Why Did Jesus Come THEN?

God forbids us to have anything to do with idols. His prohibition against foreign gods is the single most repeated command in all of Scripture:

• It’s the First Commandment (You shall have no other gods besides me).
• God repeatedly laments its practice, “Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?” (Jer. 8:18).
• And God tells us to put to death anyone who promotes idolatry, even if that person is a brother, child, spouse, or friend (Deut. 13:1-11).

But we live in a world that ignores God’s foremost command because we think it is irrelevant. After all, when was the last time you spied your neighbor sacrificing a lamb in their secret backyard shrine to Baal?

But foreign gods are not deities merely made of metal. Scripture teaches that idols are deities mostly made of thought. They are the visualized solutions to what we imagine to be our biggest problems. We dream, “If only I was richer (or better looking, or had a better spouse), life would be worth living.”

Idols reveal our frenzy to find freedom from God, to do “whatever is right in our own eyes.” We humans obsessively—almost neurotically—shout our Declaration of Independence from God by turning to idols, be they metal or mental:

• Adam and Eve ate the apple so that they would “be like God.”
• The Tower of Babel was built “to make a name for ourselves.”
• Israel’s first act after God’s amazing liberation from Egypt … was to make a golden calf

After Israel returned from exile, however, it seems they completely rejected foreign gods. In fact, when Greek King Antiochus IV required worship of another god, Israel risked their lives and their nation by revolting.

By the time of Jesus, there is not one single mention of Israel even tolerating foreign gods, not one verse or even one word in any of the gospels. Israel finally seemed to be obeying God.

This was God’s chosen time to send Jesus to earth.

Why Did Jesus Come Then?

Scripture says that “at the right time Christ died for the ungodly,” and “When the proper time had fully come, God sent His son” (Rom. 5:6 and Gal. 4:4). What was so right and proper about two thousand years ago? Why then? Why not earlier? Why not today?

Just off the top of my head, I can think of many times that seem better. For example:

• What if God sent his Son immediately after Adam and Eve ate the apple? It would have saved centuries of suffering.
• What if Jesus came right before the Noah’s flood? Would have saved thousands of lives.
• What if He came right before Pharaoh enslaved the Children of Israel?

But my plans are not God’s plans, and my thoughts are not His.

Scripture teaches that every single human problem is the result of evil worship. Jesus came because there was one more idol to kill. That’s why Jesus came then and not before.

Because Jesus had to put to death our most insidious idolatry.

Sinister Devotion

The Pharisees were the biggest enemies of Jesus. But the Pharisee movement began well. They prized spiritual purity. They fought pagan assimilation. Their name means “one who is separated.” They taught Scripture in local synagogues. What’s not to like?

Why did they oppose Jesus?

The philosophy of the Pharisees shrouded the most sinister idol of all: the idol of myself. Even though Baal worship was finally banished, and Scripture was taught in every village, and worship practices were better than at any other time in Israel’s history, Jesus said, “It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you” (Matt. 11:24).

The Pharisaical idol was, “I must feel good about myself.” In their idolizing frenzy for self-justification, they refused the gift of God’s-justification. But despite all their hard work, their god failed them. They didn’t feel good about themselves. That’s why they sneered at everyone (“Thank you god that I’m not like this fool.”).

It’s why they killed Jesus.

The most dangerous idols are always us, ourselves, self-ism. From Eve’s “You will be like God” to Ahab and Jezebel’s Baal worship, to the pharisees’ self-justification. We flee from God. Oh, we like His love; we just hate His Lordship.

All the “Self-isms” are counterfeits. They work for the briefest of time. In the short run, the self-confident employee get more promotions, but like all scams, they are ultimately exposed for the frauds they are. Some kid somewhere eventually says, “The emperor has no clothes,” and our false hopes for Life are exposed.

Every mental image of God—bridges to our independent, “glorious” life—will fail. Those bridges can’t bear the weight of a God-created life. We don’t need self-esteem or self-love. Our one and only need is God’s love.

In His love, we have a confidence that cannot be shaken, an esteem that cannot be stolen, a love that banishes fear, and a Father who names us Himself, and then He calls us by name.

And the final idol dies.

Sam