The time of Jesus—when is it to come?
The course of life in every living thing is, to a great extent, according to a fixed order. Every human being has that in his whole appearance which tells something of the number of years he has been in the world. But in the life of the Lord Jesus there was something beyond the order of mere natural development. There was an order in his life which it depended on his own discernment and obedience to maintain. His brethren wanted him to rush at every opportunity that seemed likely to them. But Jesus was not one to pluck fruit before it was ripe. He began quietly, went on gradually, builded things up, and then, when the hour for full revelation came, the revelation came with it.
I. THE PARTICULAR SEASON FOR WHICH JESUS WAS WAITING. His brethren wanted. him to make the best of the crowd that would be at Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles, however, was only a secondary occasion compared with the Feast of the Passover. There could have been nothing to remember at the Feast of Tabernacles unless, first of all, there had been something to remember at the Feast of the Passover. All other glorious recollections which Israel had to cherish with gratitude and hope came out of the deliverance from Egypt. Thus, at the Feast of the Passover, the time of Jesus fully came, and the coming was made manifest by his public and triumphal entry. The multitude surrounding him had come up for the Passover, like himself. They shout "Hosannah!" that is, they utter forth a prayer for salvation. And this prayer was soon answered, though not as the multitude expected, and not in a way that many of them would profit by. Jesus was just about to be delivered over to men, that men might do their worst to him. Then, when men had done their worst, his Father in heaven would do his best. Everything was done just at the right time. And all this comes forth from that Lord of hosts who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. It is just what we should expect, that God's great dealings in grace should have about them the order and regularity which mark his dealings in nature.
II. HOW WE ARE TO PROFIT BY THE FULL COMING OF THE TIME OF JESUS. We can only profit by the coming of this time as we make it to profit. The time of Jesus has to come fully with each of us. Not a human being who has ever trod this planet but has to come somewhere and somehow in contact with Jesus. We can no more escape Jesus than we can escape death. Life is narrowing day by day, and we are getting pushed on to a wicket gate where face-to-face dealing with Jesus is inevitable. The time has fully come for Jesus to be showing something of his saving power in our experience. Whenever Jesus, in the days of his flesh, met with those who had divers diseases and infirmities, the time was fully come for him to take those diseases and infirmities away. And so the time of Jesus is fully come to save whenever the sinner feels his need of saving. When the lifeboat is built and put in the lifeboat house, the time is fully come for the boat to do its work. Whenever the work is ready for it, it is ready for the work. So Jesus is ready for the sinner whenever the sinner is ready for him. Ready to save, ready to govern, ready to comfort, ready to put in the way of a full recompense for an obedient life.—Y.