.
One of my favorite parts of reading the Bible is found in the book of John. Over and over, we find a Jesus repeating a simple phrase, and then suddenly, it seems like he changes His mind. For some reason, I just find this fascinating. And it speaks to God's timing, which just like Gandalf's, is precise. Not too early, not too late, but precisely at the right time. It's not just John that points to this.
Body
John 1:1-3
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.
Of course, this points us back to
Genesis 1:1.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
And that is a timing point, right there, "In the Beginning." Remember that eternity stretches forever, in both directions, like a string that has no beginning or end. But at some point on that string, God said, "Now is the right time to create," and They did it. I say, "They," because we understand that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit were all present and involved in creation. Timing is everything.
Another example of God's perfect timing is found in Esther. Remember how Haman had set up the Jews to be killed? And Mordecai and Esther are communicating back and forth about this, and we come to these verses in chapter 4.
Esther 4:13-14
13 Mordecai told the messenger to reply to Esther, “Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s palace. 14 If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this."
Timing is everything.
Even in our study of Ecclesiastes, we encountered these verses of truth.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; 3 a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; 5 a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing; 6 a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away; 7 a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to be silent and a time to speak; 8 a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.
We understand from these examples, that timing is important. So what was that phrase I was talking about earlier, the one that I said fascinates me? Turn over with me to John 2:4.
"What has this concern of your to do with Me, woman? Jesus asked. My hour has not yet come.”
And there it is, "My hour has not yet come." Jesus is saying that the time isn't right for Him to be revealed as God's Son in the flesh, confirmed by miracles. I also find it interesting that even though Jesus says this, He still is obedient to His earthly mother.
We could spend a lot of time looking at the history of the world, the rise of the Roman empire, the roads that Rome built, and the trade routes established by the first century that meant that God's Gospel could and would be spread, literally to the "ends of the earth," or, "all nations," as Jesus says in Matthew 28:19. But, today I'd like to stick primarily with the scriptures.
The next we encounter this phraseology from Jesus, it is in chapter 7. Let's look at it together.
John 7:1
"After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee, since He did not want to travel in Judea because the Jews were trying to kill Him."
Since the verse starts out saying, "after this," let's go back a little bit to get some context. Chapter 6 ends with many of the disciples deserting Jesus. Pick up with me in verse 66,
66 From that moment many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him. 67 Therefore Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”
And of course Peter gives a brilliant answer in vss 68 & 69, '68 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, who will we go to? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God!”'
Going back to chapter 7, we pick up in vs 2.
John 7
"The Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 so His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea so Your disciples can see Your works that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even His brothers believed in Him.)"
Look at how Jesus answers this in vs 6.
6 Jesus told them, “My time has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand."
Ouch, this hits home so hard. Your time is always at hand. Jesus is basically saying, you should be busy about your Father's kingdom, instead of worrying about what I'm doing. And that is a huge lesson for us.
We may not understand or appreciate God's timing for many of the events in our lives, but Jesus points out that it is never the wrong time to be spreading the Gospel. That's a challenge I need to remember in my own life, how about you?
Then in vs 8 Jesus doubles down. 8 "Go up to the festival yourselves. I’m not going up to the festival yet, because My time has not yet fully come.”
If you are keeping track, this is the third time Jesus says, it's not my time. But notice he changed it a bit? He says, My time has not yet FULLY come." And we can infer that He means His time is getting closer.
Skip down to vs 25, and let's start reading again. 25 Some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Isn’t this the man they want to kill? 26 Yet, look! He’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to Him. Can it be true that the authorities know He is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where He is from.” 28 As He was teaching in the temple complex, Jesus cried out, “You know Me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on My own, but the One who sent Me is true. You don’t know Him; 29 I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”30 Then they tried to seize Him. Yet no one laid a hand on Him because His hour had not yet come.
Jesus doesn't say the phrase this time. It's the author John letting us know that Jesus' time hasn't arrived yet. And we see the same thing in the next chapter.
John 8:20
20 "He spoke these words by the treasury, while teaching in the temple complex. But no one seized Him, because His hour had not come." This statement comes at the end of Jesus proclaiming Himself the light of the world, and claiming Jehovah as His father. When he does this, he makes the Pharisees very angry.
Before we get to chapter 12, which is the next time we see Jesus talking about His time, we encounter the raising of Lazarus in chapter 11. And I want us to take a moment to look at it, because it says a lot about God's timing.
John 11
Read with me. "1 Now a man was sick, Lazarus, from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Him: “Lord, the one You love is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard it, He said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
And then Jesus hangs out for a couple days longer, then heads to Bethany. We read in vs 17, "When Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days."
In vs 21, "Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died."
Jesus knew if he left for Bethany as soon as he got the news, it wouldn't be as dramatic. In fact, when Jesus says to open the grave, we read that, "Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Him, “Lord, he’s already decaying. It’s been four days.”
We know how hard people have tried to discount Jesus' death, but Martha points out that after 4 days in the tomb, there isn't any mistake. Dead and rotting, putrefying, stench overwhelming even the spices they wrapped in the graveclothes with Lazarus' body. And Jesus uses this to drive His point home. Look what He said in vs. 25 "I am the Resurrection and the life." Then Jesus' has this man who should already be decomposing walk out of the grave under his own power. Timing is everything.
Turn to the next chapter now, chapter 12, and let's look at verse 23.
John 12:23
23 Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified."
Everytime I read this, I practically get chills. I can only imagine the whiplash that Philip and Andrew give themselves when they hear this. Picture it, if you will. They have been with Jesus for years, and it's probably gotten to be almost a running joke. "Nope, not time yet." And then Jesus all of a sudden says, 'It IS time!"
And Jesus helps them out a little bit. Look at vss 27 & 28.
John 12:27-28
27 “Now My soul is troubled. What should I say—Father, save Me from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name!”
Jesus points out that His entire ministry has been leading up to this moment. Look at vs one of chapter 13.
13 Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
We can go back to Matthew and find this in 26:18, “Go into the city to a certain man,” He said, “and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time is near; I am celebrating the Passover at your place with My disciples.’
And in chapter 17 of John, Jesus starts off his prayer this way.
John 17:1
Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said: Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You.
Jesus knew from the beginning, all the way back in Genesis, that he would end up on that cross. He knew how it would turn out. But Jesus also understood the importance of timing. He knew that it wasn't enough to anger the Pharisees and Sadducees to the point of wanting Him dead. He knew it wasn't enough to just have his apostles and disciples around for a few months. He knew, Timing is Everything.
David recognized this truth as well.
Psalm 31:15
"The course of my life is in Your power; deliver me from the power of my enemies and from my persecutors."
God's timing is perfect. We have this illusion that we are in control, but Jesus addressed that in His sermon on the Mount. He said in Matthew 6:27, "Can any one of you add a singly cubit to his height by worrying?"
Jesus helps His disciples understand this in the first chapter of Acts. 1:7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority.
And Isaiah tells us in
Isaiah 55: 8-9
that God says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. 9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."
Timing is everything, and God's timing is precisely perfect. While this can be disappointing for us, it should also give us comfort. When we ask God for something, and He doesn't seem to answer us, it may not mean He is saying, "No." He may be saying, "Not yet." There are many times it has been years later before I realized that God did answer my prayer, in His perfect time.
So that's the invitation today. Recognize that God's timing is perfect. If you've been struggling with this or have any other need the church can help you with, please come forward now.
