In the Fullness of (Inconvenient) Time

Do you ever get annoyed, frustrated, disappointed, or even just incredibly sad about the timing of events? We miss opportunities due to time. We have to re-prioritize our schedules, due to time. We sometimes feel that we languish in some strange stasis as we wait for the “right” time. Sometimes (often), it seems that God’s timeline is not ours. This is perhaps never quite as apparent as when you consider the Christmas story.

Rome had taken control over Israel in 63 BC. They had certainly been the dominant world influence before that, but that is when Jerusalem was captured by Pompey. Rome underwent significant changes over the next forty years as they transitioned to rule under the Caesars. These unsaved men, Augustus in particular, would likely not have appreciated knowing that their rule was simply another tool that God used to fulfil prophecy. Think about the perceived inconveniences that led up to the Messiah’s birth:

1. Elizabeth and Zachariah spent years wanting a son but could not have one. Finally, when they are old and have resigned themselves to not having a child, Elizabeth gets pregnant. Can you imagine giving birth at her age or trying to chase a toddler around?

2. Mary got pregnant before she was married. A few months later and there wouldn’t have been a hint of scandal

3. A despotic ruler decided he wanted to tax everyone in their hometown. This was not just a matter of paying taxes, which would have been challenging enough. No, he insisted that people travel back to their place of origin so that he could ensure he was receiving all that he was due.

4. That same census meant that Bethlehem was bursting at the seams. Now, there is a whole other debate about if Mary and Joseph stayed with family, if they were in a cave, a stable…I’m not going to get into that right now. What is important to know is that the capacity crowd made the process of birth so challenging that Mary ended up using a feeding trough for a bed. There were no luxury accommodations for the King of the World.

5. Shepherds had their plans disrupted. They were happily settling down to sleep or to keep watch after a long day of work when suddenly the night sky lit up. Maybe the angels specifically calmed the sheep down, I’m not sure, but if not, can you imagine the noise level as hundreds of panicked sheep, children, and other animals chimed in with the heavenly hosts?

6. Wise men had to travel for months to get to their destination. There was nothing convenient about their trip. Deciding if this star was truly an anomaly that needed to be explored, packing up a huge caravan, and then traveling on what must have seemed like an interminable journey to arrive in Jerusalem and be told it is a little further. Even having found this little child, who was definitely not living in a palace, they still faced a daunting return journey.

7. Herod died shortly after Jesus’ birth (either 4 BC or 1 BC depending on which timeline you consider). If Jesus had been born a little later, this evil man might not have been on the throne and the deaths of countless children wouldn’t have occurred.

The list could go on and on of the inconveniences caused by Jesus’ birth. Yet, Scripture tells us that in the “fullness of time” he came (Gal. 4:4-7). There was no mistake, this was the precise moment that God meant for him to take on flesh and arrive on planet earth. Any human event planner would hyperventilate at how many “oversights” or “mistakes” seemingly went into the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth. It was dreadful time management on God’s part…except God exists outside of time. All moments are merely the present for him. Beyond this, consider:

1. The forerunner of the Messiah needed to be born shortly before the Messiah himself. If Elizabeth and Zachariah had children during their traditional child-bearing years, John would have been much older. Not to mention that his birth would not have been a miracle.

2. Nearly seven hundred years before Mary was even born, Isaiah had prophesied that a virgin would be with child (Is. 7:14). This would not have been the case if she had been married. Earthly scandal would have been avoided, but the heavenly plan for redemption would have been thwarted because Jesus would have been born with a sin nature.

3. The Roman empire could have still been embroiled in a power struggle. Julius was assassinated while trying to solidify full power. Augustus had centralized his authority enough that he had the time to worry about the details of little backwater census procedures. Requiring people to return to their hometown meant that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, thus fulfilling Micah’s prophesy (Mic. 5:2). No one would choose to travel while so heavily pregnant.

4. The census meant that there was no room in traditional lodgings, but that also meant that Mary and Joseph had privacy (albeit rough going) for the birth. Can you imagine if they were actually in a crowded room with no space or concealment? Beyond that, they might have been offered comforting blankets instead of the swaddling cloths that foreshadowed his burial.

5. Shepherds were interrupted, but they displayed God’s purpose in coming to redeem the lowest of society. They were almost never considered ceremonially “clean.” They could not access the Temple or corporate worship. Yet they were invited to join with the very heavenly host in celebrating the birth of the one who would tear the veil of the temple and make a way for all mankind to have uninhibited access to God.

6. Wisemen travelled so long, but they presented the gifts that foretold all three of his roles – his very purpose for coming. Gold because he was and will be the king and ruler. Frankincense because he was the priest who would make the ultimate and one-time sacrifice for sin. Myrrh because he would be anointed in burial before rising again on the third day. Too, I think it is telling that these people knew enough about prophecy to understand that a king was coming. If that was because of Daniel’s writing or if it was because of divine revelation that a new star showed up in the sky and stayed in the same place for months if not years, we won’t know until we get to heaven. However, the Jewish religious leaders should have known. If they had studied prophecy with open hearts, they would have known about the prophecy regarding when the Messiah would be “cut off” (Daniel 9:26). However, instead of searching for this one who should have been arriving, they couldn’t be bothered to make the five-mile journey to Bethlehem with the wisemen. They were so caught up in the traditions they had established and their notions of what the Messiah would look like that they missed God’s fullness of time.

7. Herod’s death is perhaps the most heartbreaking timeline. All of those babies might have lived. However, here, prophecy was also fulfilled. Rachel wept for her children (Matt. 2:17-18) as prophesied in Jeremiah. While we would have waited, God knew that prophecy needed to be fulfilled and he also knew that Joseph and Mary would never have chosen to flee to Egypt (why would they) without cause. He had already foretold that he would call his son out of Egypt (Matt. 2:15). Arguably, this is the strangest prophecy associated with Jesus’ birth. What self-respecting Jewish family would flee to a foreign country? One that was trying to keep the Savior of the world safe from a tyrannical lunatic.

So, the fullness of time was incredibly inconvenient for most people in the Christmas story. I don’t think that God was in heaven gleefully plotting for ways to make these circumstances difficult for people. However, I do believe that he orchestrated the events of history to showcase his glory and might. He put together a set of circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth that no one would have planned so that he could demonstrate his sovereignty and so that the world would know that he alone had accomplished the task. There was nothing accidental in Jesus’ birth. There was nothing unplanned.

The God who held the hearts of Caesars, instituted prophecies hundreds of years before, and met the needs of each individual along the way is still the one who holds our future. I say this with some personal frustration about God’s timetable hanging over my head. This post is for me just as much as it is for anyone else who may be reading it. When our timelines don’t match God’s and when the logical choice is not what unfolds…remember that what he considers the fullness of time is rarely met on our deadline. He operates in a way that fulfills his eternal purpose and displays his glory. There was plenty of dwelling in darkness before they saw a great light (Is. 9:2, Matt. 4:16). There was heartbreak and loss that did not necessarily stop when God took on flesh to dwell among us. However, he did come to dwell among us. He did not leave us to navigate those dark nights on our own. He is Immanuel – God with us. The eternal, timeless one, stepped into time. He gave up his glory experience sickness, hunger, pain, loss, inconvenience, tiredness…and imperfect love. Better yet, he remains with us and in us as our advocate, priest, friend, brother, and sanctifier. When we face an inconvenience or even a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, know that God is operating on a different timetable, and everything will be accomplished in the fullness of His time – for our good and his glory.