Mark13Prepper 🇺🇸

Farmer Girl · Okay, here's something I think we tend to forget when we're reading the Bible. While Jesus was walking around Galilee, teaching people, performing miracles, and occasionally leaving the Pharisees wishing they had just kept their mouths shut, the rest of the world was still going about its business. Seriously. Have you ever stopped to think about what was happening everywhere else in the world while Jesus was here? Because I think sometimes we unintentionally picture the entire ancient world revolving around Jerusalem, with everyone else apparently standing around waiting for the New Testament to be written. Except that's not remotely how history works. There were enormous civilizations, powerful rulers, wars, political upheavals, international trade routes, and ordinary people going about their lives who had absolutely no idea what was happening in a relatively small corner of the Roman Empire. And some of the things happening around the same time are fascinating. First, let's establish our timeline. Most historians place Jesus' birth somewhere around 6–4 BC, although the exact year is debated, and His crucifixion is generally dated to either AD 30 or AD 33. Yes, that means Jesus was probably born several years before what our calendar calls AD 1. Apparently, even our system of numbering years managed to get a little confused. So we're looking primarily at the period from roughly 6 BC to AD 33, give or take a few years. Let's start with Rome. When Jesus was born, Augustus was ruling the Roman Empire. He was its first emperor, having risen to power after decades of civil war. When Augustus died in AD 14, Tiberius succeeded him. Tiberius was the emperor during Jesus' public ministry and crucifixion. Rome had an extensive network of roads, aqueducts, public baths, theaters, and an enormous military. People were conducting business, attending public entertainment, arguing about politics, worrying about money, and complaining about taxes. So apparently, despite two thousand years of supposed progress, we've managed to retain quite a few traditions. But here's something interesting. Julius Caesar had already been dead for several decades when Jesus was born. Cleopatra had died in 30 BC. And the Great Pyramid of Giza? It was already an ancient monument, having been built many centuries before Jesus' lifetime. Think about that. When Mary and Joseph were alive, the pyramids were already part of a distant past. Ancient history was already ancient history. And something else worth mentioning: the Colosseum didn't exist yet. Its construction wouldn't begin until decades after Jesus' crucifixion. The famous destruction of Pompeii by Mount Vesuvius wouldn't happen until AD 79 either. Sometimes we lump everything associated with ancient Rome into one big historical period, even though those events were separated by generations. Meanwhile, over in China, things were getting rather interesting. China was home to the Han Empire, one of the great powers of the ancient world. But in AD 9, when Jesus would have been a child or young teenager, a man named Wang Mang took the throne and established the Xin dynasty. He attempted major political and economic reforms, including changes involving land ownership and currency. Unfortunately for him, things didn't exactly go according to plan. His reign was marked by unrest, rebellion, and serious economic difficulties. In AD 23, he was killed during the collapse of his dynasty. After further struggles for power, the Eastern Han dynasty was established in AD 25. So while Jesus was growing up in Nazareth, China was experiencing an entire dynastic crisis. Different continent. Different languages. Different political systems. And absolutely no international news broadcasts to explain what was happening on the other side of the world. China was also producing silk, maintaining sophisticated government institutions, and participating in extensive trade networks. Chinese silk was highly valued in the Roman world, although the people producing it and the people purchasing it generally knew very little about one another. Imagine being a Roman aristocrat proudly wearing imported silk without having the slightest idea who actually made it. Although, considering how many things we purchase today without knowing where they came from, maybe that's not particularly difficult to imagine. Then there's the Parthian Empire. In regions that include modern-day Iran and surrounding areas, the Parthians controlled a powerful empire that rivaled Rome. They were particularly famous for their cavalry and mounted archers, and they controlled important trade routes connecting different parts of Asia with the Mediterranean world. Rome and Parthia had a rather complicated relationship involving diplomacy, territorial disputes, and the occasional military confrontation. Apparently, two powerful governments disagreeing over who should control what territory is another tradition we've successfully preserved. And while we're talking about the Parthians, it's worth remembering that the world east of the Roman Empire was not some empty wilderness waiting for Rome to discover it. There were established kingdoms, wealthy cities, complex societies, and civilizations with histories stretching back centuries. Over in India, life was continuing on an entirely different scale. The Indian subcontinent was home to numerous kingdoms and regional powers. Trade with the Roman world was flourishing, particularly through routes across the Indian Ocean. Merchants exchanged spices, gemstones, textiles, and other valuable goods. Sailors were using the seasonal monsoon winds to cross the Indian Ocean, connecting ports in India with trading centers linked to Roman Egypt. Buddhism had already existed for centuries, and the religious and philosophical traditions that contributed to Hinduism were continuing to develop. So while Peter and Andrew were casting their fishing nets into the Sea of Galilee, sailors thousands of miles away were navigating the Indian Ocean. And I can't help wondering how many of them were complaining about the weather. Because I suspect that particular human tradition is considerably older than Christianity. And what about Africa? Egypt was under Roman rule during Jesus' lifetime, but Africa was home to many other societies and civilizations. Farther south, in what is now Sudan, the Kingdom of Kush was flourishing, with its royal and cultural center at Meroë. The Kushites had their own rulers, religious traditions, monumental architecture, trade networks, and metalworking industries. This wasn't some newly developing society either. Kushite civilization had a long history stretching back many centuries before Jesus was born. Across other parts of Africa, communities were farming, raising livestock, trading, building settlements, and maintaining their own cultural traditions. Much of their everyday history wasn't preserved in the kinds of written records that survived from Rome, but that certainly doesn't mean nothing was happening. Which brings us to something else I find interesting. What was happening in the Americas? While Jesus was living in the Middle East, people across North, Central, and South America were already establishing communities, farming, trading, developing their own cultures, and generally going about their lives without the slightest idea what was happening on the other side of the world. And before somebody asks how people originally got there, because I know somebody will, there is evidence that a land connection once existed