Why did Jesus come when he did?

Answer 1

the human race was in terrible condition. Jesus came to save us from our sins so that we could live eternaly with him in heaven, if of coarse we truly have followed him as best we could. as said in a very popular bible verse:

"for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever may believe in him shall not perish but have ever lasting life."

---John 3:16

Alternative answer:

To answer this question we need to understand the original intent God had for man.

In Genesis, God creates man and gives him dominion - ruler-ship over all the earth.

Now God who created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1) is the overall owner, a landlord of sorts, who gives man the authority to rule in His name. God, who is Lord of all, gives authority to man to rule His domain.

God's original intent was not to bring a religion.

God's original intent was to bring a kingdom.

A kingdom is 'the rule and reign' of a king within his dominion - hence; 'king-domain'

Within a kingdom, the king (God) has complete authority and can delegate that authority out to whom ever he chooses (man), for that person or persons to steward that which is given in the name of the king.

In a kingdom, it's all about authority.

In a kingdom I may have the power to rule over an area or territory, but unless I have authority from the king to do so, I will get arrested and imprisoned for acting outside of the will of the king. If the king does not act, but simply lets it happen, then the king is technically allowing me to have authority over that land. This is vital to know to be able to help understand.

When the serpent decived Eve and then Adam into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he had successfully tricked man into giving over his authority. Adam should have said no and enforced his God-given right over the serpent, but in agreeing to the serpents suggestions he aligned himself under the serpents authority.

That God-given authority had now passed from the man to the serpent.

The original plan had ended. A new plan had to be made to return things to it's original intent (because God makes things for a purpose, not for just random use).

From That moment on, God made it clear that He would crush the head of the serpent (the head represents authority - e.g. a 'headmaster' of a school is the authority of that school), but that it would be done through the seed of the woman.

Now when God talks about a seed, He's talking about a process - something small that grows with time and develops until it reaches full maturity. God didn't send His son Jesus there and then, as there was a process that needed to happen first.

All throughout the Old Testament, God speaks of His 'Messiah' - a chosen one who would one day bring salvation to mankind. This chosen one was no ordinary person, he had to do some very interesting things - for one, he would rule the nations with an iron sceptre. He was to be a king! An everlasting king.

God uses the Jewish nation as the seed to bring forth this chosen one.

The interesting thing about the Jewish nation, is that their customs, traditions and culture were instructed by God, and they all in one form or another give reference to Jesus as a type or shadow of things to come.

God's seed grows and develops. He teaches them His ways. But why hadn't Jesus come yet? God's timing was perfect, He was waiting for things to be in place.

When Caesar Augustus began his rule of the Roman Empire, suddenly everything kicked into gear. Astronomically, signs were in the skies proclaiming the birth of a 'super-king' by the king planet, Jupiter, circling the king star, Regulus.

The Roman Empire had taken control of Judea and of Jerusalem. The authority held by the Priests of the temple was taken away, as they now had to check with the Roman Governor before they could even execute a man.

By why at this time?

To reveal God's original plan and intent - a kingdom.

Rome was very different from other kingdoms that had ever been seen before. Other kingdoms like the Babylonians would invade a city, kill it's people and take all the spoils of war back to their country/city (as demonstrated in the Jewish exile of Daniel's day). But the Romans took a different approach. They would invade a city, and then bring their culture and Roman rule to that place - they would make it 'like Rome', and the newly conquered people could become citizens of the Empire.

When Jesus came, he spoke mostly about one subject - and it wasn't salvation!

Matthew 5:17 gives us the first mention of his mission;

'From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"'

Jesus was proclaiming a kingdom. Not a religion, but the rule and reign of heaven - of God. What that meant, was that now one had come to take back the authority taken from man and reestablish the rule and reign of God on the earth.

Where ever Jesus went, he healed people, brought order back to their lives whether it be sight restored or demons driven out and that person being able to sit in his right mind. He did this as he was God as a man. He had authority as long as he stayed in the will of he king - God.

Of course, this gets much much more detailed, but I'm hoping to summarise it for you.

When Jesus faced Pilate, Pilate asked him if he was a king, as there had been rumours of Jesus being the king of the Jews. Jesus replies that it was for this purpose that he came. And he hadn't even been to the cross yet.

You see, because Jesus lived his whole life under the authority of God, never stepped out of God's will and never gave his authority away like Adam did, he was not under the same curse as Adam - to die. So when he gave himself up on the cross, death literally had no power over him, and after 3 days had to let him raise again!

By doing this, he not only obeyed his Father (God) in everything he did, but because there was no authority to keep him in death, he successfully took back the authority taken by the serpent from Adam. The serpent didn't have the authority to stop it.

So now, Jesus holds the authority to rule and reign over the earth.

This is where he Roman Empire model comes in. Jesus gives his authority to those who are submitted to his will - those who have willingly (not forced!) aligned themselves under the authority of Jesus. That authority is used to bring God's ruler-ship back to the earth, to bring Godly order back to people's lives and steward God's domain.

Because of Jesus, people can become citizens of his kingdom by aligning themselves with his will - the king's will.

Now, just like the Roman Empire, God's plan wasn't to go and force people into submission Jesus' disciples/citizens are to go and bring that kingdom influence to the world - which is God's domain, not by killing everything and dragging the spoils of their war back to their church, but by going into a place and influencing it with Godly culture and principles, to walk with integrity, to value others and to bring Godly order the the domain around them.

In Exodus, God tells Moses that his plan is to make 'a kingdom of priests'.

In Revelation, the last book of the bible, God proclaims that He has made for himself 'a kingdom of priests'. A priest is someone who ministers to God, aligns himself under God's authority and proclaims God's words to the people. He brings Glory to God.

So why did Jesus come when he did?

He couldn't come before, as there wasn't a good representation of kingdom, and God had to demonstrate His ways - that He was a loving Father to the people who valued them and wanted to save them and give them great things as any good father would do, but that He was also a mighty King who was to be obeyed.

God's seed that He spoke about at the beginning had grown fully, and because of it, we can now eat the good fruit from a matured and solid Jesus Christ.

Answer 2

I believe only Him and the Heavenly Father know that. God had promised He would sent a saviour and the faithful waited for centuries for this king that would delivery them from their sins. God does everything in His own time.

Answer 3

Jesus didn't come on Christmas Day, it is believed that he came in the middle of summer.

Christmas is from pagan's.