In John 2:3, 7:6, and 7:8 why did Jesus say, “My hour has not yet come”? Jesus followed a divine timeline because His Father ordained every event in His life. This is why we see Him saying He "must" do certain things, why He avoided being killed and arrested at certain times, and even why He avoided becoming King before the triumphal entry.

Table of contentsThe Times Jesus Said He Must Do ThingsThe Times Jesus Said, "My Hour Has Not Yet Come"The Times Jesus Avoided Being KilledThe Times Jesus Avoided Being ArrestedThe Times Jesus Said He Told People to Be Silent About Their HealingThe Times Jesus Said He People to Be Silent About His MessiahshipWhen Jesus Said His Hour Had ComeWhen Jesus Presented Himself as King, Fulfilling Daniel 9:25

Jesus followed a divine timeline because His Father ordained every event in His life. This is why we see Him saying He "must" do certain things, why He avoided being killed and arrested at certain times, and even why He avoided becoming King before the triumphal entry.

The Times Jesus Said He Must Do Things

When Jesus was left behind at the temple:

Luke 2:48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”

Notice Jesus’s use of the word “must.” He didn’t use “should” or “wants to,” but must. There’s urgency about the things He’s doing.

Just in Luke’s Gospel, consider the time Jesus said He “must” do other things:

Luke 13:33 I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following

Luke 19:5 Jesus told Zacchaeus, “I must stay at your house.”

Luke 24:7 I must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again

He also said He must fulfill Scripture:

Luke 22:37 [What] is written about Me must be accomplished

Luke 24:44 All things must be fulfilled which were written…concerning Me.”

The Times Jesus Said, "My Hour Has Not Yet Come"

This is the wedding at Cana. They ran out of wine…

John 2:3 When the wine ran out, [Mary said], “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

Mary wanted Jesus to perform a miracle. Jesus was going to perform miracles, so why not now?

Because this meant getting the events out of order. This had him performing a miracle before it was time.

John 7:6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.

John 7:8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”

The Times Jesus Avoided Being Killed

Think of the times people tried to seize Jesus, but He always escaped:

Jesus returned to Nazareth. The people expected him to perform the same miracles in his hometown that they heard about him performing elsewhere…

Luke 4:23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’”

When Jesus told the people he wouldn’t be performing miracles in Nazareth, because of their unbelief, they were not happy about it…

Luke 4:28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.

For a moment, picture what this looked like. They brought Jesus to the top of a hill so they could throw him down. He has a cliff on one side and the crowd on the other. But somehow he was able to maneuver through the people to avoid a premature death.

Here are two other examples…

John 8:59 So they picked up stones to throw at him,