Mine Hour is Not Yet Come

At the marriage in Cana Mary came to Jesus and told Him that they were out of wine.  The Savior responded, “Woman, what wilt thou have me to do for thee? that will I do; for mine hour is not yet come” (JST John 2:4).  He then performed the well-known miracle there.  I’ve been wondering at His words and reasoning; the Savior seemed to have been saying, “Because my hour hasn’t come yet, I can do for you whatever you desire.”  I believe that “mine hour” referred to the culminating point of His ministry, the act of His atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection.  This same phrase is used multiple times in the gospels in that context.  The Savior told His apostles at the Last Supper, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:23-24).  The apostle also stated that at this time “Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end” (John 13:1).  The Savior said also in the intercessory prayer, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee” (John 17:1).  Mark recorded these words of Jesus on the night of His betrayal and arrest when they were in the garden, “It is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners” (Mark 14:41).  His hour was this the most important moment in all of history when He would give His life for the sins of the world.   

             So if His “hour” was indeed the appointed time of His great atoning sacrifice, then this means that even at this early stage in Cana at the beginning of His ministry He was looking forward to that singular event.  It was still about three years away, and yet He was focused on it and referred to it even at this minor social event.  It is as if He was saying to His mother, “Nothing can come in the way of that hour, the time of my great atoning sacrifice, but what you have to ask of me will not do that so I am at your service.”  But He would not let anything, even service to His mother, get in the way of His most important mission.  We see this again in His exchange with Peter after the Savior explained that He “must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”  Peter responded to this terrible description saying in his loving zeal, “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.”  The Savior responded with passion: “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matt. 16:21-23).  To suggest anything that would divert Him from the great atoning sacrifice He was to perform was akin to following the adversary, and it didn’t matter who suggested it, even the chief apostle—the Savior would reject any deviation from the Father’s plan.  He declared, “He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John 8:29).  He was perfectly faithful to the Father’s plan, and He let nothing distract Him from fulfilling that mission.