Book Excerpt
Why Did Jesus Come When He did?
By David Jeremiah
Author, Why the Nativity?
CBN.com –
(Excerpt from Why
the Nativity) Imagine this scenario: A world leader plans to
send a man on a mission of the utmost urgency. The fate of the world
rests upon the success of this operation. So the commander thinks carefully,
strategically, about his plan. Nothing can be left to chance; every
detail must be carefully considered.
The leader will send only the perfect candidate for his mission. He
must decide where to deploy his agent, how to get him there, and what
goals should be attempted. And timing means everything. If the mission
goes into operation too soon or too late, everything will be lost.
The ultimate World Leader - the one at the very top of the chain -
planned just such a mission. The world was headed for destruction from
the inside out, because humanity was enslaved by the sin in every human
being. Men and women were at war with themselves and with one another.
God’s response to our hopeless situation is best summarized
in these words: “For God loved the world so much that he gave
his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not
perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus was not only God’s
Son, but his agent to rescue a lost world. And to succeed, this agent
would be required to lay the ultimate sacrifice upon the altar of his
world.
Would you agree that God, knowing the cost, would consider every angle
in planning such an operation? He sent the right man for the mission,
which was accomplished in the only possible way: Jesus’ death
and resurrection. But what about the timing? Could God have sent his
Son earlier or later? Galatians 4:4 phrases the idea beautifully: “When
the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son” (NKJV).
In other words, conditions were optimal on the battlefield of earth.
But why? What was it about the vast Roman Empire that was so ideal for
the coming of Christ?
The Romans themselves were part of the answer. For the first time
in history, the Mediterranean world—the cradle of civilization—was
unified. Alexander the Great, a Greek, had been the first to bridge
so many nations, but the Romans had built a foundation that would last
longer. They had constructed the famous Roman roads (“All roads
lead to Rome”) that would allow messengers to travel safely with
news and ideas, as Paul and the first missionaries would do. Ships,
too, had come of age. Egypt and Italy, Syria and Spain—so many
nations shared the “highway” that the Mediterranean Sea
had become. Here was yet another means for the message of Christ to
spread far and wide.
There was also the Pax Romana—the “Roman peace”
that endured from 27 BC until AD 180. Jesus was born in the same generation
in which it began, and it meant a relatively calm environment for the
lower regions of Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Egypt, and northern
Africa. In a city such as Jerusalem, for example, the Jews were allowed
to preserve their own faith and customs. The Romans were permissive
about religions as long as there wasn’t any trouble and the Jews
paid a punitive tax—fiscus Judaicus.
Stability and relative tolerance opened the world to the spread of
a new idea; roads and shipping lanes made it happen quickly and efficiently.
But there was another key factor: language.
The Romans had taken efficient control of much of the known world,
but they were still overshadowed by their Greek predecessors in one
respect: For many years, people almost everywhere continued to speak
Greek. Hellenic Greek happened to be one of the most beautiful and articulate
tongues the world has known. It seemed custom built for the ideas that
distinguished Christian life and thought. Would the world have learned
Hebrew in order to consider the claims of Christ? It’s hard to
imagine. But the shared language, Greek, made it possible for Paul and
others to travel to many countries and tell people the good news of
the gospel without cumbersome translation.
We consider all these factors, and still we are left with an unlikelihood.
After all, many other ideas were present in the world of the first century.
All of them had Roman roads and peace at their disposal, along with
the Greek language. But no other idea was capable of toppling the greatest
empire in the history of humanity.
Consider this: An obscure teacher from a small town in a ruined country
changed the world - after his death. On the Friday of his execution,
his followers largely abandoned him. Yet within a generation, he was
worshiped in many foreign countries. Within three centuries, his faith
was the official doctrine of the empire. And today, 2.1 billion men,
women, and children follow that same teacher who was put to death as
a criminal.
Jesus indeed came at the perfect time, but he also brought the perfect
message. He brought hope and light. In a world ruled by the sword, this
teacher spoke of perfect peace. In a world of violence and retribution,
he spoke of loving one’s enemies. In a world of death, he offered
hope of new life—for now and for beyond the grave. The Romans
dominated through the power of terror, lifting high a cross that performed
its deadly task with unimaginable pain. Jesus accepted that cross, submitted
himself to it, and lifted it high as a bridge from the grief of earth
to the joy of heaven - and that bridge, he made it clear, was available
even to those who persecuted him.
That was a message to capture a world. In the fullness of time, just
when his truth and love could spread with greatest impact, Jesus came
to bring the most radical, most wonderful message that has ever been
presented. What began in a stable in little Bethlehem would redefine
history - at the perfect time, and for all of time.
More about The Nativity Story
on CBN.com
Excerpted from Why
the Nativity, copyright © 2006 by Tyndale House.. Used by
Permission.
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