“and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” For even his brothers didn’t believe in him. Jesus replied, “Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go anytime. The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil. You go on. I’m not going to this festival, because my time has not yet come.” After saying these things, Jesus remained in Galilee.
John 7:3-9 NLT
Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe in Him. They had seen the miracles, the amazing acts of healing. They may even have been present when the five thousand were fed. But instead of believing in their brother (well, half-brother really) they covered their lack of belief and confusion in a cloak of sarcasm. But Jesus didn’t respond in kind and factually pointed out to them that He wasn’t going because the “world” in Judea hated Him. Of course, He was meaning the Jewish leaders and the people who blindly followed them, people who revered the Jewish hierarchy almost to the point of worship. What the Jewish leaders said, the people did. The reason Jesus was hated was, He said, because He accused the whole “system” of that time of “doing evil”. So Jesus decided to stay where He was safe, in Galilee.
There was always a “right time” about Jesus’ activities. A right time about where He went. A right time about what he said. A right time about who He healed. He constantly worked in conjunction with His Father to ensure that the right time was chosen. There is of course that famous passage in Ecclesiastes that starts, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). We pilgrims journey on through different spiritual seasons, in the same way as the world in which we live enjoys its natural seasons. Naturally, we are born, go through the childhood phases of school and play, followed by adulthood, employment and perhaps marriage. There then follows a period of retirement after a lifetime working, preceding a twilight period of life that ushers in the end of our journey. Spiritually, the seasons are different, but there is still a pattern, as we get to know God more and more, as our Friend and Lord. And the final season is the one we know least about – eternal life with Jesus. But happen it will and we set our faces towards our Heavenly home.
We also read what Paul wrote in Romans 5:6, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners”. The first coming of Jesus was exactly at the “right time”. No other period in history was so needy or so suitable for His message of salvation. And the timeless legacy of His visit and its message from the Calvary Cross has travelled through the corridors of time right up to the present day, and will keep travelling until this season of God’s grace comes to an end.
Today is the “right time” for us pilgrims to embrace our wonderful Lord again. And it is the right time to tell others of His grace and love. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, “As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvellous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation”. So whatever we are doing at this moment, we look up, and in our spirits we see God’s affirmative smile, reassuring us that we are at the “right time” in this season of our lives.
Dear Father God. Your timing for everything is impeccable. Please help us in this season of our lives to do all that we should do, in our service to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 