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Key Bible Verse: "Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory." (John 12:23) Dig Deeper: Luke 4:16-21

In the ancient Greek world, history moves in endless cycles. The ancients did not expect progress or for life to get better.

That view is largely dead in our world, at least in the West. During the Enlightenment, some thinkers shucked off the notion of God, but they could not bring themselves to abandon a hope for an age to come. They renamed it "progress." They said it would be delivered by education or technology or science. But they were still the secular heirs of the people of Israel who believed history was leading somewhere. How did that idea get spread from little Israel to the broader world? One day a man named Jesus began his ministry with a single phrase about what time it was: "The time has come."

This is both a statement about himself and claim about time. History is not an endless cycle. The universe itself, like an NFL team during the draft, is "on the clock." There was a before-time, when the world was being prepared. There will be an after-time, when the world will respond. Now, "the time has come." Staggeringly, Jesus said that the marker of this moment is his own arrival. Humble Jesus claimed to be the hinge of history. The time has come.

—John Ortberg in Who Is This Man?

My Response: How does knowing that "the time has come" change the way I view my own Saturday experiences?

Thought to Apply: [Jesus Christ] is the reason, the goal, the aim, the intent, the point, the purpose, the end, the terminus, the consummation and culmination of every molecule that moves.—Sam Storms (pastor, writer)

Adapted from Who Is This Man? (Zondervan, 2012) by permission. All rights reserved by the copyright holder and/or the publisher. May not be reproduced.

Copyright © 2013 by Christianity Today/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Jesus, let this week's readings sink deep into my heart and give me a fresh perspective and new appreciation for your death, burial, and resurrection on my behalf.

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