Time is one of the most precious and fascinating resources we have access to in our lives. It is one of the few things that money simply cannot buy. Our society spends hours wasting it watching TV or absorbed on devices and yet constantly moans about not having enough time.

Time was something that Jesus was challenged on in John Chapter 7. To set the context, it leads on from the episode in Chapter 6 where Jesus is abandoned by many of those who were following him because he was not meeting the expectations of the crowd. Things get so bad that he even asks the disciples whether they also plan to leave him.This leads onto Peter’s famous declaration that the words of life reside in Jesus and Jesus alone; there is no other destination and no other goal for them.

It is in the aftermath of this defining moment for Jesus’ ministry that we come to this passage:

After this, Jesus moved about in Galilee but decided not to do so in Judea since the Jews were planning to take his life. A Jewish festival, “The feast of the tabernacles”, was approaching and his brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see what you are doing, for nobody works in secret if he wants to be known publicly. If you are going to do things like this, let the world see what you are doing.” For not even his brothers had any faith in him. Jesus replied by saying, “It is not yet the right time for me, but any time is right for you.
John 7: J B Phillips Version

Essentially, Jesus’ own brothers are getting in on the act. They are pointing out the obvious to Him, in that the feast of Succoth, or Tabernacles, is upon them and Jesus should be going up to the feast.

Two meanings to one English word

Reading this passage is English can be downright confusing – well at least it was for me, with all its talk of ‘right time’ and ‘any time’. However, I have learned that despite having approximately three times the number of words in the English vocabulary than there are in either Greek or Hebrew, English is often lamentably poor at conveying certain concepts. This passage is a particularly telling example of this situation. Our English translation/interpretation uses a single word ‘time’ to translate two very different Greek words. Translating the discussion in a dynamic ‘Greeklish’, what Jesus actually says, “My ‘kairos’ (appointed time) has not yet come, but your chronos (regular time) is always ready.”

A moment of destiny

Wow, what does all this mean then? Here is where it gets really interesting – well at least for me.

When John uses ‘kairos’ to reflect Jesus’ words, he is fully aware that this word has a very different perspective on time. Strong’s Bible dictionary defines ‘kairos’ in the following ways:

1. A fixed or definite time; a time when things come to a head
2. The decisive epoch waited for
3. An opportune or seasonable time
4. The right time, almost of destiny
5. A specifically limited period of time

This therefore has the very sense of an appointed time, a time that has been set.

In contrast when the word ‘chronos’ is used for Jesus’ brothers he is using the word that is the root of our word ‘chronological’. Quite literally it is simply a time and date thing, a calendar appointment.

In a dynamic paraphrasing, I perceive that Jesus is saying, “The planned, or appointed, time for me has not yet come, but you can go whenever you like.” I would suggest that Jesus chose his words very carefully to reflect the fact that he had a specific mission with set times and places for him to keep. In the case of this particular Feast of Succoth, those times had not yet come. In contrast his brothers were free to make their way, as they usually did,up to Jerusalem for the festival whenever they liked.

Now we know that those times did come for Jesus, because in the very same chapter (Chapter 7), we see Jesus standing up in the Temple on the eighth, and greatest, day of Succoth, right in the middle in the ceremony of the water drawing, to declare that he is the ‘Living Waters’. His appointed time came.

A time to be ready

I have been very conscious of this question of time during the pandemic and working from home. In the early days I simply participated in online meetings and workshops as they came. They were ‘chronos’ meetings for me, they happened without a great deal of thought. But then as I became aware of this and reflected on these precisely defined words, I determined to make my meetings ‘kairos’ meetings. I made space to pray for the meeting before each one started; I endeavoured to consciously prepare myself and my spirit for what was to come. I cannot stand here and tell you that is how I go into each and every meeting now, but what I can say is that I think about it and do my utmost to make my time ‘kairos’ time, aligned to God’s will.

Not every moment can be a ‘kairos’ moment. But my challenge to you today is to be more aware of the time that you have. Spend a few moments preparing yourself for those ‘chronos’ times that, with the right heart attitude, could become ‘kairos’ moments as you allow the Holy Spirit to work through you and in you.