Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE MISSION OF JESUS §12.5
ho kairosf (1.15a). Kairos here obviously has its more weighty sense — the decisive
time, the appointed time, the time of judgment. 275 The perfect tense of the
verb indicates that the period prior to the expected 'time' has been completed
(filled full); the expectation has been realised. The implication is clearly that
some long-awaited climax has arrived; that time is now!
Of considerable interest is the fact that this headline summary encapsulates
such a tension between 'already come' and 'yet to come': 'the time has
been fulfilled; the kingdom of God has drawn near' (Mark 1.15). The verse
proclaims that a crucial time has arrived, 276 an expected time has begun, the
time of the 'about-to-come-ness' of the kingdom, the time during which the
kingdom will come. In other words, kairos can be readily understood to indicate
not simply an event, a date in time, but a period of time. 277 This accords
with its usage and with the usage of the underlying Hebrew ('et) and Aramaic
(z e man), denoting the beginning of a period of time, whether of blessing or of
judgment. 278 In Ezek. 7.12 we find a striking parallel: 'the time has come, the
day has drawn near (ba' ha'et higgiya' hayomy , 279 In its time note, the message
attributed to Jesus in Mark 1.15 is no different. 280 It is doubtful, therefore,
whether any of Jesus' audiences hearing such a two-sided emphasis ('Your
hopes are realised; soon, within your lifetime God will manifest his rule in a
decisive manner') would have been as puzzled by it as have twentieth-century
commentators.
275. As in 1 Sam. 18.19; 2 Sam. 24.15; Ezra 10.14; Ps. 102.13; Isa. 13.22; Jer. 10.15;
27.7; 46.21; Ezek. 7.7, 12; 21.25, 29; 30.2; Dan. 11.35, 40; 12.4, 9; Hab. 2.3. In the NT note,
e.g., Mark 13.33; Matt. 26.18; Luke 19.44; 21.8, 24; John 7.6, 8; Rom. 3.26; 13.11; 1 Cor. 7.29;
2 Cor. 6.2.
276. Cf. Josephus, Ant. 6.49: 'when it (the time) came (pleröthentos d' autou [tou
kairoit])'.
211. See also the still salutary treatment by Barr, Biblical Words for Time 33-46, 51.
278. Cf. Ps. 102.13: 'You will arise and have pity on Zion, for it is time ('eth) to favour
her; the appointed time (mo'ed) has come'; Jer. 50.27, 31; Ezek. 30.3.
279. Very similar is Ezek. 7.7: 'The time has come, the day is near (ba' ha'et qarob
hayomy. And note how the formulation can vary: 'Our time has drawn near, our days have been
fulfilled, our time has come (Hebrew qarab qitsenu mal e 'u yamenu ki-ba' qitsenu; Greek
engiken ho kairos hemön, epleröthesan hai hemerai hemön, parestin ho kairos hemön)'. The
concept of time 'fulfilled' is common to both Hebrew and Greek thought (see, e.g., BAGD,
pleroö 2; and further C. F. D. Moule, 'Fulfilment-Words in the New Testament: Use and
Abuse', NTS 14 [1967-68] 293-320, reprinted in Essays in New Testament Interpretation [Cambridge:
Cambridge University, 1982] 3-36; Chilton, God in Strength 80-86).
280. These points are missed by a number of scholars who press for a more consistently
realized emphasis in the saying (Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Kingdom 13-1'4; Guelich, Mark
43-44, who translates 'The kingdom of God has come in history'; Gundry, Mark 64-65; cf.
Gnilka, Jesus of Nazareth 147 n. 156 — 'Mark 1:15 presupposes that the kingdom begins to be
realized from this point on').
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