Jesus Was Born When the Time Was Right

In John 15:22 Jesus begins with the words, "If I had not come." With those words He invites us to consider a possibility. What if Jesus had not come to earth? What if He had not been born in Bethlehem? What if He had not walked the dusty roads of Judea? What if He had not given the Sermon on the Mount? What if He had not walked on water? What if He had not made the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk? What if He had never raised the dead? What if we didn’t have His words to comfort us, to challenge us, to teach us, and to lead us to God? What if He never died on the cross? What if He never rose from the dead? What if He had never sent His disciples out into the world? Where would we be? What kind of world would this be? How would things be different if Jesus had not come?

In just three weeks, we celebrate the anniversary of His birth. It is not exactly 2017 years because the calender is off maybe four years or so, but it's close enough. We're not certain what year He was born or exactly what day. It might be December 25, but no one knows for sure.

The fact that we don't know the exact day or year shouldn't be of any concern. Secular historians didn't record His birth, and among the gospel writers, only Luke gives us specific historical information to work with. The New Testament doesn't command us to remember His birthday with a yearly celebration. That started in the early church several centuries later.

The great message of the Christian faith may be found in the declaration that God was manifest in the flesh, that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, that Jesus was God Incarnate, fully man yet somehow also fully God. That is the center of our faith. Everything else derives from that one fact. The dating of His birth is secondary.

Again, Jesus said, "If I had not come" (John 15:22). But He did come. And history has been changed forever because He came. That is what matters. For a little over 30 years the Son of God walked on this earth, and nothing has been the same since. He came, and in His coming He split time itself in two. Everything else is secondary compared to what happened in Bethlehem on that bleak midwinter night 20 centuries ago.

Galatians 4:4 begins: "But when the fullness of the time came," or "when the time had fully come" (NIV). This phrase invites us to consider God's timing. The phrase, "had fully come," is a very picturesque Greek expression. It speaks of something that is complete and fully developed, like a ripe apple ready to be picked, or a pregnant woman feeling labor pains, ready to deliver her baby. It describes that moment in history when all things were in place, when all the pieces were on the board; that one moment when the stage was perfectly set. At that moment, not earlier and not later, "God sent forth His Son" (KJV). Jesus was born when the time was right!

God's timing is always perfect. We know that because we know the Bible. He is never early, and he is never late. Yet God's timing sometimes staggers us when He does something we weren't expecting, and we say, "Why did you do that?" Or when we have prayed and prayed and the heavens seem as brass, when we wonder if God can't hear us, and deep in our souls we wonder if there is even a God at all.

The Jews wondered about that too. They had some legitimate questions to ask of God. One of our great carols says, "Come, thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free." That is exactly accurate. "Thou long-expected Jesus." From the very beginning of time, God promised to send His Son. Going all the way back to the Garden of Eden, God promised that one day the Seed of the Woman would crush the head of the Serpent, who is Satan (Gen. 3:15). Adam and Eve didn't know and couldn't have known, but that phrase, "Seed of the Woman," was a direct prediction of the coming of Christ.

Centuries later, God promised Abraham that he would have a son, and that through his son and his descendants all the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:1-3). Several generations later the promise was made more specific, that a scepter would arise in Judah (Gen. 49:10), meaning that Christ would be born of the tribe of Judah. Hundreds of years later, God promised David that one day he would have a son to sit on his throne whose reign would be everlasting (2 Sam. 7:12-16). Thus, the promise narrows from Adam to Abraham, to the tribe of Judah, to the house of David.

Still later, the prophet Micah declared that the Messiah would be born in the little village of Bethlehem: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2).

Finally, Daniel received insight into the exact time frame when Christ would come to the earth: "Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate" (Dan. 9:24-27).

All of that was written in the Old Testament, and much more that I haven't mentioned. The Jews knew this, and even if they didn't understand it all, even if they couldn't put it all together, it created within them a great desire, a hope and dream that one day the Messiah would come from heaven.

The Old Testament comes to an end with the prophet Malachi who lived approximately 433 years before the coming of Christ. We call the period following his ministry, the "400 Silent Years." That phrase can be misleading because those centuries were filled with action, including the storied career of Alexander the Great. We call them the "silent years," because no prophet arose to speak for God and no Scripture was being written. It is almost as if the heavens became silent; almost as if God had forgotten His promises. But He had not. He merely set the stage, so to speak, and He sent His Son "when the time had fully come" (Gal. 4:4a). Jesus was born when the time was right. Amen.