HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

To say that the Christian faith had humble beginnings is quite an understatement. Indeed, “Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event, the humiliation of its God.” (Shelley)  The humiliating death of Christ, in the shameful manner of a common criminal, is the ultimate expression of the meek and inconspicuous means by which God chose to introduce His Son Jesus to the world.  This, combined with His unpretentious birth in a filthy barn on the backside of nowhere, to the poor parents of a downtrodden and conquered people, makes for a story that should have ended just as unceremoniously as it began.  Yet, not only did the story survive, it thrived and eventually grew into a movement of God’s Spirit that changed the world forever, even conquering the Roman Empire that had enslaved the Jewish people from which it sprang. This dramatic outcome which emanated from such ordinary circumstances demands an adequate explanation. What random chain of events or fortuitous occurrences could have possibly led to life of this humble carpenter’s son, and his rag-tag troupe of followers, being exalted to such a monumental place in all of antiquity? Rather than random chance being responsible, I will demonstrate undeniably that, what may have appeared from the beginning to be of modest origins, was in actuality, the culmination of a convergence of events that encompassed the course of all human history, which was divinely orchestrated around the life of Christ, in order to achieve God’s purposes here on the earth. In particular, I will focus on the effects of the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman civilizations upon the world before the time of Christ, and how they prepared the world for His coming.

Given the extremely broad brush that I used to paint my introduction, it might be helpful now to begin with the narrow context of circumstances in which Jesus was born.  Bruce Shelley, the renowned Church historian bluntly reveals that, “Jesus was a Jew. He came from a Jewish family, He studied the Jewish law, and He observed the Jewish religion. Any serious study of His life makes this… clear…” (Shelley)  Jesus was born into the Hebrew tradition and all that entails, which means that He understood that, “Among the religions of the Roman empire in the first century, Judaism held a unique place… unlike the others it was exclusively monotheistic in the sense that its adherents were not allowed to worship or even to admit the existence of any other god or gods.” (Tenney)  This special revelation of the one, true and living God that created all things, which was given to the Hebrew people 2,000 years earlier, cannot be underestimated in the effect it had upon the ancient world and the philosophical arguments that raged at the time of Christ, which still rage on today.

The Apostle Paul asked the rhetorical question concerning the Jews, “What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.” (NKJV, Romans 3:1-2)  These foundational principles that were given to the Hebrew people concerning: not only the existence of one God, but also the creation of the earth, the origin of life, the fall of man, sin, salvation, the law and judgment, and the coming of the Messiah, would become the stones upon which the Western world would be soon be established. But due to their disobedience and eventual dispersion into the Babylonian Captivity, the Jews would be forced to leave what eventually became merely a cult of temple worship in Jerusalem and be forced to establish, “A new center of worship… with the rise of the synagogue.” (Tenney)  The concept of these local meeting places for prayer and worship would eventually become the basis for the churches that the Body of Christ would later meet in, in fact, “The many close resemblances between the usages of the synagogue and those of the church may doubtless be accounted for by the fact that the latter absorbed or followed to some degree the procedure of the former.” (Tenney)  By the time of Christ, the Jews and their synagogues had been spread out all over the Roman Empire and, “…by far the largest number of Jews… lived outside of the borders of the Holy Land.  Known as the Diaspora, or the Dispersion, they were found in almost all the large cities from Babylon to Rome, and in many of the smaller settlements as well, wherever commerce or colonization had taken them.” (Tenney)  As a result, thousands of gentiles came to faith in or at least had knowledge of, the one true and living God Yahweh, that the Hebrews proclaimed and worshipped.

