Q & R: A New Day?

Here’s the Q:

I myself come from a Brethren background as well… I grew up in the Indian
Brethren and Indian Pentecostal churches at the same time, so I thought I had an eclectic upbringing denominationally, until I went to Seminary. I’ve grown so much by experiencing the different denominations and incorporating the good from them. I have sincerely appreciated your books, because for a while I thought being part of the Evangelical tradition, that I was the only one thinking along some of these lines…but am glad to realize I am part of a broader stream!
Anyways, I just wanted to comment on something you wrote in NKOCy. In the “Jesus Question” you talk about how the “Gospel fittingly ends not during a scenic sunset, but just after daybreak around a breakfst-cooking fire, the beginning, as it were, of the first day of a new world, a second Genesis.” But, coming from a Jewish perspective, wouldn’t daybreak signal the mid-day point? As I was reading this, I was thinking if daybreak symbolizes the middle of the day it still continues to harken a new Genesis, but rather than being at the start of the day… we’re in the middle of it. Which goes with the tension of the already/not-yet tension of the Kingdom of God. We are in the middle of the already/not-yet and Jesus inaugurated us working in the middle of that… Thoughts?

Here’s the R:

Thanks for your note. It’s always great to hear from another person who shares a heritage in the Brethren tradition.
My hunch is that the Fourth Gospel (whose perspective is the least Jewish of the gospel writers) was probably suggesting a new beginning because it says morning of “the first day of the week” … but this is one of those interpretive matters where it’s impossible to be dogmatic, and “halfway into the new day” works well too.
I was just doing some further reflection on “already but not yet” in my current writing project on Christian identity in a multi-faith world. It’s a fascinating phrase that can be used in a lot of different ways … I was reflecting on the phrase in relation to Luke 4:21 … Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. A lot of already there, and not much not yet!