Jesus said, “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.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” ~ Mark 10:25-27
Every year the Pacific Golden Plover, a ½ pound bird about the size of a dove, makes an eighty-eight-hour trip over open ocean from Alaska to Hawaii. It loses half its body weight during the non-stop journey! That’s impossible, one might say. Scientists have been awestruck by what this little bird does year after year after year, but that’s the creative work of the almighty God. He makes the impossible possible.
Jesus’ disciples had just watched a very rich man walk away from Jesus with a sad and heavy heart. He was not willing to give up his love for wealth in order to follow Jesus. That’s when Jesus said, “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.” When the disciples heard that, they were surprised and wondered, “Who then can be saved?” If it’s almost impossible for rich people with all of their money and possessions to be saved, well, then, who can be saved? What about all the lesser privileged people of this world? How will they ever get to heaven?
“With man this is impossible,” Jesus replied. Jesus was reminding his followers that it is simply impossible for people to buy their way into heaven. They can’t purchase a place in heaven with their money or with their good deeds. Heaven’s rest and joy simply can’t be bought or earned by sinful human beings no matter how rich or how good they are.
Why? Because our debt of sin is too great. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The only thing we can earn with our life, no matter how rich or poor in money, no matter how rich or poor in good deeds, is the way to hell. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). When it comes to getting to heaven by what we do or what we have, Jesus says, “With man this is impossible.”
“But not with God; all things are possible with God.” God sent his Son Jesus into this world to live the sinless life we could not live, and he credits us with Christ’s sinless life. Jesus also took the curse of hell that we deserve for our sins. That means that through Jesus we are freed from eternal death in hell. Heaven that was and is impossible for us to attain by ourselves, was purchased for us by God through the life and death of his Son, Jesus Christ.
The impossible is possible with Christ. Listen to God’s Word of promise: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). That’s our almighty God at work with his saving love for you and me.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for making my eternal salvation a reality through Jesus Christ who lived, died and rose again to save me. May I praise you with my words and works of love for making the impossible possible through Jesus. Amen.
Living Hope Church 