The geopolitical forces that had been working against Israel during the millennium prior to the arrival of Christ were truly staggering. The Assyrians and Babylonians had collectively decimated the once victoriously prosperous nation of Israel after the reigns of King David and his son Solomon, and the successive occupations and territorial battles fought by the kingdoms of Egypt, Medo-Persia, and Greece, had reduced the Jewish homeland to nothing more than a troublesome vassal state on the outer rim of a little known Roman province.  But all of this subjugated humiliation had created in some of the Jewish people still living there, “…a zeal for God and a determination to observe the Torah… …those who strove zealously on behalf of Judaism.” (Tenney)  It was a frustratingly difficult situation for the devout follower and it caused them to cry out to God for deliverance, for peace, and for salvation. We see a glimpse of this searching when, “…Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’” (John 1:45)  They were actively engaged in looking for their Messiah, as at no other time in their history.  This began after the devastating exile in Babylon for seventy years, and is now culminating with these zealous Jews to whom, “The Romans were not just another in a long series of alien conquerors.  They were representatives of a hated way of life.  Their imperial reign brought to Palestine the Hellenistic (Greek) culture that the Syrians had tried to impose forcibly on the Jews over a century before.” (Shelley)  So as you read the Gospels, you can almost feel the hopelessness and desperation of the Jewish people on every page, which is why we find them so eagerly crying out, “Hosanna!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” (Mark 11:9-10) when Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem riding on that donkey, in fulfilment of Old Testament prophesy. They were inconsolably oppressed and in dire need of deliverance from the predicament they found themselves in, which is yet another evidence of God’s miraculous timing and providence.

Still, the fact that fellow Jews would believe in Jesus and follow Him, doesn’t explain how the message of Christ and His disciples could overcome the tyranny of the Roman Empire, which was responsible for their bondage. The answer is “Truth”!  Not just any truth, mind you, but the eternal truth of the message found within the Gospel itself. Let me illustrate by quoting from the great theologian Alexander Maclaren, who also spoke of the Truth of the Gospel and its power to change the world. He said, “The institution of slavery was one of the greatest blots on ancient civilization… Christianity, as represented in the New Testament, never says a word to condemn it, but Christianity has killed it. ‘Make the tree good and its fruit good.’ Do not aim at institutions, change the people that live under them and you change them.” (Maclaren) The aim of Jesus and His followers was never the overthrow of the Roman government, but rather the overthrow of the hearts of the Roman people, with the power of the Gospel. As a result, the truth found in the redemption of Jesus Christ, eventually conquered the evil of this brutal empire without even firing a shot. But ironically, it was the vast infrastructure and sophistication of the empire itself that enabled and even propelled the message of the Gospel to flourish in every direction. Traveling great distances, across continents and oceans had become relatively easy for the first century citizen due to, “…a network of all-weather roads that the Romans constructed.  The Via Appia was the “queen of roads,” extending from Rome to… Italy’s southeastern coast.  The Via Egnatia traversed the province of Macedonia between… the Adriatic Sea and Byzantium (Modern Istanbul) etc… The roads were signposted with mile markers at strategic points and… A network of other roads radiated from the main, paved highways. Through these great arteries of the empire flowed the message of salvation.” (Burge)  

The empire also maintained a powerful fleet of naval vessels and a vital shipping industry that allowed commerce and passengers to sail to even greater distances and far more remote destinations. This contributed tremendously to the spread of the Christian faith because a pilgrim traveling on the roads could only expect a rate of fifteen to thirty miles per day but, “Travel by sea on cargo vessels was much quicker than by road, although more precarious… and with favorable winds a ship could cover a hundred miles.” (Burge) Many other factors, unique and quite exclusive to this point in history, also contributed to the rapid spread of Christianity.  The relatively stable, democratic, and civilized society that Rome had achieved certainly played a role, enabling Christians to spread the good news. But it wasn’t all positive. There were many negative aspects of the empire that drove the masses into the arms of Christ as well. Chief among them was the grinding poverty and sense of hopelessness that permeated much of society.  Like the Hebrews, most of the population was made up of a lower class of conquered people groups, who were just trying to survive the heavy boot of Roman oppression upon their necks, and the excessive taxation on their limited incomes. Tenney describes this explosive situation saying that, “Gradually they swelled the homeless and foodless mobs that filled the great cities, especially Rome, and they became dependent for their sustenance on the state. The hungry, idle crowds, who would vote for any candidate whose promises sounded better than those of his competitor, were a dangerous and unpredictable factor in the social life of the empire.” (Tenney)  Vast multitudes of the populace were people who one day, were living a reasonably comfortable life, only to wake up the next day, realizing that they had become a slave, who had no control at all over their own destinies, because Rome had overthrown the government of their homeland.  Against this hopeless backdrop stood their many systems of religion which, “…had degenerated into feeble superstitions and meaningless rituals…” (Tenney) that offered no real answers and no peace for their weary souls. 

