Why Did Jesus Come When He Did? The Fullness of Time

Why Did Jesus Come When He Did?

Have you ever thought about why Jesus came when He did? Jesus theoretically could have come at any point in history. But He came at a very precise time. It is an important question to think about.

So, why did Jesus come when He did? The Scriptures tell us that Jesus came in the fullness of time. Jesus was born of a woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4). Several factors contributed to Christ’s coming being considered as the fullness of time. First, the timing of the arrival and death of the Christ fulfilled a very specific prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27. Second, the Roman influence in the area played a significant role. The Roman Empire brought about peace, an elaborate road system, and trade. Third, the Jewish synagogue network played an important role in the spread of Christianity. Lastly, Roman cruelty in crucifying criminals is vitally important to the fulfillment of God’s predetermined plan and what was foretold in the Scriptures. All of these factors were crucial in the ministry of Christ to redeem His people from the “curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13).

Understanding the fullness of time will give us a greater understanding of who God is and a greater depth of understanding in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let’s dig into each of these factors a little deeper.

Fulfillment of Scriptures

The book of Daniel contains an important prophecy about the Messiah.

Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate. (Daniel 9:24-27)

In this prophecy, the angel Gabriel declares the future to Daniel while he is in exile in Babylon. Daniel had been studying Jeremiah to see that the 70 years of their exile was coming to an end (see Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10). Daniel was praying for the Lord to do everything that He had promised. Daniel was also confessing that God was right to discipline them for their sin as a nation.

Gabriel’s answer was intended to give insight about the future. Daniel already knew the exile was coming to an end. Now, Gabriel speaks to Daniel about the coming of the Messiah. The seventy “weeks” are decreed. The end of this period will achieve six results:

Finish transgression;
Make an end of sin;
Make atonement for iniquity;
Bring everlasting righteousness;
Seal up vision and prophecy, and;
Anoint the most holy place.

“Weeks” is a non-literal translation from the Hebrew. A literal translation is seventy “sevens.” These periods of sevens, or heptads, could be days as in a week. They are better understood as years. The prophecy looks at seventy periods of seven years each. These seventy are broken up into three unequal sections of:

seven;
sixty-two; and,
a final one.

70 total periods of seven.

The Sevens Fulfilled & Pending Fulfillment

The first two of these periods, the 7 and the 62, are completed. The last “seven” - or period of seven years - is still to come in the future. When all seventy are completed, then the six results will be complete.

The beginning of these “sevens” is explicit. It begins “from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.”

Although several options have been presented, it is best to identify the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem as being fulfilled by Artaxerxes I in 457 BC. It is recorded in Ezra 7:12-26.

Ezra summarized the decree: “For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem” (Ezra 9:9, bold added). This decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem starts the clock on the seventy “weeks.”

The first period of seven “sevens” is 49 years. If this began in 457 BC it concluded in 408 BC. At this time, the rebuilding of the walls, roads, and moats around Jerusalem were complete. Then the period of 62 “sevens” would be another 434 years. This would bring us to AD 27. Remember, there is no year “0.”

Scholarly consensus is that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified in AD 30 after publicly ministering for three years. That means His public ministry would have begun in AD 27. Look closely at the prophecy.

It was a total period of 69 “sevens” before the arrival of Messiah the Prince. This lines up perfectly with Jesus’s commencement of His public ministry in AD 27. Then, after this the Messiah is cut off. This was fulfilled three short years later at the crucifixion in AD 30. After the Messiah is cut off, the prophecy says that “the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This “prince who is to come” is not the Messiah but the antichrist. This was fulfilled when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed again in AD 70 under the Roman general Titus.

Each of these exact fulfillments should give us confidence that the final “week” will likewise be fulfilled exactly as Gabriel told Daniel.

The Romans

Alexander the Great set out to unify the world under his rule. He conquered a large geographical area for the Greek empire. The Romans subsequently conquered and expanded this empire. They also brought systematic administration. However, the Greek culture and language from the conquest of Alexander remained. The combination of these is what historians refer to as the Greco-Roman empire.

The Romans, due to their vast military, had control over a large territory. This vast kingdom brought about a need for many roads to connect the many territories together. During this time the phrase “All roads lead to Rome,” arose. Not only were there many roads for travel but there was also safety for travelers on the roads. This was due to the vast military presence of the Romans.

The conquest of the Romans led to the capture of many tribes, tongues, languages, and peoples. Bringing them to the empire as slaves and soldiers. As they were incorporated into the Roman empire, they learned the language of the empire: Greek. This brought unity of access, language, and culture to the empire.

When Christ came, died, and rose again according to the Scriptures, Rome was a place where this news of Jesus who came to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29) could easily be taken to the ends of the known world. People from different tribes, tongues, and languages would hear of the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed in the Greek language. This gospel could be safely and efficiently taken to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth through the Roman road system. Communication was easy due to the empire speaking a common language.

The fullness of time was truly remarkable when we think of how the news of Christ could be sent all over the world!

The Synagogues

Another important development occurred during the time between the closing of the Old Testament and the events of the New Testament. The rise of the synagogues.

As the Jewish people were distributed throughout the Roman empire, a need arose for establishing communities of faith. The institution of Jewish synagogues throughout the empire made it possible for the Apostle Paul to stick to his mandate of bringing the gospel to Jew first, then to Gentiles.

At each stop along the Roman roads Paul was able to find an established community of faith that was interested in the Scriptures. Paul would then reason with them from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. When he was eventually rejected, he would turn to the Gentiles. Those who believed - from both Jew and Gentile - then became a new community of believers in Christ.

The synagogue system throughout the Roman empire was an important factor in the fullness of the times which allowed for the message of Jesus to spread quickly and efficiently.

A Curse for His people

An important but often overlooked aspect of the timing of Jesus Christ’s coming is found in the phrase, “born under the law.” The Apostle Paul includes this in Galatians 4:4, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.”

He says in Galatians 3:10-14,

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

The first five books of the Scriptures are called the Torah or the law. These books testify about Jesus. According to the law:

Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them. (Deuteronomy 27:26)

This verse gives us important insight into the mechanism of salvation. It is also in the book of the law that we find the greatest commandment,

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

Jesus later confirms that all the law is summed up in two commandments,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 20:37-38)

The problem is that no one ever (but Christ) has loved the Lord God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Therefore, everyone is under the curse of the law. This means that all who die under the law will be eternally cursed by God because their deeds are wicked (John 3:19).

But Jesus came in the fullness of time. During a time when the official government at the time, the Romans were killing criminals on a tree. The Jewish people delivered Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified. They did so in an attempt to disprove the claims of Jesus. Really, it was in perfect fulfillment of the predetermined plan of God.

The Jews wanted Jesus to be crucified to demonstrate to all people everywhere that this Man, Jesus, was not the Savior of the world. They thought if He died on a tree that He was accursed by God. They thought this would prove He was not the Messiah. For the Scriptures say,

Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree. (Galatians 3:13; Deuteronomy 21:23)

The Jews thought they were confirming that Jesus was not the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior. Yet, this was God’s plan all along. To redeem His people from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for them (Galatians 3:13). They intended this to prove He was not the Messiah. Ironically, in doing so they proved that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah.

He came to die in exactly this way at the fullness of the times. What a God, what a Savior!

For more on the curse, see our articles: