The Fullness of Time: 3 Reasons Jesus Came When He Did
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4–5
Acclaimed cold-case detective, J. Warner Wallace, investigated Jesus as a person of interest in what he calls a “no-body homicide” case to determine for himself whether there was any real evidence to corroborate Christianity. He recounts his research in Person of Interest, which is a must-read for Christians, or anyone curious about the person of Jesus Christ. One of the questions he explores in his book is why Jesus came at the time He did. Wallace discovered the following reasons that made this time in history the perfect time for His arrival.
1. To Preach the Word
The Romans of Jesus’ time were known to be oppressive, including over-taxing and leaving the people of other nations they’d conquered struggling to survive. This was also, however, a time in history called Pax Romana, or Roman Peace. From Augustus’ rule in 27BCE to 280CE, the Roman empire was not involved in any wars, bringing a time of — comparatively speaking — peace. Rome also allowed the subjugated nation of Israel to maintain their customs, and even worship in Jerusalem. Wallace writes, “This small window of Roman peace provided the perfect setting for the teaching and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.”
2. To Spread the Word
After the Messiah’s arrival, the gospel would need a way to be spread throughout the rest of the world. Two things made this possible — roads, and the written word.
To transport military supplies and facilitate trade while building their empire, the Romans upgraded typical cleared trails to often paved, broad, and straight roads. These road systems paved the way (pun intended) not only for trade and military advancement but also for the spread of the gospel.
If Jesus had come while pictographs and clay tablets were utilized as the written word, Wallace says, “complex concepts involving [Jesus’] nature and teaching would have been impossible to communicate in writing. Worse yet, the tablets would have been incredibly fragile, given the nature of clay.” Eventually, more intricate alphabets emerged, and a common language and alphabet was adopted throughout the empire. “Only at this point in history — once the Roman Empire had adopted the Etruscan-modified Greek alphabet, embraced Koine Greek as a common language, and adopted the use of papyrus — could the message of Jesus be effectively communicated with a shared language and letters. Had Jesus arrived prior to 100 BCE, this would not have been possible.”
3. To Fulfill the Word
Throughout Israelite history, prophets predicted a coming Messiah. In order for Jesus’ ministry to be effective, He needed to prove that He was the one and only Messiah. Wallace compares the Biblical prophets to informants in his investigations, and determines their reliability by seeing how many of their predictions can be verified by history. Isaiah, for example, prophesied the destruction of Babylon 150 years before the event. In the 19th century excavation of Babylon, archaeologists realized Isaiah had even been right about the great city turning into “swamps of water” (Isaiah 14:23). The most reliable Messianic prophets were those whose other prophecies had time to be verified by history.
There also needed to be a sufficient amount of prophecies clearly pointing to Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ; predicting what, where, why, how, when, and who the Messiah would be. Wallace’s investigation experience taught him that clear prophecies point to the person of interest from the beginning (e.g. He will be of the line of David, born in Bethlehem; Isaiah 11:1, Micah 5:2), while cloaked prophecies can only be verified after the person of interest has been identified (e.g. He would “give His back to those who strike, and cheeks to those who pluck out the beard,” Isaiah 50:6). If Jesus had come before enough clear prophecies had been given to point to Him alone, He would not have been recognized and accepted as the one and only Messiah.
Seeing how perfectly His first visit was timed, we can trust that when Jesus comes again, it will also be at exactly the right time.
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
— 2 Peter 3:9