Again, Tenney observes that, “When religion degenerates into empty ritualism or ignorant superstition, thoughtful people may abandon it altogether because they feel that it has no real satisfaction to offer them. They cannot, however, ignore the necessity of finding some rational answer to the problems the world poses for them. The mysteries of the universe call for explanation unless one is content to be such a dolt that he is never disturbed by them.” (Tenney)  To this dilemma the Christian faith has all of the answers and this resonated with many of the people then, as it also does today.  However, despite all of the challenges that Christianity faced in the early years of its existence, “One of the most amazing and significant facts of history is that within five centuries of its birth Christianity won the professed allegiance of the overwhelming majority of the population of the Roman Empire and even the support of the Roman state. Beginning as a seemingly obscure sect of Judaism, one of scores of… religious groups which were competing within that realm, revering as its central figure one who had been put to death by the machinery of Rome… and eventually… to be a Roman citizen became almost identical with being a Christian.” (Latourette)  Quite amazing indeed, but it must be concluded that this could have only happened at this particular point in time, with these specific circumstances working in its favor, otherwise the sect would have died a miserable death in Jerusalem at the hands of the Sanhedrin. Some might argue that other religions have experienced similar growth and success, and that is true, but all of the others achieved their initial prominence via the tip of the spear and the edge of the blade through conquest, not through preaching truth, love, and the forgiveness of sins. Christianity is absolutely unique in this regard, but regrettably, the Christian church has also used the deplorable tactics of, ‘convert or die’ in limited instances as well. However, this occurred much later in church history, after a large segment of the church had become institutionalized and rampant corruption had consumed its leadership roles. Clearly Jesus never taught nor would He ever condone such an evil doctrine, and these anomalies do not reflect the mission and calling of the true church. These actions were carried out by godless men with carnal motivations, and they have brought tremendous shame upon the name of Christ and His Church. 

You may have noticed that I’ve skipped over the contributions of Greek society to this point, but I’ve just saved the best for last.  More than any other culture, the Greeks seem to have captured the heart and soul of the ancient world.  Rome would have been nothing but a mean bully with an iron first without the cultural refinements and linguistic contributions of Greece.  Merril Tenney agrees that, “The cultural atmosphere of the first century owed its origin not only to the political organization of Rome but also to the diffusion of the Hellenic spirit that had permeated both the West and the East… Greek slaves, many of whom were more learned than their masters, became part of Roman households… teachers, physicians, accountants, and overseers of farms or of businesses… Greek universities… were attended by aristocratic young Romans who learned to speak Greek in much the same way that the nineteenth-century Englishman learned French as the language of diplomacy and culture.” (Tenney)  This, universal language of Greek, just as the English language does today, began to retard the effects of confusion that were created by God at the Tower of Babel, and served to unify the world in a manner that hadn’t been seen since before the Flood of Noah. This factor, more than any other, created a vehicle to launch the Gospel message to the far corners of the earth in a way that had been virtually impossible up until this point. The ability for people to communicate in the same language the truths of Scripture, whether verbally or through the printed word, was for the first time in recorded history a reality that literally set the world ablaze with God’s message of salvation.

  

One epicenter of this reality was the city of Antioch which, “…became the third largest city of the Roman Empire and the meeting place of the East and West. Greek language and literature were widely disseminated through the Near East and afforded a common medium of culture for oriental and western peoples.” (Tenney)  When the persecution of the church broke out in Jerusalem, it was in this city that the church was ultimately established, and the “…disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” (Acts 11:26)  The missionary journeys of Paul and his companions were launched from this relatively safe base of operations and, “Through the medium of this culture the gospel of Christ was disseminated in the earliest of its missionary endeavors.  With a Greek Bible from which to preach and with the Greek language as its universal medium of communication, it soon reached the outposts of civilization.” (Tenney)  That is what Paul was referring to when he wrote to the church in Rome saying, “…your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.” (Rom 1:8)  We are given abundant references attesting to effectiveness of their communication skills within Scripture. Consider the following passages from the New Testament:  “…from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out…”  (1Th 1:8)  “…These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” (Acts 17:6)  “…a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” (Acts 24:5)  “…concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.” (Acts 28:22)  Truly, it was spoken against everywhere, but it was also embraced and accepted everywhere as well.

