Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on Me. But this hour belongs to you and to the power of darkness.”
Parallel translations
- WEB When I was with you in the temple daily, you didn’t stretch out your hands against me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
- KJV When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.
- NKJV When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
- NASB While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.”
- NLT Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus notes they never seized Him in the temple, but says this is their hour and the power of darkness. He acknowledges that evil is permitted its appointed time.
Overview
Jesus recognizes that His enemies act now under cover of darkness, both literal and spiritual. He affirms that Satan and wicked men are given a limited hour to do their worst. Yet by submitting to this hour, Jesus turns the power of darkness into the very means of its defeat at the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Eph 6:12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
- Acts 26:18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’
- John 12:27Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour.
- John 16:20–22Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
- Col 1:13He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,
- John 7:45Then the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Him in?”
- 2 Cor 4:3–6And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
- Matt 21:23When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”
- Judg 16:21–30Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.
- John 14:30I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming, and he has no claim on Me.
- Matt 21:12–15Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
- Rev 12:9–12And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
- John 7:25–26Then some of the people of Jerusalem began to say, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?
- John 7:30So they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
- Job 20:5the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
- Matt 21:45–46When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that Jesus was speaking about them.
- Luke 21:37–38Every day Jesus taught at the temple, but every evening He went out to spend the night on the Mount of Olives.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 22:53 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.