The Death That Changed the World

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

The world's greatest demonstration of love, which began with the birth of Jesus, culminated in the death of Jesus. His ultimate death, in fact, was the purpose of His birth. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up" (John 3:14).

Death is commonplace. Of the estimated 100 billion people born since the beginning of time, 93 billion of them have died. Apart from the rapture, the same fate awaits the 7 billion who now live. While other factors in life may vary greatly, the mortality rate is 100%.

With death being so ordinary and universal, what made Jesus' death different? Why did His death change the world?

First, Jesus was no ordinary person who died. He was God incarnate. In his sermon, Stephen calls Jesus "the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become" (Acts 7:52). People die, but gods don't die. Even the death of a renowned person such as a king is noteworthy. How much more the death of the Son of God!

Second, Jesus' death was prophesied in abundance and in great detail. These prophecies began way back in Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel." Additional prophecies include the following: Jesus would be betrayed by a friend, the amount paid for the betrayal, the brutal treatment of Jesus, His silent response, His identification as a criminal, the method of His death, the battered condition of His body, the gambling for His clothing, the separation from God, and the facts of His burial.

Third, Jesus knew He would be killed. As the time approached, He knew when it would happen, and He continued willingly toward the cross. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, full knowing that the event would set in place the steps toward His death (John 11, especially vs. 4, 8, 47-57). Days later, He acknowledged, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified" (John 12:23). In His knowledge, Jesus tried to prepare His disciples for His imminent death (John 13:3, 19, 33, etc.).

Fourth, Jesus was executed although innocent. While some regimes and cultures throughout history have certainly been exceptional, execution is not a common way to die. According to Amnesty International, in the range 2007-2012, just over 3,000 people were executed world-wide, not including estimated thousands in China. There are cases where those accused are executed wrongfully, but the vast majority are guilty at least to some degree. Not only was Jesus innocent, but He was the most innocent person ever to walk on this planet. "He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth" (Isaiah 53:9). Rather, it was well-known that He had performed "miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him" (Acts 2:22). Even the ruler who condemned Him to death proclaimed, "I find no guilt in Him" (John 18:38).

Fifth, Jesus gave up His life. As God, He had the power to hold on to life. In general, people fight to stay alive. The two other men crucified at the same time as Jesus clung to life. Soldiers had to break their legs to hasten the process of death, but Jesus was already dead. "The soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs" (John 19:33-34). Jesus was already dead because He had chosen to die. "He said, 'It is finished!' And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit" (John 19:30).

Sixth, extraordinary events accompanied the death of Jesus. Darkness fell for three hours in the middle of the day. The veil of the temple was supernaturally torn from top to bottom. A rock-shattering earthquake shook the area. Dead saints were temporarily resurrected to walk through the city. As the centurion and other guards with him observed "the things that were happening, [they] became very frightened and said, 'Truly this was the Son of God!'" (Matthew 27:54).

Seventh, Jesus rose from dead. Because He was God, the grave could not hold Him. After three days, angels rolled away the stone that covered the door of Jesus' tomb. When they did so, they revealed an empty tomb, as the Savior had taken His life back again. "I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again" (John 10: 17-18).

Eighth, the death of Jesus results in salvation for mankind. The holy Son of God died not for His own transgressions, but for those of others who had no hope of ever saving themselves. "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed" (I Peter 2:24). No one else could have done what Jesus did. The gift of love that began at the season celebrated as Christmas culminated in the gift of love that was fulfilled at the season celebrated as Easter. Through God's love and through Jesus' death, the greatest possible gift has been offered to all who will accept it. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).

Hallelujah! What a Savior! Hallelujah! What a death!

The Birth That Changed the World

Many, many babies are born every day. For each individual family, the birth is very special; viewed globally, however, births are very common and ordinary. One doctor could easily deliver 250 to 300 babies in a single year.

Estimates are difficult, especially with the skewing done by evolution-based math, but low estimates assume over 100,000,000,000 babies born in the history of the world. What is one birth in comparison?

The estimated world population at the time of Christ was around 200,000,000. Using a birth rate of forty births annually per 1000 population (my estimation based on recent birth rates of under-developed countries and birth rates of 100 years ago), there would have been approximately 8,000,000 babies born globally that year. What is one birth in comparison?

