Timing is everything. Allow me to demonstrate. Knock-knock – Whose there? – Interrupting cow. Interupt... – MOOO! I think that is my favorite knock-knock joke. The key to properly telling the interrupting cow joke is timing. If the interrupting cow “moos” too soon the joke doesn’t make sense and if the interrupting cow “moos” too late and fails to interrupt the person to whom you are telling the joke it just doesn’t work. Timing is everything.
The secret to telling a good joke is good timing, but timing isn’t just important for good joke telling. In his letter to the Galatians, saint Paul demonstrates how important timing is to our salvation. In one sentence that is about the same length as a knock-knock joke saint Paul tells us about God’s perfect timing. In Galatians 4:4 saint Paul writes, “4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law…”. It would be easy to read the Christmas account and think the whole thing is a series of unfortunate events that were a result of bad timing. An extremely pregnant Mary had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem because it coincided with the timing of Cesar’s decree. Mary and Joseph’s arrival in Bethlehem was frantic because it coincided with Mary going into labor. Baby Jesus was placed in a manger because His birth coincided with a booked Inn. It all seems like a series of unfortunate events, but saint Paul tells us it is a a result of God’s perfect timing.
From a political point of view, God sent His Son at the perfect time. God sent His Son at a time when the Roman emperor Octavian established what has become known as the Pax Romana (Latin for “Roman peace”). It was a period of over 200 years of peace and prosperity during which roads were built that connected cities with cites which allowed the citizens of those cities to communicate thoughts and ideas with each other quickly and easily. Ultimately all those cities were connected to Rome because all roads led to Rome. Which meant as thoughts and ideas of the people flowed into Rome laws and decrees of the Senate flowed out of Rome. These laws, which formed the basis of many Western court systems today, unified the administration of justice in the courts and protected the rights of the citizens. Roman law protected the citizens from internal strife, but it was the Roman Legions patrolling the borders that kept the empire free from invasion. And they were expansive borders to be patrolled. Years of conquest had brought many peoples and cultures into the empire. The people were allowed to keep their culture but if they wanted to function in Roman society, they would need to learn the official languages of the empire. And so Latin and Greek were spoken by almost every citizen of Rome. Rome’s network of roads, stable government, and common language were ideal for the spread of the gospel. Politically, the timing was perfect.
From a philosophical point of view, God sent His Son at the perfect time. The old religions were dying out. The Roman people believed that the deity was known by different names to different people so they embraced Zeus as Jupiter, Hera as Juno, and Poseidon as Neptune. But by embracing a generic deity, they eventually discovered that their deity had no substance. At the same time Olympus was falling philosophy was rising. But the philosophy of the day taught that nothing was real. People soon discovered Philosophy was little more than an intellectual exercise and had no real power to change people’s lives. People were hungry for something of substance that brought meaning to their lives. Philosophically, the timing was perfect.
From a Spiritual point of view, God sent His Son at the perfect time. For 1500 years God’s chosen people had been living under the ceremonial law that God established at Mount Sinai. These laws disciplined the people of God and prepared them for the coming of the Messiah. For example, the ceremonial washings they performed, taught them they were spiritually dirty and in need of cleansing. So also, the entire sacrificial system they observed with its slaughtered lambs and scapegoats, taught them that innocent blood needed to be shed for the forgiveness of sins. After 1500 years of the ceremonial laws, the people had started to suspect that the ceremonial laws were foreshadowing a greater cleansing and a more permanent payment that was yet to come. Spiritually, the timing was perfect.
When the time was politically, philosophically, and spiritually perfect God sent His Son. But God’s perfect timing is not about delivering a punchline. God’s perfect timing is about delivering people. In verse 5 saint Paul continues his sentence by telling us when the time had fully come God sent His Son “5 …to redeem those under law...” God waited for the perfect time to redeem the world. Like the Christmas account, it would be easy to read the Easter account and think the whole thing is a series of unfortunate events that were a result of bad timing. Though He was a descendant of King David, Jesus grew up in obscurity and poverty because by the time Jesus was born the house and line of David had been stripped of all its prestige and wealth. Jesus begins His public ministry at a time when the vast majority of people had given up on the promised Messiah and the church was more concerned about appearances than substance. A week after Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the praises of the people He was hung on a cross because Pontius Pilate was tired of dealing with political unrest from insurrectionist like Barabbas and the boys. It all seems like a series of unfortunate events, but this too was part of God’s perfect timing.
I am not going to go into too much detail here, perhaps I’ll save that for Easter, but just to prove the point of God’s perfect timing when it comes to the redemption of the world I’ll Just point out that the day we recognize as Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem for the last time was traditionally known among the Jews as the “Day of Lambs” – the day that Jewish shepherds would herd the lambs that would be used for sacrifice at the Passover into Jerusalem. Also, during the meal in which Jewish families were remembering how the blood of an innocent lamb was shed to set them free from slavery in Egypt and deliver them from death at the hands of Pharaoh, Jesus took bread broke it and said this is my body and He took wine and said this is my blood and instructed His disciples to eat and drink so that they would be set free from the slavery of sin and delivered from damnation at the hands of the Devil. Further it is likely, during the very hour the blood of the daily sacrificial lamb stained the stone steps of the temple, the blood of the Lamb of God stained the wood of Calvary’s cross. There is more that could be said but I think I’ll save it for Easter and I think that is enough to prove that the redemption of the world was a result of God’s perfect timing.
Finally, the perfect timing that redeemed the world is comforting because when God so loved the world, He so loved you. When the time had fully come God saved you. Saint Paul finishes his sentence by telling us God waited for the perfect time so “5… that we might receive the full rights of sons.” Have you ever thought about how you became a Christian, how it is that you are sitting here today gathered around the means of grace receiving absolution from one of God’s servants and being served forgiveness on a silver platter? Perhaps you think it just kind of happened maybe you married into the church, you fell in love with someone who was a strong Christian and when you got married, they just sort of dragged you along. Perhaps you think it was pure dumb luck, maybe you got a postcard in the mail by mistake, drove a different way to work and happened to drive past a church that caught your attention, went to a party and ended up making friends with a bunch of Lutherans. Perhaps you think it was destiny, maybe you were born into a Christian family, raised in a Christian home, and have been surrounded by Christian friends your entire life. It would be easy to think the reason you are a Christian is because of happenstance, dumb luck, or destiny, but knowing everything I just told you about your God, do you really think that is the reason you are a Christian?
When the time had fully come, the waters of baptism were poured over your head. When the time had fully come, the words of everlasting life were taught to you. When the time had fully come, you were invited to taste and see that the Lord is good. When the time had fully come, you were ushered to the very seat you are now sitting in. Everything around you, every person in your life, every moment of your day has been used by your God for the expressed purpose of saving your soul. Your God does not do happenstance, He doesn’t count on dumb luck, He doesn’t depend on destiny. Your salvation is a direct result of your God’s perfect timing.
When the time had fully come God sent His Son. When the time had fully come God redeemed the world. When the time had fully come God saved you. The reason why I have taken the time to point out to you that God’s timing is perfect is because I want to reassure you that your salvation is not a mistake, it is not a coincidence, it is not a result of dumb luck. You are sitting here today, gathered around the means of grace, receiving absolution from one of God’s servants, and being served forgiveness on a silver platter because “4 when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” Amen