With God All Things Are Possible

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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[1] Matthew 15:16-20

[2] Matthew 5:21-22; 27-28

[3] James 2:8-13

[4] Genesis 8:21; Romans 8:7

[5] Psalm 51:5

[6] John 3:6; Ephesians 2:3

[7] Acts 4:12; Galatians 5:4-5; Ephesians 2:8-9

[8] Luke 1:45-55

[9] 1 Corinthians 1:27

[10] 1 Corinthians 1:18

[11] Romans 10:17

[12] 1 John 1:5-10

Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler

Christ and the Rich Young Ruler

Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches 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.” And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You.” So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10:17-31).

The rich young ruler comes to Jesus. He asks him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him that he already knows the answer. He must keep the commandments. Do this, and you will live. The man tells Jesus that he has, just as we tend to tell ourselves today. I’m no thief; I don’t commit adultery; I haven’t murdered anyone. But we all are these things, even if we don’t realize it. This is the point Jesus makes in the Sermon on the Mount. To lust after a woman is to commit adultery; to hate our brother is to murder him. This goes for the First Commandment, thou shalt have no other gods, as well. Doubtless, this rich young ruler thought he was keeping the First Commandment by doing all the things prescribed in the Law for an Israelite to do concerning the worship of God. Jesus, however, shows him that his true object of worship, his idol, was his wealth.

Jesus looked at the man and loved him. By pointing out the man’s breaking of the First Commandment, Jesus calls him to repentance. The fruit of Jesus’ love, the forgiveness of sins, waits for the rich young ruler if he sells all he has, gives to the poor, and follows Christ. Life is not offered this man on the condition of doing the work of charity, nor is Jesus implying that wealth is inherently evil. Money isn’t evil; the love of money, we are told elsewhere in Scripture, is the root of all kinds of evil. In the case of the rich young ruler, love of money was the root of idolatry. He feared, loved, and trusted in his wealth instead of God. Jesus' instructions to the man point this out in a glaring way. For the man to do as Jesus told him would have been for him to repent and believe. 

The disciples were now greatly astonished. How hard it is for those who have riches - who trust in riches - to enter the kingdom, Jesus tells them. If these people, who are wealthy and powerful, have trouble getting in, what chance do we lowly fishermen have? Indeed, what chance do any of us have? We have, in fact, the same chance as the disciples and the rich young ruler: no chance at all. After all, with man, Jesus says, it is impossible. On our own, trying to be good enough to measure up to God’s standard of holiness and perfection set forth in the Law, we cannot succeed. With God, however, all things are possible. Since God grants faith and forgiveness as His free, undeserved gift because of Christ, we all may receive them, through the means of His Word, by the working of the Holy Spirit. That is a comforting thing whether you are a child, a rich young ruler, a Pharisee, a disciple, or a “modern” man.