Answer: Jesus' appointed time was near, (verse
18).
MORE INFORMATION AND/OR OTHER SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
Jesus' "appointed time" was His
crucifixion:
Mark 14:35, 41: "Going a little
farther, He [Jesus] fell to the ground and prayed that if possible
the hour might pass from Him... Returning the third time, He
said to them, 'Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough!
The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands
of sinners.'"
John 7:6, 8, 30: "Therefore Jesus
told them, 'The right time for Me has not yet come; for you
any time is right...You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up
to this Feast, because for Me the right time has not yet
come.'...At this they tried to seize Him, but no one
laid a hand on Him, because His time had not yet
come."
John 8:20: "He [Jesus] spoke these
words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the
offerings were put. Yet no one seized Him, because His time had not
yet come."
John 12:23-24: "Jesus replied,
'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
I tell you the Truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground
and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it
produces many seeds.'"
John 13:1a: "It was just before the
Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave
this world and go to the Father."
John 17:1: "After Jesus said this,
He looked toward heaven and prayed: 'Father, the time
has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify
You.'"
