January 25: Accepting His Love.
HIS HOUR
Jesus knowing that His hour had come...having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.--John 13:1
I had imagined this moment for a long time, and now everything was on the line. Several years earlier, I had started my PhD program, and now it was time to defend my dissertation. I flew from Los Angeles to London the day before my defense. My degree, my future, all my efforts, and thousands of dollars, were at stake as I entered the room. It was a court-type setting; the professors sat directly in front of me, the doctoral arbiter between us. The hour had come.
Sometimes we are preparing our whole lives for a specific moment. God had been planning for His hour since the foundation of the world. Beginning with the first miracle of Jesus in the Gospel of John, the reader is informed that Jesus knows that His hour will eventually arrive, "My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). We can follow the progression of Jesus toward the cross through the statements about "His hour" (see John 7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 17:1). As we move closer to Passover Friday, Jesus becomes aware that His hour has finally arrived; "Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come..." (John 13:1). John wants us to understand that Jesus is always in control and submitting Himself to the Father. There was a plan, and He was fulfilling it. The hour of His glory would be on the cross; therefore, His passion is repeatedly described as His glory (John 12:2; 13:31, 32; 17:1, 4). The eternal clock of heaven sounded the alarm to redeem the human race. Everything had been orchestrated in God's salvific plan: "When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons" (Galatians 4:4, 5). There is an appointed time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1); the birth and death of Jesus had been planned, and He voluntarily submitted to the plan because of His love for you and me. His hour came, He went through it, and He was victorious. Now He invites us to trust His plan, His love, His timing, and the efficacy of His hour.
My Response:_______________________________________________
HIS HOUR
Jesus knowing that His hour had come...having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.--John 13:1
I had imagined this moment for a long time, and now everything was on the line. Several years earlier, I had started my PhD program, and now it was time to defend my dissertation. I flew from Los Angeles to London the day before my defense. My degree, my future, all my efforts, and thousands of dollars, were at stake as I entered the room. It was a court-type setting; the professors sat directly in front of me, the doctoral arbiter between us. The hour had come.
Sometimes we are preparing our whole lives for a specific moment. God had been planning for His hour since the foundation of the world. Beginning with the first miracle of Jesus in the Gospel of John, the reader is informed that Jesus knows that His hour will eventually arrive, "My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). We can follow the progression of Jesus toward the cross through the statements about "His hour" (see John 7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 17:1). As we move closer to Passover Friday, Jesus becomes aware that His hour has finally arrived; "Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come..." (John 13:1). John wants us to understand that Jesus is always in control and submitting Himself to the Father. There was a plan, and He was fulfilling it. The hour of His glory would be on the cross; therefore, His passion is repeatedly described as His glory (John 12:2; 13:31, 32; 17:1, 4). The eternal clock of heaven sounded the alarm to redeem the human race. Everything had been orchestrated in God's salvific plan: "When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons" (Galatians 4:4, 5). There is an appointed time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1); the birth and death of Jesus had been planned, and He voluntarily submitted to the plan because of His love for you and me. His hour came, He went through it, and He was victorious. Now He invites us to trust His plan, His love, His timing, and the efficacy of His hour.
My Response:_______________________________________________
RSS Feed
