We’re in the season of Advent, which is the season of anticipation. Half the fun of Christmas is the anticipation of its arrival. Putting Christmas lights up, decorating the tree, sending Christmas cards, and buying presents. All in anticipation of the Christmas day celebration. As I think about this, I cannot help but think about the thousands of years in which the Jewish people awaited their Messiah. With our short lifespans, it’s impossible to really grasp what it means to wait so long. It’s no wonder that people often ask, “Why such a long wait?” or “What is it about the timing of Jesus’ birth that’s special?” Certainly, it came at God’s appointed time. But it also happened at the perfect time in history.
“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.” (Galatians 4:4-5)
That is such a rich passage, but let’s hone in on Paul’s notion of “the fullness of time” as we consider the grand scale of time and history in light of God’s perfect timing for the incarnation. Why was Jesus born at that time? Well, from our vantage point two thousand years later, we can see that Jesus’ birth occurred amidst several circumstances that would’ve made it favorable for spreading the good news. It was during:
The widespread peace known as the Pax Romana in which, for a couple hundred years, wars were few, and there was a common government and set of laws,
Roman roads made it much easier to travel throughout the empire,
The Greek language and alphabet were dominant and used everywhere, and
There was a well-organized Roman postal service.
But veiled from our eyes, it was also the time in which God determined the world was ready for a savior. The world was spiritually hungry enough to embrace the deliverer. The people were ready to pivot away from the old, and empty, pagan religions. At the pivotal moment in history, the author of all creation wrote Himself into the drama so he could save and redeem the lost. Let us thank God for His perfect timing!