DID THEY THINK IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE?    

Victor M. Eskew

 

            Our Lord chose twelve men to be His apostles.  “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alpheus, and Lebbeus, whose surname was Thaddens; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him” (Matt. 10:2-4).  These men were very common men for the most part.  Many of them were fishermen.  They lived in the district of Galilee.  They had families.  They had struggles in their lives.  They had weaknesses.  Each one had his own personality.  They had to fight temptation.  Their faith was sometimes very strong.  At other times, their faith wavered and doubt filled their minds.  They were not rich.  They did not attend the rabbinical schools.  They were just regular men who were conducting their lives under the system of Judaism.

            These men lived and labored with Jesus for about three and a half years.  They heard his teachings.  They saw His works.  They interacted with Him day and night.  John describes his time with Jesus with these words:  “…which we have heard, which we have seen, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled…” (I John 1:1).  They were closer to Jesus physically than any other human beings ever had been.  Yet, when Jesus was killed by the Jews, they struggled.  They locked themselves away for fear of the Jews (John 20:19).  Some wanted to return to their fishing businesses (John 21:3).  Their hopes were crushed.  Again, they evidenced they were just regular men.  Their spiritual man was not always strong.  Faith did not prevail on every occasion.

            It was this group of men who were commissioned by the Christ to take the gospel into the whole world.  Matthew’s gospel reveals that Jesus told them to teach “all nations.”  “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:  and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:18-20).  Mark’s gospel reveals that Jesus commanded them to take the gospel to every creature in the world.  “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). 

            When those men heard these words, what did they think?  Did they think the mission was impossible?  Did they think the task was too great?  Did hundreds of questions swirl in their minds?  How can twelve men go into all the world?  How can twelve men teach the gospel to every creature?  We do not have the financial resources to cover such a vast area.  Most people are not going to be interested in hearing twelve Jews from Galilee.  How are we going to remember everything that Jesus said to us?  What about our families?  Look what happened to Jesus.  The same is going to happen to us.  There is just no way this is going to work.  This is an impossible task for us to complete.  These thoughts and others could have entered into their minds.  Remember, they were just common men. 

            Their actions, however, never indicate that they believed their task to be impossible.  Jesus told them to go to Jerusalem to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4).  They went to Jerusalem (Acts 1:12).  Jesus told them to begin in Jerusalem to make the message known (Acts 1:8).  They did just as He commanded and began to preach the gospel in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4, 14, 22).  Jesus instructed them to leave Jerusalem and go into Judea, into Samaria, and into the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8).  The book of Acts reveals the apostles following our Lord’s instructions to the letter.  Paul, an apostle born out of due season, also fulfilled his obligations.  In Colossians 1:23, he wrote:  “…and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.”  Paul went where he was instructed and allowed to go by God.  So did the other apostles.  The good news of salvation in Jesus Christ was made known throughout the world.  The apostles did not allow the magnitude of the task to deter them.  They did not allow any doubts they might have had to stop them.  They did not allow any obstacles to cause them to quit.  They went forth into the world and preached the gospel to every creature.  They fulfilled the Great Commission.

 

            What enabled these men to succeed?  God was with them in their labors.  If they placed their faith in God and obeyed, Jesus promised to be with them.  Remember the Lord’s words:  “…and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matt. 28:20).  God is the God of the impossible.  God gave these men a huge task so they would understand they could not do it all by themselves.  To spread the news of salvation, God had to be with them.  He assisted them in doing what seemed to be the impossible.

            As we look at the work of evangelism, we often view it as being impossible.  We say all kinds of doubtful things.  We are small.  People are not interested.  It takes too much money.  We’ve tried things in the past.  The laws are against us.  People are different now.  On and on our list goes, convincing us that it is impossible to evangelize the lost.  Dear readers, the odds were against the apostles.  Perhaps the odds were against them even more than they are against us.  They were only twelve in number.  They did not have modern means of travel.  They did not have the printing press.  They did not have mass media.  Yet, they did it.  Why?  Because they trusted the God of the impossible.  Their obedience joined hands with God and the lost were reached.  They filled Jerusalem with their doctrine (Acts 5:28).  They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6).  When we trust the God of the impossible as they did, we, too, will take the gospel to every creature in every nation in the world.