MARKING TIME: A Study in the Christian View of Time

from Rediscovering the Christian Feasts by Robert E. Webber

 

I recently visited Stonehenge, the site of mysterious megaliths in England. These huge stones (some of them up to one ton in weight) are arranged in a series of concentric circles in the beautiful farmland of England.

Interpreters of history argue that a prehistoric civilization once lived there on the great plains, of which Stonehenge was apparently a center. But no one is absolutely certain about the function of those mysteriously placed stones. One interesting explanation is that the stones mark time. They are placed in such a way that the light of the sun moves around the circle through each month of the year.

Whether or not the stones' primary purpose was marking time, no one knows for certain. But their presence point out that all people have ways to mark time. We all live by a yearly calendar that marks time from January to December. Many of us also mark time by an academic calendar that runs from September to June. We all have personal calendars in that mark time by special events such as marriages and births.

THE BIBLICAL WAY OF MARKING TIME

In the Scripture time is marked by God's saving events. An event time is called kairos (from which we get our word crisis). The time between kairos events is called chronos (from which we get our word chronology).

The Scriptural concept of time is obviously rooted in the Christ event as the kairos, or crisis time. The Christ event is the extraordinary time toward which all moves and from which all time proceeds. I like to think of the picture of an hourglass on its side.  The Christ event, of course, is the middle. Everything else gathers around it.

We speak of the Christ event and its relation to time in the following three ways:

• The Christ event is fulfilled time. In the Christ event the Old Testament expectation of the Messiah is fulfilled. Jesus himself said, "The time has come .... The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1: 15). (See Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:14-36.)

• The Christ event is the time of salvation. The Christ event is that moment in time when God dethroned the powers and established salvation and healing for the world (see Col 2:15).

• The Christ event introduces anticipatory time. We live in the time between the cross and the disarming of the powers on the one hand, and the second coming and the destruction of the powers on the other. Consequently, Christians live in hope of the future, awaiting the final judgment on evil.

THE CHRISTIAN YEAR

In order to understand the Christian year, we need to recognize that it is the Christian way of marking time, which is based on the kairos moments of God's action in history.

Christian time revolves around three important aspects of the Christ event:

• The birth of Christ: Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany are all related to the time of Christ's birth.

• The death and resurrection of Christ: Lent, Holy Week, and Easter mark these primary events of salvation.

• Pentecost and the second coming: Pentecost marks the coming of the Holy Spirit, the beginning of the church, and the expectation of the return of Je­sus.

THE MEANING OF EACH SEASON

Let's get better acquainted with the Christian year by looking more closely at each season.

THE CYCLE OF LIGHT

The seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany relate to the coming of Christ, the Light of the World (see John 1:1-9). These three seasons are called cycle of light because they focus on Christ, the Light of the World.

Advent

The word Advent means "coming." It signifies the period preceding the birth of Christ when the church anticipates the coming of the Messiah (see Isa 11:1-10). Today more and more Christians are recovering Advent because of the spiritual meaning it gives to Christmas in the face of a strong anti-Christian cultural bias, as well as the materialistic secularization of Christmas.

Christmas

Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ and the incarnation of God among us (see Luke 2: 1-14). The real meaning of Christmas tends to get lost in the secular hoopla that surrounds this great saving event. The church is seeking to do more to emphasize its spiritual meaning.

Epiphany

The word Epiphany means "manifestation." It refers to Jesus' being manifested to the world as Messiah, Son of God, Savior of the World. The Epiphany is always commemorated on January 6 (the end of the twelve days of Christmas) and celebrates the coming of the Magi to pay homage to Jesus (see Matt 2: 1-12).

THE CYCLE OF LIFE

The second cycle of the Christian year includes Lent, Holy Week, and Easter. It ends on Pentecost day. This is frequently called the cycle of life because it recalls Jesus' death and resurrection (see John 15: 18-25).

Lent

Lent is a Latin word that means "spring." The spiritual meaning given to the word is preparation. During Lent we prepare with Jesus to move toward his death. This is why the notion of giving something up or taking on a spiritual discipline has become a central part of the Lenten spiritual journey.

Lent lasts forty days in keeping with the symbolic meaning of that number forty.  Moses spent forty years in the wilderness. Jesus spent forty days in the desert. In each case the sense of spiritual preparation for the task that lies ahead is central (see Matt 4:1-11).  During the forty days preceding the death of Jesus, we prepare to accompany him to his death.

Holy Week

During Holy Week the church enacts the final events that lead up to the crucifixion of Jesus. Holy Week originated in Jerusalem, where Christians marked the locations of the final events in Jesus' life. (Today the stations of the cross pilgrimage repeats the ancient road to the cross.) The final week begins with Palm Sunday and ends with what is called the Great Triduum (the three great days).  These days are Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the great paschal vigil of Saturday night that ends in the Easter celebration (see Mark 14-16).

Easter

Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and all that the  resurrection implies (see 1 Cor 15:20-28). Many churches are beginning to recover the ancient practice of celebrating Easter for fifty days, culminating in the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Pentecost and after Pentecost

Pentecost Sunday ends Easter and begins the third season, which stretches from Pentecost to Christ the King Sunday, the final Sunday before the first Sunday of  Advent when the cycle of light begins again.

This third period of time is called Ordinary Time because no saving events are celebrated after Pentecost. However, every Sunday is a celebration of Jesus' death and resurrection. In this sense every Sunday is a "little Easter." Pentecost season recalls the events of the church, its origins, and its growth. As Pentecost ends, the Church turns its attention toward the anticipation of the second coming of Christ. This is why the season after Pentecost ends with the Christ the King Sunday.