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The Third Hour: Crucifixion and The Restoration of Eternal Intimacy

Updated: Apr 22

Written by Kino Smith



The Crisis of Connection

The Paradox of Modern Connectivity


We live in the most connected age in human history. A thought can cross oceans in an instant. A message can circle the world before it has even settled in the heart of the one who sent it. Networks span continents. Satellites tie nations together. Devices record and transmit more words in a day than generations once spoke in a lifetime.


Yet despite the wires and screens, the bridges and signals, we remain strangers to one another. The world has mastered the mechanics of communication but forgotten the meaning of communion. This condition is not incidental. It reveals the enduring fracture between human beings—and between humanity and God.

A powerful depiction of Christ crucified at the Third Hour (9AM), outside the ancient walls of Jerusalem, inspired by African theology. Christ is nailed to a rugged, weathered wooden cross carved with early Ethiopian and Coptic Christian


The Divine Longing for Unity


The prayer of Christ, spoken on the eve of His death, remains unmet in our time:

"That they all may be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us — so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (John 17:21)


Unity was not proposed as an option. It was given as the condition for credible witness. The early church understood this. They did not simply gather; they lived together. Their lives were shared not only in doctrine, but in daily bread, mutual care, and steadfast loyalty. Fellowship was not an event. It was a life.


The Erosion of True Fellowship


Today, handshakes and passing words have replaced shared lives. Institutional participation often substitutes for covenantal bonds. Songs are sung. Services are attended. Names are exchanged. But the weight of true fellowship is absent.


The fabric of Christian community, intended to be woven tightly, lies stretched thin across performance and preference. The language of "brotherhood" is often spoken, but seldom practiced. Isolation persists beneath the rituals of connection. Men call each other "brother" but fight their battles alone. Women gather and serve but carry their burdens in silence. Youth are celebrated in speech and abandoned in practice.


The church reflects the fragmentation of the world it was sent to heal. This is not a new problem. It was already present when the Son of God prayed in Gethsemane for a unity His followers could not yet grasp. It was exposed fully at the third hour on a hill outside Jerusalem.


The Third Hour: The Depth of Human Fracture


"And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him." (Mark 15:25)

At that hour, the full failure of human loyalty, understanding, and love was laid bare. The betrayal of friends, the injustice of rulers, the indifference of crowds—all converged at the Cross.


Historical and Spiritual Context


  • The “third hour” (about 9 a.m.) was the time of the morning sacrifice in the temple, a moment when priests were meant to intercede for the people (Mark 15:25). Instead, the true High Priest was being offered outside the city walls, rejected by the very ones he came to save.

  • In Jewish reckoning, the third hour also marked the beginning of the day’s public life and business, a time when the city was stirring to activity—yet the world’s greatest act of love was met with routine and busyness, unnoticed by most.

  • The third hour, in some traditions, symbolizes the fullness of the human person—spirit, soul, and body—now all exposed and offered in Christ’s suffering.


The Restoration of Intimacy: God’s Answer at the Cross


And yet, it was at that same hour that the true possibility of restoration began. Not through better systems. Not through greater technologies. Not through finer rhetoric. But through the body of Christ, broken for the world.


At the third hour, intimacy was not declared; it was enacted. Christ did not propose unity. He purchased it with His own blood. The failure of human connection met the fidelity of divine love.


The heart of God was laid open—literally pierced (John 19:34)—pouring out blood and water, the symbols of new birth and cleansing. The cross is the place where God’s vulnerability and humanity’s need meet in a costly embrace.


The Early Church: Living the Restoration


The early church’s unity was not theoretical. It was visible, sacrificial, and countercultural.


  • They held all things in common (Acts 2:44–47).

  • They subordinated individual interests for the sake of the body.

  • Their unity transcended ethnicity, class, and gender (Acts 2:9–11; Galatians 3:28).

  • Their love was not sentimental but practical and public—a testimony that made the gospel credible.


The Call to Embodied Communion


This is the foundation upon which the Church must build. Not on sentiment. Not on strategy. But on the self-giving love demonstrated at the Cross. If we do not recover this, no advance in technology, no improvement in organization, will save the witness of the Church.


The question is not whether we can communicate faster. It is whether we can live truer. The crucifixion at the third hour demands more than acknowledgement. It demands embodiment.


The Invitation to Return


This book is a call to return. To learn again from the hour when the world’s structures failed, and the love of God stood firm. It is not enough to recount the Cross. We must live its meaning. Because the world will not believe because of our words. It will believe because of our love. And love cannot live at a distance. It must be nailed to something real.


Economic Turmoil


Trade wars rage across oceans. Borders rise where bridges once stood. Nations wave the banners of “protection” while their economies bleed into each other like rain into the soil. The global trade war, now entering a new, more intense phase, is reshaping economies and sowing uncertainty worldwide. Tariffs, retaliations, and protectionist policies are not just headlines—they are realities that ripple through every household, raising prices, disrupting supply chains, and threatening livelihoods.


We are tangled together in a fabric we still pretend can be cut clean. Even as nations seek insulation, the consequences of their actions seep across borders, affecting the most vulnerable first. The World Trade Organization warns of a sharp pullback in global trade, with North America facing a projected 12.6% drop in exports and a 9.6% decrease in imports this year alone. The OECD forecasts record sovereign debt and rising economic anxiety, while the specter of stagflation looms over the U.S. and its trading partners.


