John 7:28-31 (NIVUK)
28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, ‘Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.’
30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, ‘When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?’
I don’t know about you, but my life always seems to be working towards a deadline. There are everyday ones such as ticking off the day’s tasks on time. It might be might be something like Sunday morning, which comes around once a week with the need for the service to be ready on time, or more significant such as the next big moment in the church calendar such as Easter or Christmas, or the next school holiday (significant when you’re married to a teacher). These shape us and our sense of purpose and progress. Some of us need deadlines – I know I’m most unproductive without the panic of running out of time! In John’s Gospel, there is a sense from the wedding of Cana (John 2:4) onwards that Jesus has one defining moment on the horizon that he is working to and as we see again here (30). That is of course the Cross.
Take a moment to prayerfully consider if you have a defining moment or motivation in your life, a central factor which shapes it and around which it revolves? If so, what is it? How does your faith speak into it?
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