As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “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 someone who is rich 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 10:17-27 NIV)
“All things are possible with God.” Isn’t that a great verse? It’s a Bible verse that people really latch on to. “All things are possible with God.” When you hear that, your imagination starts to kick in, doesn’t it? Maybe I should get a lottery ticket. “All things are possible with God.” Maybe you could be the next president. “All things are possible with God.” If I just close my eyes and flap my arms hard enough, maybe I can fly: “All things are possible with God.” Do you ever imagine the possibilities? We love this verse. “All things are possible with God.”
But what we just did is a really bad way to interpret the Bible. We tend to take individual Bible passages, pull them out of their context, and make them say what we want them to say, instead of what Jesus really meant to say. When Jesus said, “All things are possible with God,” was Jesus talking about the lottery or flying? No. Actually, Jesus was talking about something even more impossible. There’s something so impossible, that you will win the lottery before it happens. There is something so impossible, that you will sprout wings and fly before it happens. The most impossible thing. Do you know what it is? You’re going to have to wait and listen to find out.
One day, a man ran up to Jesus and fell on his knees before him. “‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’” We can learn from this man. If you’re going to ask Jesus one question, this is best question to ask! How can I get to heaven? This man seems very sincere. He’s thinking about the right things. This isn’t a Pharisee trying to trick or trap Jesus. He falls on his knees in humility and asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” There was urgency in his question. He really wanted to know! How can I get to heaven?
But notice the way he asks. “What must I do…?” How did he think he was going to get to heaven? By what he did. That makes sense. That’s what all of us believe by nature. Salvation is something I can do! If you want to be rich, what do you do? Study and work and save. If you want to be healthy, what do you do? Eat right and exercise and sleep. There’s always something you can do, right? So if I want to go to heaven, what must I do? What do people often say? “Be good. Be good and try as hard as you can. It’s the good people who are going to be in heaven!”
I bet he was surprised by Jesus’ answer: “Why do you call me good?… No one is good except God alone.” Of all the things the Bible says, this might be the one that people object to the most. “No one is good except God alone.” “Come on, really? I’m good. You’re good, right? I know a lot of good people… There is good in every person!” Actually, no. At least not according to Jesus. He says, “No one is good except God alone.” Do you want proof? Think of all the accusations flying around today. If you want to find someone who has never done anything wrong—all the way back to high school, who has never hurt anyone, who has always done the right thing, how many options will you have? Zero. “No one is good except God alone.”
To show that to this man, Jesus began to list off the commandments: “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.” Hopefully you recognize those! God’s commands. God’s law. What does God’s law do? It shows us our sins. The commandments show us our sins. When we hear, “Honor your father and mother,” what does every child here have to admit? I haven’t done that. I’ve sinned. When you hear, “Do not give false testimony,” what do you have to admit? I haven’t done that either. I’ve sinned. God’s law shows us our sins. The law proves to us that we really aren’t good.
But do you know what that man said? “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Wow. How could he say that? He still thought he was good! He thought he had kept all the commandments. How? Our sinful natures blind us to our sins in two big ways. First, we focus just on outward actions. I’ve never killed anybody. That’s true! But is God only concerned about outward actions? No. He’s concerned about thoughts and words too. I’ve hated, and that’s the same as murder. Second, we focus on our relationships with others and not our relationship with God. What’s the first and greatest commandment? “You shall have other gods.” Do we love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength? No way.
This man was trying so hard. He was being as good as he could possibly be. “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” Jesus wanted this man to be with him in heaven. So Jesus told him what he needed to hear—the truth: “One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” This man was breaking the 1st commandment. Remember that one? “You shall have no other gods.” He had another god. What was it? Money. He knew it: “At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.” The man got the message loud and clear. The kingdom of God isn’t a matter of doing. It’s about trusting in God above all things. That’s the one thing he wasn’t willing to do.
