#DailyDevotion With Jesus Nothing Is Impossible
Mark 10:23–31 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will 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. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
In Jesus’ day and even in our day, there are and were many people who believed if you were rich or wealthy you were blessed by God and if you were poor you were cursed by God and everyone else in between just struggled to get God’s favor. In some extant that is true, i.e. if you are rich, no matter how hard you worked or didn’t, you were blest by God. But that doesn’t mean you are saved. The Lord lifted up Nebuchanezzar, Cyrus and thousands of other kings and emperors but most of them died without God and are suffering the pains of hell’s torment now.
But if you have that point of view, you can imagine the disciples’ amazement when Jesus says it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved. Well if it’s so difficult for them what can the rest of us do? We, in exasperation, would exclaim with them, “Who then can be saved?”
Well with man, as Jesus says, this is impossible. Man cannot do anything to save himself. Sure, he could try from conception to keep the law of God with all his heart, mind, strength and soul, but Scripture clearly says that man cannot do this. Even with God’s grace man still fails and falls. He comes short. Even his good works are stained with sin. Man cannot even with grace contribute to his own salvation.
So Jesus tells with God nothing is impossible. God does the impossible to save us. He is conceived in the womb of a virgin. He takes on our human flesh and becomes a human soul. He lives like one of us and experiences our life and our temptation. He suffers and dies on a cross to be the expiation and propitiation of our sins. He rises on the third day from the dead, immortal and glorious. All of this is impossible for man and just has hard to reason it out. But God does the impossible in Jesus and saves us and indeed he is the savior of the whole world.
Heavenly Father, by ourselves and in and of ourselves, we can do not thing which can save us. You sent your Son Jesus Christ, to do the impossible, to win salvation for all mankind. Grant us faith to always believe this so we may obtain this salvation and be raised to glory on the day of Jesus’ revelation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.