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Answer
“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law” «but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, », (Galatians 4:4). This verse declares that God the Father sent His Son when “the time had fully come.” There were many things occurring at the time of the first century that, at least by human reasoning, seem to make it ideal for Christ to come then.
1) There was a great anticipation among the Jews of that time that the Messiah would come. The Roman rule over Israel made the Jews eager for the Messiah’s arrival.
2) Rome had unified much of the world under its government, providing a sense of cohesion to the various lands. Additionally, because the empire was relatively peaceful, travel was feasible, enabling the early Christians to spread the gospel. Such freedom to travel would have been unattainable in other periods.
3) While Rome had conquered militarily, Greece had conquered culturally. A “common” form of the Greek language (distinct from classical Greek) was the trade language and was spoken throughout the empire, facilitating the communication of the gospel to diverse people groups through a single common language.
4) The failure of the numerous false idols to grant victory over the Roman conquerors led many to forsake the worship of those idols. Simultaneously, in the more “cultured” cities, the Greek philosophy and science of the era left others spiritually unfulfilled in a manner similar to how the atheism of communist governments creates a spiritual void today.
5) The mystery religions of the time emphasized a savior-god and demanded worshipers to make bloody sacrifices, thereby making the gospel of Christ, which involved one ultimate sacrifice, plausible to them. The Greeks also believed in the iImmortality of the soul (but not of the body).
6) The Roman army recruited soldiers from among the provinces, introducing these individuals to Roman culture and to concepts (such as the gospel) that had not yet reached those distant provinces. The earliest introduction of the gospel to Britain was due to the efforts of Christian soldiers stationed there.
The aforementioned statements are based on observations made at that time and speculation about why that particular point in history was an opportune time for Christ to arrive. However, we acknowledge that God’s ways are different from ours “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.”, (Isaiah 55:8), and these may or may not have been some of the reasons why He chose that specific time to send His Son. From the context of Galatians 3 and 4, it is clear that God intended to establish a foundation through the Jewish Law to prepare for the arrival of the Messiah. The Law aimed to help people recognize the extent of their sinfulness (as they were unable to uphold the Law) so that they could more readily accept the remedy for that sin through Jesus the Messiah (Galatians 3:22-23;Romans 3:19-20). The Law also acted as a “schoolmaster” “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”, (Galatians 3:24) to guide people to Jesus as the Messiah. It achieved this through numerous prophecies regarding the Messiah that Jesus fulfilled. Additionally, the sacrificial system emphasized the necessity for a sin offering and its insufficiency (as each sacrifice always necessitated further ones). The history of the Old Testament also foreshadowed the person and work of Christ through various events and religious celebrations.
(such as the willingness of Abraham to offer up Isaac, or the details of the Passover during the exodus from Egypt, etc.).
Finally, Christ came when He did in fulfillment of specific prophecy. Daniel 9:24-27 speaks of the “seventy weeks” or the seventy “sevens.” From the context, these “weeks” or “sevens” refer to groups of seven years, not seven days. We can examine history and line up the details of the first sixty-nine weeks (the seventieth week will take place at a future point). The countdown of the seventy weeks begins with “the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem” (verse 25). This command was given by Artaxerxes Longimanus in 445 B.C. see Nehemiah 2:5. After seven “sevens” plus 62 “sevens,” or 69 x 7 years, the prophecy states, “the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary” and that the “end will come like a flood” (meaning major destruction) (v. 26). Here we have an unmistakable reference to the Savior’s death on the cross. A century ago in his book The Coming Prince, Sir Robert Anderson gave detailed calculations of the sixty-nine weeks, using ‘prophetic years,’ allowing for leap years, errors in the calendar, the change from B.C. to A.D., etc., and figured that the sixty-nine weeks ended on the very day of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, five days before His death. Whether one uses this timetable or not, the point is that the timing of Christ’s incarnation ties in with this detailed prophecy recorded by Daniel over five hundred years beforehand.
The timing of Christ’s incarnation was such that the people of that time were prepared for His coming. The people of every century since then have more than sufficient evidence that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah through His fulfillment of the Scriptures that pictured and prophesied His coming in great detail.
