When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. (Romans 5:6)
The truth of this Bible verse is miraculous and freeing. In humanity’s helplessness, Jesus Christ obediently stepped into God’s salvation plan and faced death so that those who believe in him through faith can receive his free gift of salvation. What a glorious truth!
But upon reading this verse last week during a time of Bible reading and reflection, it was not the what of God’s salvation plan that struck me, but rather the when: “Christ came at just the right time…”
Christ was the key part of God’s great salvation plan for humanity. God had known since Adam and Eve’s poor choice in the Garden of Eden that humanity would need a salvation plan, and God promised his people, the Israelites, a Messiah. Then, for the next four thousand years, God’s prophets spoke about the promised Messiah, declaring his defining attributes and purposes. The promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, would rescue people from their own selfish and destructive ways. And yet, God’s people had to wait four thousand years for his arrival.
It’s easy for us to skim over this extensive waiting period because we know the outcome; we know that Jesus did come to earth and fulfil what God required of him. But imagine living in Old Testament times, waiting and waiting and waiting for the promised Messiah, only for your entire lifetime to pass by with still no sign of Christ’s arrival. Generation upon generation told their children about God’s promised Messiah, yet many passed away long before Jesus was born. You could understand if some were feeling discouraged and doubtful.
But understand this: God wanted to execute his salvation plan more than his people wanted to see the arrival of the promised Messiah. God was fully invested in sending his Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for the sinfulness of humanity. So why did he wait so long?
He waited, so that Christ would come at just the right time. It wasn’t enough that God had prepared what had to happen, he also foresaw when it needed to happen. It was no accident that Jesus came to earth when he did. The angel, Gabriel, didn’t just wake up one day and think, “I’m done waiting. I’m gonna go talk to that virgin, Mary, today.” No. God had chosen that specific day, that particular year in earth’s history to initiate his perfectly designed plan.
Biblical scholars suggest some of the reasons why God sent Jesus, the promised Messiah, to earth at the time he did. During the rule of the Greek empire, under Alexander the Great (around 330B.C.), Greek culture and the Greek language was heavily taught in all areas of the empire, thus tying the people together with one common language. The foundation of a common language paved the way for the gospel message to be easily distributed and understood across many nations in the centuries to come. Similarly, the Roman Empire implemented a vast network of roads making travel between cities and countries much easier, not to mention the peace across nations experienced under Roman rule that held for nearly six hundred years, making travel and communication everywhere in the empire easier than at any other time in history.1 These and many other insights into the historical timeline leading up to Jesus’ birth suggest that God was waiting until the infrastructure was in place to be able to carry news of the arrival and message of the promised Messiah to the very ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
So when I read Romans 5:6 last week, I was struck afresh by how significant timing is in all that God says and does. When I’m discouraged and doubtful in the waiting, he is very carefully and intentionally aligning people, places, and plans to prepare the right time for the promise. If God recognised and waited for just the right time to fulfil his biggest, most significant promise in sending Jesus, the Messiah, then I am assured that he recognises and waits for just the right time to fulfil his other promises, too.
- Mike McClaflin, The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels, 6th ed. (Global University, 2017), 37-39.
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jane merson 
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