First Baptist Church of New Carlisle, Ohio has a rich and unique history in our community. Since 1955 we've been establishing ourselves as a lighthouse for Jesus Christ in our hometown of New Carlisle, Ohio.

We have Bible Study at 9:15 am and Worship Service at 10:30 am every Sunday. Childcare/nursery provided for all services. Wednesdays we have Prayer Meeting at 7:00 pm and Revive Student Ministries for youth at 7:00 pm

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Why was Jesus crucified when He was? - by Ken Lawler

It is generally accepted that Jesus was born around 4BC.  One of the reasons for this date is the reign of Herod the Great.  History records him ruling Judea from 37-3BC, and it was he who ordered all baby boys up to 2-years old in the vicinity of Bethlehem killed.  Jesus was probably around 2 years old when the wise men came, so he would have been born around 4BC.  Assuming He was 33-34-years-old when He was crucified, that would have been around 29 or 30AD.  The Bible records several times the Pharisees wanted to kill Him, but He kept saying, "My time is not yet come" (John 7:6-8).  Obviously The Father had Him on a schedule for when He would be crucified.  One obvious target they were shooting for was Passover, but which one?  It occurred every year.  What was God waiting for?  Why was Jesus crucified when He was?

The Greek Empire.  Alexander's rise to power, succeeding his father Phillip as king of Macedonia, changed the known world.  In only 13 years he defeated Syria,
Egypt and the Medo-Persian Empire, going as far east as India.  Equally as impressive as his military success was his advancement of Greek culture, called Hellenism.  In every city he conquered he instituted schools to teach Greek philosophy and Koine Greek, which became the common language of the known world.  For the first time since the Tower of Babel, there was a common language.  You could communicate with someone wherever you went.

The Roman Empire.  Where the Greek Empire lasted only about 257 years, the Roman Empire lasted, depending on which parts you track, from 1101-2078 years, spreading over three continents.  Best known for having the most powerful army ever; able to defeat larger armies without airplanes, tanks or battleships; they are also known for building many of the great cities still standing today.  Examples are London, England (Londinium) and Cologne, Germany (Colonia Agrippina).  Known as the great builders, they built aqueducts, roads, baths, walls, theaters, temples, arches, cities, palaces, etc.  When the Romans came they not only brought their
army, but also their Latin Language.  Today we use the Arabic numbers to do math, but we still use the Roman alphabet (with a few letters added, i.e. W) to verbally communicate.  Most western languages are based on Roman Latin.

Now back to the title of this article.  The reason Jesus was born when He was is explained in Gal. 4:4, "But when the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a women, made under the law."  The word translated fullness means completion, what fills something, or what is filled by something.  As it is used in Gal. 4:4 it means, "the end of an appointed period."  Look at the known world before the Greek Empire and after the Romans arrived.  After Pentecost and the persecution that followed, the Apostles and the disciples (especially Paul) hit the Roman Roads with the Greek and Roman Languages and spread the Gospel world-wide.  None of that would have been possible prior to Alexander the Great and the subsequent Roman Empire.  The fullness of the time was come.  God was waiting for a common language and a modern transportation system to spread the Gospel.

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