![]() When Jesus said this verse, his kairos moment had not yet come, but at any chronological point in their lives, people can make their significant choice to love God and follow Christ. For example, in John 7:6 Jesus says, “My time ( kairos) has not yet come, but your time ( kairos) is always here.” In this case Jesus’ time will offer him a decisive moment that will have significance among people for all (chronological) time. One might imagine kairos moments continually coming down from above, interlacing like fingers with daily chronos events below. ![]() The Gospel of John is striking in its use of this idea. Ephesians 5:15-16 – “making the most of your time.”.Colossians 4:5 – “making the most of the opportunity”.2 Corinthians 6:1-2 – “the acceptable time”.For example, in these passages the term means: In the New Testament kairos is used a whopping 85 times, with different qualitative nuances. It gives us the opportunity to leave a legacy: a contribution, something that really matters, something significant. It is a time that cannot be measured and offers a choice with implications for the future.Īnother way to understand kairos is as “the eternity nestled deep in time.” 1 It is a moment when we can feel our personal smallness and the fragility of life, and at the same time experience intimate connection with humanity and the whole created order. It can be a word, an idea, or a practice, and has been used in several fields, including persuasive debate, science, and Christian theology (which simply means “study of God”). In different contexts, kairos means the right moment or the opportune time. It was qualitative and uniquely timely, calling for the right response that could make a difference in a person’s character or a people’s future. In ancient Greek, kairos meant “the right, critical or opportune moment” when a person or a people could make an important decision or could change the course of history. But the other word for time is kairos, which is a different creature altogether. That’s the only way most folks in the Western world assume time goes. It’s symbolized by the newborn baby that ushers in the New Year and finishes the year as grizzled, old Father Time. ![]() One is chronos: linear time that moves from past to present to future. There are two specific terms for time in the New Testament language of Greek.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |