Time&Eternity

No Concept of Time without Narrated Time 51
Not throned above, remotely high,
untouched, unmoved by human pains,
but daily, in the midst of life,
our Saviour with the Father reigns. 311
Christ is the bright day whose brilliance penetrates the dark night. 312
Wherever he goes, eternal spring blossoms, 313 or at least the hope of spring
for the wilderness. 314 His resurrection allowed the sun of righteousness to
rise over time and eternity. 315 He is the fulfilment of the past and the promise
of what is to come. 316 The limbs of his mystical body live in the presence
of a then and a now:
Once were seen the blood and water:
now he seems but bread and wine.
Then in human form he suffered,
now his form is but a sign. 317
Here an increasingly intense meshing of the post-worldly reality and
eternity of Jesus Christ with the earthly dimensions is taking place. So it is
no wonder that again in this context—as was previously the case with notions
of God—the metaphor of the dance appears. Not only during the celebration
of Jesus’ birth are midwives, carpenters, tax assessors, police, and
scientists asked to dance, 318 but also, according to Matthew 25, when the
stranger seeks refuge for the night, “there’ll be a homecoming, with dancing
and singing within.” 319 For the Lord of the Dance says:
I danced in the morning when the world was begun .l.l.
and I danced on the earth .l.l.
They buried my body and they thought I’d gone;
but I am the dance and I still go on .l.l.
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he:
Dance then, wherever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he;
and I’ll lead you all wherever you may be;
and I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he. 320
“Höchster Tröster in der Zeit” 321 —Spirit and Time
The Spirit is discussed only rarely in connection with time and eternity.
Nevertheless, one can determine four different time-eternity relations of the
Spirit. First, according to Gen. 1.2b, there are allusions to the presence of
the Spirit at the time of creation. Second, the eternal communion with the
Father and the Son is mentioned. The presence of the Spirit in time is the
Spirit’s third task, which is followed, fourth, by the Spirit’s work on the Day
of Judgment.