Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.
- John 7:6

This is a repeated refrain throughout John's Gospel: Jesus' time has not yet come. It shows up just before his first miracle and all throughout the death plots against him ... right up to his last week before his crucifixion, when his time finally does come.

Jesus is constantly aware of his time: the season or moment of life and ministry in which he finds himself. There is a sense in which his timing comes from his Father. His Father ordains and orders his time. And Jesus lives in the moment his Father has for him.

When we read this story, we hear echoes of the story of Esther (which we'll be studying this Fall). Esther's cousin Mordecai points out to her that all of her privilege and all of her influence have been given to her for the particular moment in which she finds herself. Her time comes and she responds with courage.

Just like Esther, Jesus has a great sense of exactly what he's supposed to be doing right now.

Have you ever had a time in your life when you felt like God ordered your steps so you were in the right place at just the right time? Do you have a send that God has placed you in any particular place that you need to be attentive to right now?