Kairos Time – Wake Up!

Kairos Time – Wake Up!

KAIROS: (Greek, kahee-ros); an ancient Greek term for “time” that has been defined and described in many ways. New Testament Kairos means time, the right time, not just any time. The other Greek word for time is chronos, which is simply the linear measurement of time, as in the word chronology. Chronos has to do with quantity of time, while Kairos has to do with quality of time. Chronos refers to the sheer presence of time, but Kairos refers to the presence of timeliness. One can see different aspects of the effects of Kairos time depending on the situation. There are three angles of Kairos as we look at “kairos time” in the New Testament:

1. Kairos means a timely opportunity; the fitting time for action; the right time to get involved; the proper time to act or decide something; a moment whose time has come; a time to respond because things have come to a head (kairos is related to the Greek word for head, “kara”); a particular time when a crisis has created an opportunity.
2. Kairos is God-time; the appointed time appointed by God; a sacred time for God to act; the opportune time when the Holy Spirit is moving someone into action; the moment of truth when the Spirit of God is inspiring the right word or action for the occasion; the right, fitting time to accomplish God’s will. One sacred example would be the Judeo-Christian believer honoring the Sabbath as God’s appointed time once a week, which sanctifies the day and enables the believer to experience Kairos time.
3. Kairos time can be experienced by someone who has lost track of time, who are in a state of mind in which they are not even aware of chronos time but fully enveloped in Kairos time. Examples would be monks during contemplation, artists while sculpting or painting; authors when writing; musicians when composing or performing; children while playing; worshipers while engaged in divine singing; gardeners while working in their gardens. Kairos is when someone loses track of time when in a state of inspiration or concentrated activity. When so inspired, time goes by so fast that they are completely unaware of the passage of time. For those in Kairos time in a peak of creative or inspired activity, chronos time seems irrelevant. (the primary reference: author Madelein L’Engle, from her memoir, Walking on Water).

 

“One day a group of Pharisees and Sadducees approached Jesus with intentions of trapping Him. They came to Jesus to test Him. They demanded that he perform a miraculous sign from heaven that would prove His divine authority. Jesus replied to them, ‘You have a saying that goes, ’Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in morning, sailors take warning.’ You find it easy enough to forecast the weather by discerning the sky. Why can’t you discern the signs of the times, these Kairos times that are so crucial? Only an evil and unfaithful generation is always demanding signs and wonders. So the only sign you’ll get from me is the sign of Jonah.” With those words, Jesus turned on His heels and walked away.” (Matthew 16:1-4).  

Jesus seems to be saying to this group of skeptical religious leaders that they are great at interpreting the skies, but they aren’t so skilled at interpreting the signs that Jesus has left time and again all around them. They are supposed experts in reading Scripture, Jesus is telling them, but they aren’t able to recognize all the ways Jesus has kept in step with God’s Word. Throughout His ministry, out in the wide open for all to see, Jesus has fulfilled the Scriptures, and yet they haven’t been able to translate the Word to include Him. Why are you not able to understand what is going on around you, asks Jesus. I have given you all the evidence you should need to accept my divine authority. And you continue to ask for signs that I am who I claim to be?

You hard-hearted skeptics, consider my answer to the great prophet John the Baptist when He was wondering this very thing. My healings and miracles were signs of the time! “John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, ‘John the Baptist sent us to ask. Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’ At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind. Then he told John’s disciples, ‘Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard – the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” (Luke 7:20-22). As Jesus says here to the Baptist’s disciples, the Jewish Bible stated that miraculous healings would be a sign of the Messianic Age, vivid pictures of the New Kingdom… Isaiah 26:19: ‘Those who die will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For your life-giving light will fall like dew on your people in the place of the dead!”  Isaiah 29:18-19: “In that day the deaf will hear words read from a book, and the blind will see through the gloom and darkness. The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord. The poor will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”  Isaiah 35:5-6: “And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!” Isaiah 61:1-2a: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”  So through His healings, Jesus confirms that He indeed is the long awaited Messiah. The healings authenticate His role as the anointed Servant of God. Jesus claims to be the Messiah. His healings prove it.

Jesus continued His discussion with the religious establishment… These signs and wonders and miracles evidently are not good enough for you, but can’t you see that they bear the very signature of God in heaven? You don’t need another clear indication of my divinity. Just open your eyes! Better yet, open your minds, soften your heart. What you need is not more signs, but less stubbornness and self-righteousness. So, no I will not give you another sign to convince you of who I am until one last sign, the sign of Jonah.

