Passage
These words He spoke in the treasury, as He was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
John 8:20 (LSB)
Nearby Context
John 8:18 I am He who bears witness about Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness about Me.”
John 8:19 So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”
John 8:20 These words He spoke in the treasury, as He was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
John 8:21 Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”
John 8:22 So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "words", "spoke", "treasury", "teaching", "temple", "seized", "hour", and "come". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "words" and "spoke", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 19's "So they were saying to Him Where..." into verse 21's "Then He said again to them I...", so "words" and "spoke" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "words" and "spoke" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.