When we think about preparing for the King in a Biblical sense we might think of John the Baptist.   Matthew 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. When we think about it in more worldly terms, we might think about all the planning and preparation that goes into it.  In ancient times the coming of a king required special preparation. A herald was sent ahead to prepare the road on which the king would be traveling. Holes were filled, rough places made smooth and crooked sections straightened. The same thing happened in more recent times when Queen Elizabeth II visited the Bahamas. In preparation for her coming, the roads she would be traveling on were completely resurfaced.  This can help us understand the passage above in Matthew, but have you considered the preparation that God made for His Son’s arrival?  We often tend to focus on the shorter term and smaller picture, but for this I think we need to step back and take a wider view.

We know through studies in the Old Testament and history that after Israel split into two kingdoms, the Northern and Southern God used Assyria to punish and conquer the Northern Kingdom or Israel and Babylon after defeating Assyria was used to punish the Southern Kingdom or Judah.  Just as God used nations to conquer to punish His people, I also believe that He used this in preparing for the arrival of His Son.  Take a moment to think about what would be needed for the Arrival of Jesus and an effective Ministry.

We are going to skip ahead to about 330 years before birth of Christ the Grecian Empire come into power.  This empire probably had the biggest impact on the Jewish culture than any other extending well past their rule into the time of Christ.  Alexander the Great believed that the Greek culture was the greatest on earth, so he left skilled leaders to establish and cultivate this culture in any area they captured or controlled.  This provided for a common language which became the language of business much like English is today.  The common language also extended into the time of Christ as we know the New Testament was written in Greek. The other thing that the Greeks provided was a at least a level of common culture allowing people to relate to each other in ways that was impossible prior to this. While the impact of the Greeks was great, the rule of the empire was fairly short lived.

Next I want to skip ahead to the Roman Empire.   The Roman Empire was the most powerful in history in both controlling the largest area as well as for the longest period of time.  The influence of the Roman Empire into the world that Christ came was great.  One of the biggest contributions was their ability to establish wide scale peace.  Rather than destroy the Grecian culture Rome incorporated much of what was good and continued to promote it.  Rome established infrastructure that made travel and communication easier than any other time in history.  Romans also instituted a political and legal system that is still in use today.

Back to my question earlier about what would be needed for Jesus to have a successful ministry.  Can we start to see how creating common language, cultures, ease of communication, travel and safety from the ravages of war all create a near perfect environment for Jesus’ arrival and ministry?

When you take a step back in our current world and attempt to look at the big picture what does it appear that God is preparing for now?