The right time

A person's success or failure mostly depends on making the right decision at the right time. In the New Testament we find two Greek words for the German word time: Chronos and Kairos. Chronos stands for time and calendar time. Kairos is the «special hour», the «right time». When the harvest is ripe, it is the right time to harvest the fruits. If you pick them too early, they will be unripe and sour; if you pick them too late, they will be overripe and spoiled.

In one of my memories from the Beginner's Bible Course, I had an "aha moment" when I learned that Jesus came to earth at just the right time. The teacher explained to us how everything in the universe had to come into proper alignment in order for all prophecies regarding Jesus to be fully fulfilled.
Paul describes God's intervention that brought hope and liberty to mankind: "Now when the time had come, God sent his Son, born of woman and made under the law, to ransom those under the law with it we received the sonship" (Galatians 4,4-5).

Jesus was born at the right time when the appointed time was fulfilled. The constellation of the planets and stars matched. The culture and the educational system had to be prepared. The technology, or lack thereof, was right. The governments of the earth, especially that of the Romans, were on duty at the right time.
A commentary on the Bible explains: "It was a time when the 'Pax Romana' (Roman peace) extended over much of the civilized world and therefore travel and trade were possible as never before. Great roads connected the empire of the emperors, and its diverse regions were linked in an even more significant way by the pervasive language of the Greeks. Add to this the fact that the world had fallen into a moral abyss, so deep that even the Gentiles rebelled and spiritual hunger was present everywhere. It was the perfect time for the coming of Christ and for the early spread of the Christian gospel" (The Expositor's Bible Commentary).

All of these elements played a large role as God chose this very moment to begin Jesus' sojourn as a human being and his journey to the cross. What an incredible confluence of events. One might think of the members of an orchestra learning the individual parts of a symphony. On the evening of the concert, all parts, skilfully and beautifully played, come together in brilliant harmony. The conductor raises his hands to signal the final crescendo. The timpani sound and the built-up tension is released in a triumphant climax. Jesus is that culminating point, the pinnacle, the pinnacle, the pinnacle of God's wisdom and power! “For in him [Jesus] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2,9).

But when the time was fulfilled, Christ, who is all the fullness of Godhead, came to us, to our world. Why? “So that their hearts may be strengthened and united in love and in all riches in the fullness of understanding to recognize the mystery of God, which is Christ. In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2,2-3). Hallelujah and Merry Christmas!

by Tammy Tkach