As the man walked away, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” “The disciples were amazed at his words,” but Jesus didn’t back down. “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.” Jesus is great at giving us pictures to think about. Think of a big camel, with at least one hump—maybe two. Think of a tiny needle hole. What are the chances that camel makes it through the needle hole? 5%? 1%? One in a million? No. Impossible. You can’t love something more than God and expect to be in heaven. Impossible.
You can’t miss Jesus’ very specific warning about money—loving money. Your heart can only have one king. A heart that loves money is a heart in which Jesus does not reign. Who’s your king? When Jesus encouraged that rich man to have treasure in heaven, it makes me think of Jesus’ words: “Where your treasure is, there your heart shall be” (Luke 12:34). So where is your treasure? Where I put my money directly impacts where my heart is. If your treasure is not in heaven, if your treasure is not with Jesus, then Jesus’ words are meant for you: “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.”
Jesus’ disciples were soaking this all in. They were amazed and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Their world was being turned upside down. “If that rich guy isn’t going to be saved, who is?” “If this educated, polite, sincere, wealthy, religious man couldn’t save himself, who then can be saved?” Jesus must have been thinking, “You’re finally getting it!” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible.” There it is. The most impossible thing. Saving yourself. It doesn’t matter how much money you have or how good you think you’ve been, it’s completely impossible for you to save yourself. You will sprout wings and fly before you will earn your way to heaven. You will win the lottery a hundred times before you will earn your way to heaven. The biggest, most impossible thing in the world is you and me saving ourselves.
Why? Because “no one is good except God alone.” One day, you will stand before God. Do you know what God knows? Everything. He doesn’t even have to investigate. He doesn’t have to dig anything up. Everything you did in high school. Everything you’ve thought this morning. God knows. When that day comes, are you going to stand before God and say, “Look at how good I am!” No way. When you think of it that way, everything we love and rely on begins to break down. Money won’t save—impossible! Family history won’t save—impossible! You can’t save—impossible! “Who then can be saved? With man this is impossible…”
“But not with God.” “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Can you now understand what that verse really means? It’s not an invitation for our minds to run wild about all the things we wish God would do. It’s an amazing reminder of how God saves us. The Bible later explains: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly… But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). Jesus did the impossible—save us! The one good One died to take our sins away, so that through faith in Jesus eternal life is yours. Heaven is yours. “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
There’s another place in the Bible where we’re told that nothing is impossible with God. Can you remember when? The angel Gabriel said that to the virgin Mary when he told her that she was going to give birth to God’s Son. Mary asked, “How can this be?” What did Gabriel say? “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). The two most impossible things are the story of how God saved us. First, God become a human being. Then, Jesus died and rose so that people can live with God in heaven. It should be impossible for God to become one of us. It should be impossible for sinners to be with God in heaven. But that’s what Jesus did. The impossible!
Here’s what a Christian learns to say over and over again: “Lord, I can’t, but you can.” Salvation is totally the work of God. Every attempt to enter God’s kingdom on the basis of our works or our merit is worthless. “No one is good except God alone!” But Jesus looks at you, and he loves you, and when it comes to your salvation, he says, “All things are possible with God.” When the devil accuses you of sins that you really did commit. How could you be not guilty? All things are possible with God. When you fail again and the people around you refuse to forgive you. How could God forgive me? All things are possible with God. When you wonder whether you’ve done enough. Prayed enough. Believed enough. All things are possible with God.
What’s the result? Peace. That rich man had no peace. He comes running to Jesus. He falls on his knees, “What must I do?” He walks away downcast and sad, back to his money which never brings peace. Our world is full of people trying to do more and more and more, but there’s no peace. Our world is full of people trying to accumulate more and more and more, but there’s no peace. Because peace is always right here in Jesus. It’s done. Your sins are forgiven. Heaven is open. You are loved. Forgiven. Saved. Sound impossible? With your past? With all your sins? You’re right. “With man it is impossible, but not with God. All things are possible with God.”
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