The estimated population of Palestine at the time of Christ was around 500,000. This would allow for approximately 20,000 births that year in Palestine alone. What is one birth in comparison?

The small town of Bethlehem had an estimated population of between 300 and 1000. Using 500 as the figure, there would have been approximately twenty births in Bethlehem that year. Even on such a small scale, what is one birth in comparison?

The answer is that the birth of Christ was unique. In the history of the world, there has never been a birth like His. The other twenty births in Bethlehem could not rival His. Not one of the 20,000 births in Palestine was like His. Of the 8,000,000 babies born in the world that year, none of them could compare to the birth of Jesus. Of the 100,000,000,000 babies born over the history of the world, one birth alone stands alone as warranting special attention and admiration. The birth of Jesus truly changed the world.

Consider these statements made about the birth of Jesus. Not one of these statements can be made of any other person in history.

·         "Jesus the Messiah" (Matthew 1:1).

·         "His mother Mary ... was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:18).
·         "The Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20).
·         "You will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).
·         "We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him" (Matthew 2:2).
·         "A ruler who will shepherd my people Israel" (Matthew 2:6).
·         "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end" (Luke 1:32-33).
·         "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35).
·         "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant" (Luke 1:68-69).
·         "The Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace" (Luke 1:78-79).
·         "I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11).
·         "My eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel" (Luke 2:30-32).
·         "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel" (Luke 2:34).
·         "[Anna] continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem" (Luke 2:38).
·         "There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man" (John 1:9).
·         "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).
·         "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

Hallelujah! What a Savior! Hallelujah! What a birth!

The Tax That Changed the World

Taxes are evil! No one likes taxes. A rallying cry for the U.S. Revolution was "No taxation without representation." The elder President  Bush was famous for promising, "Read my lips. No new taxes." Some taxes, like sales tax and gas tax, are so built-in that it is possible to forget about them. Others, like income tax and property tax, are much more noticeable and significant. Is there any tax that is actually good and that can be viewed in any positive light?

"Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census should be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth" (Luke 2:1-6). It is commonly assumed (and implied by the Greek wording) that this census was linked to a taxation; the familiar rendering of the KJV reads, "That all the world should be taxed. ... And this taxing was first made. ... And all went to be taxed."

This particular tax mattered. In fact, it was pivotal in the history of the world - not merely because it was the first of its kind, but on a far grander level, because it set up the conditions necessary for the birth of the Messiah. Approximately 700 years before the birth of Christ, God had foretold, "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity" (Micah 5:2). Mary, who was carrying the Child, and Joseph her fiancée lived in Nazareth, seventy miles away. The actual connection by road likely required over ninety miles of travel. At a walking pace of three miles per hour, the trip would have required five six-hour days.

Why would a young couple travel for a week under the travel conditions of that era to get to a place that had little connection to them, particularly at a time when the woman was very pregnant? They wouldn't, unless they were compelled. God needed them in Bethlehem in order to fulfill prophecy, so He compelled them by directing a powerful world leader to enact a tax that was both unwelcome in its reality and inconvenient in its implementation.

God knew when the time was right. In modern medicine, doctors can still only estimate the time of birth, but God knew Mary's due date precisely. God knew when the Messiah's forerunner, John the Baptist, would be born and would start his ministry. God knew when the world would be at relative peace, unified by language and transportation, making conditions advantageous for the spread of the gospel. God knew when the Jewish people would be looking expectantly for their Messiah, having already faced captivity and now being under oppressors again. God knew when the age of law would have clearly demonstrated its ineffectiveness, as the Jews had gone through periods of unbelief and empty ritual, always unable to keep the law's demands.

Ultimately, God knew precisely the time line that He Himself had laid out in Daniel 9, and He directed all these aspects of history - personal, Jewish, and world - to come together at the right time. "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons" (Galatians 4:4). God had a very definite and precise plan, and He brought that plan to fruition by whispering into the mind of Caesar Augustus that he ought to institute a world-wide census and that he should facilitate that census by causing people to have to travel to designated locations within certain time constraints.

Under the sovereign design of God, a tax changed the world forever by serving as the framework for the birth of the Savior. Joseph, Mary, and the others of their day probably didn't like the tax any more than people of today like the taxes required of them. Joseph and Mary found their compulsory trip uncomfortable and inconvenient, but God accomplished through that taxation and through that trip something beyond what the people of that time could understand.

