Episode 32: Hour
Jesus’ Hour
The word translated as “hour,” or often as “time,” constitutes a primary thread woven throughout the Gospel of John. This word may refer to a time of day since the ancients divided the sunlight and darkness into segments called hours without the use of modern clocks or watches. (John 11:9) However, Jesus employs this word in reference to a specific moment in history, the moment of his glorification. We are first introduced to this monumental moment at the wedding in Cana. Jesus’ mother informs him that the host family has run out of wine for the guests. His reply to her is difficult to categorize from the literary record alone. But his rationale is not. Jesus indicates that it was not yet his “hour,” his moment. This is the only time when Jesus’ speaks of the hour as “my hour.”Elsewhere in John
John’s Gospel makes reference to several hours during the day. John the Baptizer’s disciples stay with Jesus because it is the tenth hour. (John 1:39) Jesus begins his conversation with the woman at the well around the sixth hour. (4:6) The child of the official who traveled to Cana to seek help from Jesus is healed at the seventh hour. (4:52) Finally, Pilate brings Jesus out to the people with the words, “Look, here is your king” at about the sixth hour. (19:14) In the lives of other people this term most often refers to a specific time or moment in time–and is not a reference to Jesus’ glorification.
John the Baptizer (Episode 5) had his moment in time also. With an echo of the Prologue and describing the light that John brought, Jesus says, “That one was a lamp, burning away and providing light, and you were willing for a moment to rejoice in the light he provided.” (John 5:35) During Jesus’ last evening before his crucifixion, he discusses a darker moment in time. “They will cause you to be banished from the synagogue, for the time is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is serving God by doing so.” Also “But I have spoken these things to you so that when their hour comes you will remember what I said to you. I did not say these things earlier since I was with you then.” (John 16:2, 4)
A brief parable helps the reader better understand Jesus’ own hour. “Whenever it is the woman’s moment, she experiences the pains of laboring to give birth; yet when she births the child, she remembers those moments of anguish no more because of her joy at bringing a child into the world.” (John 16:21) The expected moment, both for the woman and for Jesus, is filled with tremendous joy, yet preceded by incredible anguish.
One important aspect of this coming moment is illustrated by the repeated phrase, “the hour is coming and now is.” In his discussion with the woman of Samaria beside the well, Jesus describes this hour as a time “when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth.” (John 4:23) In his confrontation with leaders in the Temple after healing the man sick for 38 years, this coming moment represents a time “when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God.” (John 5:25) Jesus refers again to this hour at which time all the dead will come forth in resurrection. (John 5:28)
The highly charged conflict found in John 7-10 at the Fall Feast resurfaces the thread that is Jesus’ hour. “They were seeking to seize him, and yet no one could put their hand on him because his hour had not yet come.” (John 7:30) Likewise later, “He spoke these words while he was teaching at the temple near the Treasury; yet no one seized him because his hour had not yet come.” (John 8:20) The striking similarity in the phrasing is not accidental. The Gospel of John strongly indicates that no one else except for Jesus is in control of “his hour.”
As the Gospel moves from Jesus’ public ministry to the last evening, Jesus declares, “the hour has arrived for the Son of Man to be glorified.” (John 12:23) As the last evening begins, the narrator opens the scene by indicating Jesus acted because he knew that his hour had arrived. (John 13:1) The prayer found in John 17 opens up with Jesus’ own words, “Father, the hour has come; Glorify your Son so that he might glorify you.” (John 17:1)
Jesus’ hour is determined by Jesus himself. His mother cannot force it to happen. No one can seize him until his hour has arrived. More importantly, Jesus’ hour is a time for glorification, even when it involves crucifixion.
Concluding Thought
When the topic turns to Jesus’ death on the cross one can easily isolate that event from the remainder of the Gospel of John. Yet, doing so unravels the significance of this thread. Jesus does not die an accidental death. Jesus’ death is fully under his control because it is Jesus’ hour. Even the precise moment of his death is brought about by Jesus’ own words.
“After this, knowing that everything had already been
accomplished and in order that the Scripture might be
fulfilled Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” . . .” Then, when he
had received the soured wine, Jesus again spoke, “it is
accomplished,” then he dropped his head and handed
back the spirit.” (John 19:28, 30)
Jesus’ death while tragic is not a tragedy. Instead, the reader knows that the Word at the Beginning with God is the Word Become Flesh who lives among humanity to reveal glory, “a glory associated only with one uniquely with the father, glory filled with grace and truth.” (John 1:14) This gospel describes Jesus’ hour as that moment in time when we finally see the true nature of God–not one of judgment but a nature that works to overcome the last vestige of sin, death itself. Nothing, not even death, can overcome the light brought about by the Word.
Take 5 Minutes More
Jesus’ hour seems so positive in the early parts of the gospel, only to take on the smell of approaching death from John 12 onward. Even the fragrant oil provided by Martha cannot fully remove the despair humans experience when we fully understand Jesus’ hour. Our own recovery depends on our recognition that this tragic act serves to glorify God himself by bringing life into the world, life not restricted by death.
What reservations still exist in your own mind regarding the death of Jesus? It is not uncommon for us, as humans, to think that there must have been a different course of action for God to take. It is not uncommon for us to hold in the back recess of our mind that we, as humans, could do something of our own accord that would not necessitate this form of the Roman death penalty. Yet, does that thought on our part not actually diminish the majestic nature of God and the life that he offers?
Take a moment to acknowledge the greatness and wisdom of God. If that is the case, then the hour of Jesus’ glorification is the absolute greatest and wisest event in human history, an event that the Word at the Beginning with God fully controlled.