And under the weight of all this—the noise, the fury, the endless motion—the question stalks the edges of every thinking mind: Is this how an empire falls?


And if so, will we be passed over? Will the households still marked by the Blood be shielded, as they were when death crept through the streets of Egypt?


Because make no mistake—something is dying. The old certainties are dying. The myths of control are dying. The temples of self-reliance are burning from the inside out. This is not the first time the world has been shaken. Jesus Himself warned, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He told His followers not to be surprised by wars, rumors of wars, and global upheaval (Matthew 24:6–7). The Bible never promised immunity from crisis, but it does promise the presence of the Risen Christ—sovereign still, unshaken still.


The Church's Answer


He saw this hour before it was born. He felt the first tremors of this collapse before we built our towers of ambition. He wrote the antidote into the bones of His Church: Intimacy. Unity. Love stronger than death.

The prescription has not changed. It has only grown more urgent.


“That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:21)


In times of global crisis, the Christian response is not to retreat into fear or tribalism but to embody the unity and sacrificial love Christ modeled—even as the world’s systems tremble and fall. The world will not be convinced by our protectionist instincts or our clever strategies but by our willingness to live as one body, marked by the Blood, steadfast in hope, and radiant in love.


Additional Depth and Theological Notes


  • Fellowship (Koinonia): True Christian fellowship is not mere socializing but a spiritual partnership, a sharing in the life of Christ and one another (1 John 1:3; Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 1:9).

  • Intimacy with God: The cross is the supreme act of God’s self-disclosure and invitation to intimacy, offering not just forgiveness but union—God’s Spirit poured into our hearts (Romans 5:5).

  • The Third Hour and Sacrifice: The timing of Jesus’ crucifixion as the morning sacrifice fulfills the pattern of atonement, showing that restoration is not achieved by human effort but by divine initiative and self-giving.

  • The Early Church’s Witness: Their unity and sacrificial love were not strategies but the natural fruit of the Spirit, a living answer to Jesus’ prayer for oneness.


In Closing


The crisis of connection is not just a modern problem but the ancient wound of humanity. At the third hour, the fracture was exposed and the remedy enacted. The restoration of intimacy—between God and humanity, and among people—was purchased at the cross and is meant to be embodied in the life of the Church. The call is not to nostalgia or novelty, but to a costly, communal, Christ-centered love that alone can heal the world.


Citations:

  1. Primary Scriptural Citations:

    • John 17:21 — Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer for Unity.

    • Mark 15:25 — The Third Hour Crucifixion Time.

    • John 19:34 — The Piercing of Jesus’ Side, Blood and Water.

    • Acts 2:42–47 — Early Church Fellowship and Sharing of Goods.

    • Acts 2:9–11 — Pentecost Diversity: Many Nations.

    • Galatians 3:28 — Unity Beyond Ethnicity, Class, and Gender.

    • 1 John 1:3 — Fellowship (Koinonia) with God and Each Other.

    • 1 Corinthians 1:9 — Called into Fellowship with Christ.

    • Romans 5:5 — God's Love Poured into Hearts by the Holy Spirit.

    • John 16:33 — Promise of Tribulation and Christ’s Overcoming.

    • Matthew 24:6–7 — Warnings of Wars and Rumors of Wars.


    Economic Context Data:

    • World Trade Organization (WTO), World Trade Statistical Review (latest edition, 2024-2025):

      Predicts a 12.6% drop in North American exports and a 9.6% decrease in imports due to ongoing global trade wars.Source: WTO World Trade Report 2024.

    • Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Economic Outlook Report (2024-2025):

      Warns of record-high sovereign debt, slowdowns in global trade, and the threat of stagflation.Source: OECD Economic Outlook Interim Report 2024.


    Theological Sources Referenced (conceptually and structurally):

    • Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together. New York: Harper & Row, 195.(On the nature of true Christian fellowship as a spiritual reality, not mere social interaction.)

    • Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple: Its Ministry and Services. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994 (original 1874).(For the third hour significance relating to daily temple sacrifices.)

    • Tertullian. On Modesty and On the Flesh of Christ.(For early Church reflections on embodied Christian life and sacrificial witness.)

    • Dr. Vince L. Bantu. A Multitude of All Peoples: Engaging Ancient Christianity’s Global Identity. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2020.(Framing early Christianity’s non-Eurocentric spread and its African/Asian roots.)

    Modern Interpretive Framework:

    • Kyle Harper, The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire (Princeton University Press, 2017).(Parallel drawn between ancient imperial collapse and modern global instability.)

    • Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination (Fortress Press, 2001).(On the church’s call to embody a radical alternative in times of systemic collapse.)

    Summary of Your Cited Text Files:

    • File 1

    • File 2(These appear to summarize key statistics and contemporary geopolitical data, as well as theological reflections.)

    Formatted Quick Citations for Footnotes (if you need them):

    1. John 17:21, ESV.

    2. Mark 15:25, ESV.

    3. John 19:34, ESV.

    4. WTO World Trade Report 2024, wto.org.

    5. OECD Economic Outlook 2024, oecd.org.

    6. Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, ch. 7-8.

    7. Bantu, A Multitude of All Peoples, IVP Academic, 2020.

    8. Bonhoeffer, Life Together, Harper & Row, 1954.

    9. Harper, The Fate of Rome, Princeton, 2017.

    10. Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination, Fortress Press, 2001.




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