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| Holbein - An Allegory of the Old and New Testaments |
And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For 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.” And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?” But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:24-27).
When the rich young ruler came to Jesus and asked Him what he must do to gain eternal life, he probably did not expect the answer he got. He was probably respected in the synagogue and prominent in the community at large. He probably expected an answer from Jesus more like one he would have gotten from the Pharisees: one that validated him. He was, after all, rich and powerful. We all know that if you are rich it means God loves you, and if you aren’t, He doesn’t. The Pharisees certainly thought they knew this, along with most of the pagan secular world. Jesus destroys this misconception.
The rich young ruler probably really thought, as we do, that he wasn’t guilty of breaking the Commandments. Look at the commandments Jesus names. Can’t you hear the rich young ruler’s thoughts? He thinks like we do. I’ve never cheated on my wife. I’ve never unjustifiably killed anyone. I’ve never taken anything that didn’t belong to me. Maybe we’ve never physically had sex with someone who wasn’t our spouse, strangled the life out of a man, or committed armed robbery. Jesus points out that the law still condemns us. Out of the heart comes all manner of evil and uncleanness.[1] If you have fantasized about a woman you are an adulterer; if you hate your brother, you are a murderer.[2] If you have failed to keep one command, you’ve broken them all.[3] Jesus shows the rich young ruler, in three sentences, that his god was his wealth. He broke the First Commandment: Thou shalt have no other gods. He did not fear, love, and trust in God above all things, particularly his wealth. He was just as filthy a sinner as all the rest of the filthy sinners, including us.
If a rich guy can’t get into heaven, what hope does anyone else have? None. That’s Jesus’ point. It’s impossible. All of it. We can’t keep from sinning;[4] we are conceived and born in sin.[5] It is our natural state.[6] We can’t pay for our sin.[7] The things which are impossible with men, however, are possible with God. God puts down the mighty from their seats, and exalts those of low degree.[8] He uses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise.[9] The rich young ruler, and others like him, put their confidence for their eternal salvation into wealth, status, and power. We put ours in Christ crucified. This is ridiculous to the unbelieving world.[10] How could weak and lowly Jesus save anyone from anything? What they fail to see is that this lowly, filthy man was God in human flesh. His brutal, humiliating execution was the payment for our sin, and the sin of all mankind. He gives us this forgiveness by his grace, through faith in Him. This faith comes to us through the working of the Holy Spirit in the Word of God.[11] Adulterer, murderer, thief, we are all those things, and more. We are utterly without hope left on our own. If we cling to our sins, we go away from Christ empty-handed and sorrowful. But, if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness for the sake of Christ.[12] It is impossible any other way.
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