Why Did Jesus Come When He Did?
Show Transcript
INTRO: Good afternoon and welcome back to the Sunday School Podcast, the pod all about digging deeper into the Bible using social, historical, and scientific context. I’m Sean Parker, and today we’re going to talk about why Jesus came when He did.
Galatians 4:4-5 says
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
The Bible doesn’t go into much more detail than that. It just says that Jesus came at the fullness of time. But, as we examine history, I believe we will see many reasons why God’s timing is always perfect.
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(TRANSITION)
Have you ever wondered why Jesus was born when he was? His birth led to Christianity becoming the largest religion in the world, but what allowed that to happen? There are a ton of reasons this probably was, but today I’ll go through four things I feel were major contributors. These historical conditions acted as a catalyst to propel Christianity forward.
First we need to move the clock back to 336 B.C., when Alexander the Great is crowned king of Macedonia. At 20 years old, he would go on arguably the greatest military campaign of all time, conquering the known world. He was never defeated in any major battle.
Alexander’s conquests would usher in a golden age, allowing Greek culture to proliferate. This golden age would last until 31 B.C., when Rome would eventually conquer Alexander’s Hellenistic kingdom.
Thankfully, Rome would allow the cultures of conquered nations to be incorporated into their own. This combination of Greek and Roman culture was a pivotal piece of what made the time when Jesus came special.
The proliferation of Greek culture gave most of the world a unifying language, probably for the first time since the tower of Babel. A unified language meant many things. As Jesus’ ministry got up and going, missionaries would be able to communicate with various peoples in their travels. A common spoken language, also led to a common written language. The scripture was able to be written in a language that most people could read. Or at least someone could read it to most people, and they would be able to understand.
It should be obvious the reasons a common language would benefit Jesus and the apostles in spreading the gospel. Something a little less obvious would be Roman citizenship.
Citizenship carried many rights and protections. We see Paul use his citizenship to his advantage in 3 separate occasions.
In Acts 16:37-39
37But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.
In Acts 22:25-29 it says
25But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” 26When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” 29So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.
And then in Acts 25:7-12
7When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove. 8Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.” 9But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” 10But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. 11If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.” 12Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”
So citizenship gave protections to Paul, allowing him to continue his ministry beyond what would have likely been possible without it. This is important, as Paul was one of the most active and successful missionaries in the early church.
The third thing that aided the gospel at Jesus’ birth was the extensive highway system the Romans had built. They built over 50,000 miles of hard-surfaced highway. These roads allowed much easier travel. It was said, one could travel from Africa to Spain in less than a week. Without these roads, missionary travel would have been greatly hindered.
It is estimated that Paul, in his many missionary journeys, traveled nearly 15,000 miles by land and sea. This wouldn’t have been possible without these Roman roads.
It should be noted that many of the apostle’s missionary travels were by sea, but some nations were landlocked, and the roads made their access much easier.
The final point I want to make is that Rome was in a time of peace. The time period of Jesus' birth was known as the Pax Romana, which is Latin for Roman Peace. This period lasted from 27 B.C. to about 180 A.D. After two centuries of non-stop war, the world would see over two centuries of peace, though internal struggles did spike up from time to time.
Peace in the realm, would have allowed Christianity to cross borders into other countries, without the fear of war or a destabilized region. There would have been better relationships between the citizens of one realm with the other, allowing missionaries to be more accepted in new cultures.
There are many more reasons Jesus came to earth when he did, but applying this historical context truly brings to light how awesome God is. He showed His power when he sent His son to earth, so that the gospel could conquer one of the most powerful empires of all time.
I think it’s important that we take a moment and reflect on God’s timing. When you look at how perfectly everything has lined up throughout the history of the Bible, we should recognize God’s timing is also at work in our lives. The perfection of God’s timing wouldn’t have been self-evident back then, but now that we have perspective, we can look back and see it clearly.
Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 says
13Consider the work of God:
who can make straight what he has made crooked?
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
When things in our life get difficult, it’s easy to get frustrated with God while waiting on an answer. Just know that future perspective will show you that God’s timing is always perfect.
Sources
https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_807.cfm
https://media.ascensionpress.com/2019/03/13/why-jesus-came-when-he-did/
https://www.compellingtruth.org/fullness-of-time.html
https://www.preceptaustin.org/daniel_924
https://discoverthebook.org/jesus-arrived-at-the-perfect-time/
Alexander the Great
https://www.livescience.com/39997-alexander-the-great.html
Time of Peace- Pax Romana
https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-events/most-peaceful-time-in-history.htm
Roman Road system
Common language
http://www.glscott.org/uploads/2/1/3/3/21330938/4-5_geo_greek_language.pdf