The same sovereign God continues today to use uncomfortable and inconvenient things for His purposes. He continues to work through (and even initiate) the actions of governments and other leaders. When God has a plan to accomplish, nothing can stop Him. Furthermore, everyone and everything yields to His superintendence. God is in control!

"The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, 'Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand'" (Isaiah 14:24).

The Purity That Changed the World

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).

I have heard (and I assume it is true) that the Jewish people were very aware of this prophecy. I have also heard that this prophecy would have held special interest for young girls, as they anticipated the possibility that they might be the one. I don't know how common that fantasizing or imagining actually was, but there must have been some girls and some parents who wondered if their family could be involved in the fulfillment of this prophecy.

The prophecy was ultimately fulfilled through a young Nazarene lady named Mary. There was obviously a miraculous aspect to the conception of Christ, but there was also a requirement on the part of Mary. She had to be a virgin.

I did a small amount of research on recent statistics in the U.S. In 1991, 45.9% of high school students (grades 9-12) were still virgins. By 2013, that number had risen to 53.2%, still barely half. A study done in 2014 found that only 17% of women age twenty-two were virgins, and in 2017 it was reported that the average age when females lost that status was 17.2 years old. An undated report gave the following breakdown for loss of virginity in females: 26% by age fifteen, 40% by age sixteen, 49% by age seventeen, and 70% by age eighteen. While the various studies differed somewhat in their guidelines and even in their results, the consensus is that approximately half of girls are no longer virgins when they graduate from high school.

There is no way of knowing how common it was for young ladies in Mary's culture and historic setting to meet such a requirement. Perhaps a general idea could be gained through ancient histories. We would like to think that people were more moral back then, particularly within the Jewish system. People have always been sinners, however, and the sad reality is that ever since the Fall, young men and ladies have fallen short of that standard in great numbers.

Mary was almost certainly in the age range discussed above. She did not give in to pressure, even though she was engaged. She did not become part of the immorality around her and did not succumb to her fleshly desires. Mary made that decision and commitment because it was right; she didn't know she would be chosen to bear the Messiah. She was just a young lady trying to do right before God.

While she met the criteria of being a virgin, that was not the only reason she was chosen. Mary was a "favored one" in the eyes of God (Luke 1:28). She was humbly willing to do God's bidding. She responded, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). These were not words to be spoken lightly. Her resulting pregnancy could have had significant consequences in regard to the rest of her life. She certainly did not know how Joseph would respond. She fully yielded, however, to what God asked of her.

Like He did with Mary, God calls all Christians to holiness and submission; believers would do well to follow her example in both areas. God instructs, "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (I Peter 1:16). This concept permeates the Scriptures, as God asks His children to be set apart, purified, and pursuing godliness. The Bible gives specific requirements for certain people, such as pastors and church leaders. There is no doubt that God forgives sins, even sins that are considered particularly offensive; God is merciful. There are times, however, when certain opportunities for service could be forfeited, just as Mary would not have been able to carry the Messiah if she had not been a virgin.

When opportunities for service do come to those who are qualified to fill them, they must like Mary have a humble and submissive response. It is not up to individuals to determine precisely how God will use them. His plan might be far different from their preferences, and it may not even line up with what they think their talents are. What God asks may bring risks, and it might mean hardship, opposition, fear, and misunderstanding. The only appropriate response is "Yes, Lord."

While Mary provides a good example of being both qualified and willing for service, I want to focus also on God's role. When God promises something, He is able to do it. It doesn't matter how unusual or socially aberrant the conditions are. God makes sure there is a way to carry out His plans. If He says there will be a godly virgin available at the right time, there will be. If He says a chosen godly virgin will supernaturally bear a child, it will come to pass just as He has said.

Culture can't stop the plans of God. Individuals can't stop the plans of God. Governments can't stop the plans of God. Nothing can stop what God has determined. "For nothing will be impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). On the other side of that same coin, it was absolutely imperative that Mary remain a virgin. Her purity became part of God's plan that changed the entire history of the world. It mattered immensely that she did what was right.

Christians today are also called to holiness, but holiness is possible only because the Holy One came to make the way for sinners to become His holy and redeemed children. When God sent the Savior, He changed everything!