There were actually two signs of Jonah that were meant to illustrate important truths about Jesus. The first “sign of Jonah” mentioned by Jesus involved Christ’s Passion. Jonah was as good as dead sitting there in the giant sea creature. Any reasonable person would have assumed that, after three days and nights, he would never come out of this alive. But Jonah was given new life, a fresh start, and Jesus used this story as a symbol of the Passion and Resurrection. Jesus said that the Good News of His death, burial and resurrection was acted out there in the middle of the sea by Jonah and the gigantic whale. I wonder how many of the religious elite remembered this “sign of the times” when they saw Jesus die on the Cross and rise again on the third day.

The second “sign of Jonah” noted by Jesus centered on His mercy. Jonah preached the Gospel to the Ninevites, the Good News that salvation is not only for God’s chosen people. Jonah proclaimed that God’s mercy is so wide that even the treacherous Ninevites can be forgiven through their repentance. Ironically, God’s mercy can even select those who are not among His Chosen People. The Ninevites will be saved because the God of the Hebrews loves all people, not just the Jews. This is quite a wake-up call for the Jews, including Jonah.

Look through history, and you’ll find very people who were led to a continuous, committed faith in God strictly from miracles and wonders. For some reason, miracles haven’t been enough to convince people to believe in God very often. We forget, and then we demand more miracles to confirm the first miracle. Many of us fail at taking advantage of Kairos times, when divine miracles should persuade us of divinity. The Kairos time is intended to be a decisive time, a time when a decision obviously needs to be made. Unfortunately, miracles are not enough to inspire commitment. Jesus even said once that actually the Scriptures should be enough to prompt a faith in God. He said that if someone doesn’t listen to Moses and the prophets (and by extension the New Testament as well), he won’t even be persuaded if someone rises from the dead! (Luke 16:31).

One final thought as we consider this passage. I imagine Jesus thinking that these people love to read the sky so much, so let them look for the morning star! Ask the people to read Numbers 24:17, where I was prophesied, “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not nearby. A Star shall come out of Jacob…” Evidently this wasn’t the time for Jesus to refer to Himself as the Morning Star expected out of Israel. Not until the very end did Jesus finally reveal Himself as the Morning Star (Rev. 22:16 ). The morning star is that faint light one sees if looking into the sky in the middle of the night. It is a small star that flickers in the darkness and announces the beginning of the end for the nighttime. The morning star is that small light that tells of the dawn of a new day coming soon. Believe it or not, this small light in the sky will soon overpower darkness and be victorious over the night. It’s just a matter of time, inevitable, and its victory is certain. And by the time dawn arrives, the morning star has become the brightest star in the sky. So for those sky-readers who love to forecast weather and interpret the stars, Jesus asks for all of us to discern the morning star at night and remember that this star has coming on its heels the dawn of a new day. Jesus is the Morning Star, the light of the world declaring His presence in the world. “The morning star is so small that it threatens to vanish in the dark of the night, and it seems unable to vanquish the overpowering darkness. Yet when you see the morning star, you know that the night has been defeated. For the morning star pulls the morning in behind it, just as certainly as Jesus pulls the Kingdom in behind Him.” (Rev. Darrell Johnson). ”With His train of glory, He is pulling in the Dawn of the New Day. He says to us, ‘I am coming! I am on the way! See my star in the darkness, and know that I am on the move!” (Sheridan Larson).

St. Paul, the Morning Star, and Kairos Time. “You know the Kairos time has come! The moment is here for you to stop sleeping and wake up! Our final Deliverance is coming closer and closer. Our Day of Salvation and Restoration is nearer to us now then when we first believed. The night is nearly over, daylight is on the way. Let us be motivated to behave decently, honorably, and lovingly, because this is Kairos time, the crucial time to cast away the works of darkness and become children of the day. Put on God’s armor of light by clothing yourselves in Jesus Christ, by acting respectably in the full light of the day, and not in the shadows where dark deeds are often done. Act rightly, as if the whole world is watching, including God, in daylight. Throw away from yourselves deeds of darkness, like drunkenness, wild parties, sexual immorality and being controlled by your sensual nature. Fling away anything that causes discord and division among you, like quarreling and jealousy. Don’t even make wiggle room for darkness to enter your life. Don’t let ourself even think about ways to indulge your sinful desires.” (Ephesians 13:11-14).