These two expressions were given by commentators to John 2-12 and 13-21 respectively.
Every author organizes his work in a manner to most effectively convey his message. We know that John wrote his Gospel "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (20:30). Many commentators believe that to do this, John has organized his material into two main groups. The first—the Book of Life—records seven "signs":
1. the transformation of water into wine (2:1-11),
2. the healing of an official's son in Capernaum (4:46-54),
3. the healing of a paralytic at Bethesda (5:1-15),
4. the feeding of the five thousand (6:1-14),
5. Jesus's walking on water (6:16-24),
6. the healing of a man blind from birth (9:1-7), and
7. the raising of Lazarus from death (11:1-45).
The second group—the Book of the Hour—takes up a theme that is already latent in the first half. When the wine ran out at the wedding in Cana and Jesus's mother told him about it, Jesus told her that "my hour has not yet come" (Jn 2:4), meaning it was not the time yet to manifest himself as the Saviour to the world. He repeats this point to his brothers who did not believe in him in 12:23 ("The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.") Soon afterwards, however, he left for Jerusalem, and from there he began to manifest himself as the Son of Man. Four verses down (12:27-28) Jesus reflecting on the matter:
"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."
What this mean John makes clear in the remaining chapters (12-21), hence the name—the Book of the Hour—given to this section of his Gospel.
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