-THE LIFE OF CHRIST - Additional Background Information

-Let’s very briefly consider some additional information that relates to the life of our Saviour. 

Much, much more could be addressed with each of the following topics, but for the purpose of this

study, we will briefly summarize each.

-Galatians 4:4-5 tells us, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,

made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might

receive the adoption of sons.”  This reveals to us that the specific time that God sent Jesus to this

earth was the right time.  Many, many factors (including many that go beyond our knowledge)

contributed to this timing.  One of which, was the existence of the Roman Empire.

-The Roman Empire

-“Although on a superficial glance the Roman empire may seem the greatest enemy of early

Christianity, and at times a bitter persecutor, yet it was in many ways the grandest preparation

and in some ways the best ally of Christianity” (ISBE).

-Let’s note a few of the beneficial factors brought about through the Roman rule:

      -A Time of Peace – Under the Roman empire, there was an overall atmosphere of peace rare

        to the region.  The area had not known consistent peace since the rule of Alexander the Great

        which ended in 323 B.C.  Therefore, the peace that existed under the Roman empire (which

        began in 63 B.C.) had not been experienced for approximately two-and-a-half centuries.

-Travel – Due to the peaceful situation, travel from country to country was made possible. 

        Also, the Romans built many roads (hence the phrase, “All roads lead to Rome”).  These factors

        would prove to be beneficial to the ministry of Jesus and then the spreading of the Gospel.  

-Political in Nature – During the life of Christ, the Romans were primarily focused on

  keeping the peace.  Therefore, their focus was political in nature and not religious.  As a

  result, they were not overly concerned with the matters of the Law nor the teachings of

  Jesus but primarily left those matters to the Jews.  This “allowed” Jesus to speak openly and

  publicly.  At the same time, the people could openly listen to and follow Jesus if they so chose

  without fear of retribution from the Romans. However, after the time involving the life of

  Christ this situation changed, the Roman government became religiously involved and as a

  result the early Christians suffered severe persecution.

-Common Language -Even though the official language of the Romans was Latin, they did not

        try to force it upon the people they conquered.  Therefore, the Greek language which had

        developed under the Greek empire, resulting initially from the conquests of Alexander the

        Great, remained the common language.  This language is referred to as Koine (common)

        Greek and is distinguished from Classical Greek.  Koine Greek eventually became a “dead”

        language.  Therefore, since the New Testament scriptures were originally recorded in this

        Koine Greek, the meaning of the words then remain the same today.  Had the language

        continued to exist for a long period of time, it would have gone through transformations and

        the precise meanings would have been harder to discern.  It is interesting to note that the sign

        placed on the cross when Jesus was crucified contained “Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin” (John

        19:20).  Hebrew related to the Jews, Greek was the overall common language and Latin was

        the language of the Romans.