The disciples were right to be stunned by Jesus. He had just told them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:24-25). You can hear the shock in their voice when they ask, “Who then can be saved?” You can imagine their surprise when he replied, “With man this is impossible.”
Various attempts to soften Jesus’ words have been made, but the disciple’s reaction shows that they understood the full force of what he meant. Some have tried to shift his attention solely upon “the rich”, believing they are then unaffected by the brunt of what he said, but Jesus never qualifies his statement. Indeed, any attempts by most people living within the United States to distance themselves from being among the rich prove unconvincing. With almost half the population of the world living on less than $2 a day, if his words
were only for the rich (they are not), then almost no one living in our country would be exempt from the language we find in Mark. There is a story told of a foreign dignitary who visited our country. After touring some of our largest cities he was asked what impressed him most. He quickly replied that he was amazed at our grocery stores. Having food so readily accessible is just one of countless resources we enjoy in the United States.
But Jesus words are not for a select group of people, they are for all people. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is to enter the kingdom of God. There is simply no getting around his words that it is “impossible”.
Believe it or not, his words should give us great hope! Because it is impossible for you or for me to enter the kingdom of God on our own, there is nothing that we have to do. Indeed, Jesus concludes his teaching by saying, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). All that is left is to simply trust in his grace, to trust that what he did upon the cross completed the work that needed to be done on our behalf. We simply receive that grace by faith and then live in the joy of being reconciled to God.
Man’s countless attempts at religion have not changed the meaning of Jesus’ words one bit; there is nothing a person can do to enter the kingdom of God. Only through the gift of Jesus’ can the impossible be made possible. To simply rest in the message of the gospel is all we are called to do. By making the impossible possible, he showed us amazing grace indeed!
Various attempts to soften Jesus’ words have been made, but the disciple’s reaction shows that they understood the full force of what he meant. Some have tried to shift his attention solely upon “the rich”, believing they are then unaffected by the brunt of what he said, but Jesus never qualifies his statement. Indeed, any attempts by most people living within the United States to distance themselves from being among the rich prove unconvincing. With almost half the population of the world living on less than $2 a day, if his words
were only for the rich (they are not), then almost no one living in our country would be exempt from the language we find in Mark. There is a story told of a foreign dignitary who visited our country. After touring some of our largest cities he was asked what impressed him most. He quickly replied that he was amazed at our grocery stores. Having food so readily accessible is just one of countless resources we enjoy in the United States.
But Jesus words are not for a select group of people, they are for all people. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is to enter the kingdom of God. There is simply no getting around his words that it is “impossible”.
Believe it or not, his words should give us great hope! Because it is impossible for you or for me to enter the kingdom of God on our own, there is nothing that we have to do. Indeed, Jesus concludes his teaching by saying, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). All that is left is to simply trust in his grace, to trust that what he did upon the cross completed the work that needed to be done on our behalf. We simply receive that grace by faith and then live in the joy of being reconciled to God.
Man’s countless attempts at religion have not changed the meaning of Jesus’ words one bit; there is nothing a person can do to enter the kingdom of God. Only through the gift of Jesus’ can the impossible be made possible. To simply rest in the message of the gospel is all we are called to do. By making the impossible possible, he showed us amazing grace indeed!
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