Mission: Impossible

Whenever I see those words, "Mission Impossible,*" I remember Peter Graves and his weekly mission. "If you should accept it," well, that was always a given because he always did. Jim Phelps was always the best at what he did. Which brings me to another mission, impossible...or so it looks on the outside.

The Bible is rife with examples of impossible missions, starting with Noah. So...tell me just how impossible it is for a vintner to build a boat? The interesting thing is, up until that time, the earth didn't have rain, so boats weren't needed, much less known. Now, if this isn't impossible enough, Noah was right about 500 years old when God told him to build the Ark, then told him to gather all the animals of the earth...two by two, except the 'clean' animals, of which he was to gather by sevens. He endured the ridicule of the people around him, but he also did what God told him to do. At the end of his work creating the Ark, the animals were gathered, the food gathered for the animals and the humans, and all entered the Ark. Then God shut the door, and the rain began to pour. For forty days, and forty nights, it rained and flooded the entire earth, and after one year, God dried up the waters, the door to the Ark was opened, and the animals released. The humans, Noah, his wife, sons, and daughters-in-law, left the Ark with the command to be fruitful and multiply, to replenish the earth. I'm sorry, but even at near 60 years old, I can't possibly imagine me embarking on such a project, much less a 500 year old. In my opinion, that was a pretty impossible mission.

Then there's Abram and Sarai, Abraham, and Sarah are the names we're most familiar with. At 99 years old, Abram was told he would become a father, having a child from his own flesh, with Sarai, who was 90. Now, looking at that, I remember back to when I had my own children, and reflect on what a handful they were, and how tired I was at the end of the day...and I was in my 20's and 30's. Sarai was 90...yeah. I don't know about you, but that teeters on impossible in and of itself, not to mention the fact that at 90, a woman, at least these days, has gone from child-bearing years, to menopausal, to, not child-bearing years, and yet, she had Isaac, from whom the Nation of Israel was eventually established.

From Isaac, to Esau and Jacob (Israel), to Joseph, and on down the line, God did some pretty impressive stuff. Then we come to Moses.

Moses was born during a time that baby boys were killed just for being born. His mother made a basket of reeds, and put Moses into it, and let him float away on the Nile. As it happened, his sister watched him float away, and right into Pharaoh's daughter's path. She recovered him, and it was at this time that Mariam came to her and asked her if she needed someone to nurse him. She then ran and got her mother, who was able to see that Moses was nourished, then weaned, then she presented him back to Pharaoh's daughter, who raised him as her own. After he grew up, Moses was told by God to lead the people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. Once Pharaoh let the people go, which in and of itself was a pretty impossible mission, the people came to the Red Sea. With no way to get across without Pharaoh's army catching up to them and overtaking them, the people panicked. Again, another situation that seemed insurmountable, but God. By God's command, Moses parted the Red Sea and the Nation of Israel crossed over on dry land. Pharaoh's army? We could say they were lost at sea.
Another impossibility? Wandering in the desert for 40 years, and there was never a lack of food, water or clothing...even their shoes lasted for that 40 years.

There are a lot more of these missions that to us seem ridiculously hard, and not even plausible, much less possible, but for now, I'm skipping over those to the greatest impossibility of them all. Jesus.

All through the Old Testament, there have been prophesies regarding the coming Messiah. So much so, that if one had paid attention, they would have spotted Him in an instant, but there was always something that stood in their way of understanding. Let's start with John. Elizabeth was, according to Scriptures, well past the age of child-bearing. Hmm, where did we see that one before?
She hid herself for five months after conceiving, the Bible really doesn't explain why. Then, here comes Mary.
Mary, a virgin was visited by the Arch Angel, Gabriel...the same one who visited Zechariah in the temple and announced the coming of John. Historians believe that Mary was roughly between 13 and 15 when this visit occurred, as this was the common age for betrothal. Then, after this happened, Gabriel visited Joseph to make sure that he didn't get caught unaware. After all of this, Mary went to visit Elizabeth, who by that time was in her sixth month of pregnancy, and the baby jumped in her womb at the sound of Mary's voice. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for a few months, the Bible doesn't exactly say when she went back to Joseph, but when it was time for the census, the two of them travelled to Bethlehem, Mary on the back of a donkey. At full term. Then, because all of the Inns were full because of the census, Mary had to give birth in a stable. Now comes an interesting part that most people don't realize...this is the part where Jesus' death is prophesied.

During Biblical times, women who were with child often didn't survive childbirth, so they travelled with their own burying cloths, known as swaddling. Mary didn't have blankets for Jesus, so she wrapped Him in her burial cloths, the swaddling. The shepherds, which were pretty much the lowest class of folks, were the first to witness the newborn King. The star, which guided the Magi from the East was, by scientific theory, perhaps the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, a comet, a new star in the constellation Aquila, or possibly the appearance of Uranus. Regardless, three astronomers from the Babylonian empire travelled to Bethlehem, and left Frankincense, gold and Myrrh. The frankincense,  a symbol of Deity...Jesus being fully God. The gold, a symbol of kingship, Jesus is King of Kings, and myrrh is an embalming oil, something that was taken to the empty tomb to anoint Jesus' body after His death on the Cross. These three gifts were left with Mary, and symbolized who Jesus is, and that He would die, even though He was fully God.
Jesus lived a sinless life. Imagine that one. I don't know one person who hasn't had a bad thought, an angry word, misbehaviour, in short, all have sinned, there is none righteous, no not one. Except Jesus. Now, up to this point still no one has seen the connection to Him and the ancient prophecies. Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies regarding the Messiah. According to Hebrew tradition, in order for a prophecy to be acknowledged, it must be fulfilled 100%. There are many prophecies regarding Jesus, but most focus on 61 of them. The odds of one person fulfilling all 61 of those is impossible. There are over 300 references to the 61 prophecies, and Jesus fulfilled every one of them.  The odds, as calculated by one mathematician are one in one trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion. In other words, that's doggone impossible, but Jesus fulfilled each and every one of them, 100%. ** (a, b, c)

Now I wrote all of this to show you something. I was challenged to read the Christmas story, and to write down one sentence only of what I got out of it, and this is what I got. The Bible is over-flowing with impossible missions, yet there is one constant there. God. In Luke 1:37 there is one sentence that sums it all up, "For with God nothing is impossible."

Is your life, your circumstances in the option box of "impossible?" Nothing goes right, and there is no way that you, on your own can fix that? This, my friend is a fact...on your own, some things are impossible, but with God, there is nothing that is impossible. If He can take a 500 year old man and have him build a massive boat, a 90 year old woman, and one out of child-bearing years can give birth...if He can have an entire Nation cross from one side of the Red Sea to the other, on dry land; if He can save the entire nation of Egypt by the hand of a "dreamer," then what can't He do for you?

By ourselves, there are things we can't do, but with God, nothing is an impossible mission.

*Mission: Impossible
Television series, 1966-1973
Desilu Studios

**excerpted from the Y-Jesus article The Path of the Prophets: Was Jesus the Messiah?
(a) Lee Strobel, The Case for Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000), 262
(b) Peter W. Stoner, Science Speaks (Chicago: Moody Press, 1958), 97-110
(c) Stoner, 5