Scientific, philosophical, and educational pursuits were not nearly as important to the Romans as they had been to the Greeks.  The Romans were, “…content to confine themselves to such elementary processes as were necessary… The appliances that they possessed, such as ships for navigation and engines of war, had all been invented by the Greeks, from whom they borrowed… Such scientific knowledge as the Romans did possess showed little originality or intellectual curiosity.” (Tenney)  As a result, it was the Greeks who were responsible for the great centers of learning that educated the early church fathers, enabling them to become great Bible scholars, theologians, and educators, which helped to establish the church on a firm theological foundation, and it also ensured that, “…a fair degree of literacy was attained by the people of the first century, and that reading and writing were practiced by the lower classes.” (Tenney)  This is significant because it means that, early Christians were able to read, write, and communicate their understanding of God’s word and his truth, at every level and in every class of Roman society. Nevertheless, despite all of the military conquests, political successes, cultural enrichments, and scientific discoveries that the Graeco-Roman world had achieved, it was still crumbling from within. The moral condition of the Roman Empire was trending, “…downward to indulgence and lawlessness. Human life was cheap and murder was frequent. Divorce was easy to obtain and was generally accepted in society. The exposure of unwanted infants was a common practice… and trickery of every kind flourished… Corruption in politics, debauchery in pleasure, fraud in business, and deceit and superstition in religion made life in Rome depressing for the many and unendurable for the few.” (Tenney)  More than ever before, the stage was set for the entrance of a truth that only God Himself could reveal to the entire world.

As stated in the introduction, Christianity may have appeared from the beginning to be of humble origins, but it was in actuality, the culmination of a convergence of events that encompassed the course of all human history, one that can only be described as divinely orchestrated around the life of Christ, in order to achieve God’s eternal purposes here on this earth, and it is truly a wonder to behold.  The manner in which God used the confluence of the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman civilizations before the time of Christ, in order to prepare the world for His arrival and eventual exaltation to the headship of His Church, is nothing short of spectacular. It is similar to what has been described as the cosmic, ‘fine tuning’ of the universe, the study that examines the catastrophic failures that would occur if even one of the observable intricacies and finely-tuned characteristics that allow life to exist on this planet, were allowed to be suddenly modified in one direction or another, even a fraction of a percentage. Such complexity does not occur by random chance, much less as the result of an explosion of nothing that creates everything.  Life exists on this planet because God created life for just that purpose and function, but He also created life for an even higher purpose than just existing; it was created to bring Him glory by being fruitful in the function for which it was created. In the case of mankind, it was for the purpose of having a meaningful relationship and communion with God Himself, a purpose that was thwarted by effects of man’s sin, which caused a devastating rift in that relationship. The entire Bible is the story of God’s plan to restore that relationship with His creation, a plan that reaches its pinnacle of perfection on the cross at Calvary when Jesus cried out, “IT IS FINISHED!” (John 19:30)  In His quest for reconciliation with you and I, God has moved mountains, He has calmed raging seas, and He has walked on the water.  He has also providentially raised empires and conquered the kingdoms of men, and yes He even, “…gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)  And why did He do this? Because He so loves you.

Works Cited:
Shelley, Bruce. Church History In Plain Language. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
Maclaren, Alexander. Expositions of Holy Scripture. NY, NY: G.H. Doran Co. 1910,
Burge, Gary. Lynn H. Cohick. Gene L. Green. The New Testament in Antiquity. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009,
Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity Vol.1. Revised by Ralph Winter, NY, NY: Harper & Row, 1975,
New King James Version. Holy Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2000,