between what is now Siberia and Alaska. This region, called Beringia, provided a possible route for people migrating from Asia into North America. Coastal travel may also have played a role. The precise routes and timing of the earliest migrations remain subjects of research. In what is now central Mexico, Teotihuacan was beginning to grow into what would eventually become one of the largest and most influential cities in the ancient Americas. Its famous pyramids and many of its greatest architectural achievements would develop later, but the settlement was already emerging around this period. In the Maya region of Mesoamerica, communities were establishing ceremonial centers, developing political institutions, and building on existing agricultural and cultural traditions. Their most famous Classic-period achievements would come later, but Maya civilization certainly didn't suddenly appear out of nowhere. Farther south, in what is now Peru, the Nazca culture was emerging. These are the people associated with the famous Nazca Lines, those enormous designs created across the desert landscape. The lines were made over several centuries, so we can't pinpoint which particular designs existed during Jesus' lifetime, but the culture responsible for them was developing around that period. Think about that. While Jesus was growing up in Nazareth, people on the other side of the world were building communities, developing their own religious traditions, raising families, and creating things that archaeologists would still be studying two thousand years later. Meanwhile, in northern Europe, Rome was having a rather unpleasant experience. In AD 9, Germanic forces led by Arminius defeated three Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Three legions. For an empire that prided itself on military strength, that was a rather significant problem. The defeat had lasting consequences for Roman military policy and its northern frontier. So while Jesus was still young, one of the most powerful empires in the world was dealing with a devastating military disaster. And elsewhere across Europe, Germanic and Celtic communities were farming, trading, raising livestock, fighting wars, and going about their ordinary lives. Which, knowing livestock, probably included somebody chasing an animal that had absolutely no intention of going where it was supposed to go. Some struggles really are universal. But here's where all of this gets interesting to me. We tend to study history by looking at the important people. Emperors. Kings. Generals. Political leaders. People who conquered territories, built monuments, or managed to get their names recorded somewhere. But those people represented only a tiny fraction of the world's population. What about everybody else? Somewhere in China, a mother was trying to comfort a crying baby. Somewhere in Africa, a farmer was watching the sky and wondering whether there would be enough rain. Somewhere in India, a merchant was hoping to make enough money to provide for his family. Somewhere in the Americas, a child was learning something from a parent. Somewhere in northern Europe, somebody was probably having a disagreement with a neighbor over livestock. And in Nazareth, Mary was raising a little boy. A little boy who needed to be fed, clothed, and cared for. A little boy who grew up in a real household, in a real community, surrounded by ordinary people who had their own responsibilities, struggles, and concerns. We know who Jesus is because we have the benefit of looking backward through history and reading the Scriptures. But imagine living during that time without knowing what would happen next. Most people in the Roman Empire probably never heard of Jesus during His earthly ministry. And people living thousands of miles away certainly weren't receiving daily updates about a Jewish teacher traveling around Galilee. They were busy. Busy with politics. Busy with wars. Busy with trade. Busy with their families. Busy trying to survive. Busy worrying about things that probably seemed incredibly important at the time. And isn't that interesting? Because when we look back at history, we tend to measure importance by how much attention something received. The biggest empires. The most powerful rulers. The greatest military victories. The wealthiest cities. Yet from a Christian perspective, the most significant event in human history wasn't taking place in an imperial palace or on some enormous battlefield. It was unfolding through the life of a man who grew up in an ordinary Jewish household, worked with His hands, traveled on foot, taught ordinary people, welcomed children, healed the sick, and eventually was crucified under Roman authority. John writes, "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him" (John 1:10). I think that verse becomes even more remarkable when we consider just how much world there was beyond the places mentioned in the Gospels. And I also think it's worth remembering that God wasn't somehow absent from the rest of the world simply because the Bible focuses our attention on a particular people and place. Scripture tells us that God is the Creator and Sustainer of everything, not merely the places where biblical events occurred. Paul later explained, "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place" (Acts 17:26). Every nation. Every civilization. Every generation. The people living in China, India, Africa, Europe, and the Americas were not outside God's creation or beyond His knowledge simply because they weren't mentioned individually in the Gospel accounts. And that brings me to something I think we can learn from all of this. We spend an enormous amount of time worrying about what's happening in the world. Who's in power. Which country is fighting which country. What the economy is doing. What disaster is going to happen next. Which political leader said something ridiculous this morning. And I'm not saying those things don't matter. They do. They affect real people and real lives. But imagine being alive during the reign of Augustus or Tiberius. Imagine believing that the future of the world depended entirely on the decisions being made in Rome. Meanwhile, in a relatively small province of that enormous empire, Jesus was accomplishing something that no emperor, general, or political institution could accomplish. And most of the world didn't even realize it was happening. Two thousand years later, the Roman Empire is gone. The Han dynasty is gone. The Parthian Empire is gone. Countless rulers who once believed themselves enormously important are now little more than names in history books, assuming their names were recorded at all. But we're still talking about Jesus. Not because He commanded the largest army, controlled the greatest territory, or accumulated the most wealth. But because He came to save sinners. And maybe that's something worth remembering when we look at our own world and wonder whether God is doing anything while everything seems to be falling apart. Because the world has never stopped being busy. There have always been wars, political disputes, economic problems, powerful people making questionable decisions, and ordinary people trying to make it through another day. And throughout all of it, God has never lost control. The world didn't stop turning when Jesus was born. Empires didn't stop fighting. Merchants didn't stop trading. Farmers didn't stop farming. People didn't stop worrying about tomorrow. Most of the world didn't even notice. But God was accomplishing His purposes anyway. And He still is.