When Jesus was born, He became subject to the limitations of time, for the first time in His timeless existence. He wasn't born as the Teacher that we see in the Gospels. He was born as a baby. He had to "grow in wisdom and stature and favor, with God and man"(Luke 2:52). This One had the greatest personal destiny of any human ever, and yet, He spent the first 30 years of His life doing mundane things, virtually none of which were even mentioned in any of the Gospels. He was obedient to His parents, He was perfectly sinless, He was in continual relationship with His heavenly Father. He ate, He drank, He slept, He worked. Same thing, day in, and day out. For thirty years.
The Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Ancient of Days. The Eternal I AM.
In the mundane: Jesus spent so much time walking from one place to another, talking with people, touching people, eating. Who knows what He even did for the thirty years before His ministry started! It is safe to imagine that He did what any other boy would have done. He must have participated in the rhythms and ceremonies revolving around the Temple. He spent 30 years graciously walking and talking with His creatures. He likely spent time learning Joseph's trade of carpentry. Setting the table with His mother perhaps? Mending holes in the roof. The humdrum daily stuff of life that is anything but glamorous. Tasks that seemed to suit neither a King nor a Savior. A Servant, maybe...
In His mission: It is extraordinary that even when it was time for Him to begin His ministry, Jesus was still acutely aware of the timing and what would be appropriate. When Mary asked Him to supply the guests with wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2), He told her that the hour had not yet come for Him, but complied and performed His first miracle. The Author of Time was clearly committed to doing the right thing at the right time. (Please also see my Walking Circumspectly post, where I address this more extensively).
In His misery: Even Jesus' suffering and death on the cross is carefully recorded in it's units of time. He wept drops of blood and prayed to His Father on at least three separate occasions, without receiving the relief for which He pled (Matt. 26:39-45). He was betrayed by Judas at the appointed hour (Matt. 26:45-49). Each event of that terrible night unfolded with attention to the time. When Jesus was on the cross, there was darkness in the land from "the sixth hour to the ninth hour. (Matt. 27:45). We are told of how long it took for the Son of God to be dragged from one place to another, on trial, in mockings and beatings. Before we see Jesus' final victory in the resurrection, there are even three days of silence as His body lay still in the tomb. This slow passage of time was all part of the Eternal One's plan. And it was necessary for God to wait.
Jesus patiently and actively endured to the end, fulfilling all righteousness, in the span of time that was given to Him. May we draw tremendous encouragement in knowing that our Savior can sympathize with our struggles to wait patiently. He has experienced them to a far greater degree than we will ever know! We have only ever known an existence within time. Jesus did not. May that knowledge strengthen our resolve as we wait for things in this life, as well as for Christ's final restoration of all things, Finally, may we allow this meditation to lead us to worship Christ even more! May we praise our God for His tender compassion of joining us in our waiting!
