“The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

Luke 18:18-43 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link on links page)

The Rich Young Ruler

¹⁸ A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” ²¹ And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” ²² When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²³ But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. ²⁴ And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ 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.” ²⁶ They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

²⁸ Peter said, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.” ²⁹ And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰ who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”

³¹ Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. ³² For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, ³³ and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.” ³⁴ But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

Bartimaeus Receives Sight

³⁵ As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. ³⁶ Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. ³⁷ They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. ³⁸ And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹ Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁰ And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, ⁴¹ “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” ⁴² And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” ⁴³ Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

As we read this text we need to understand again that having money or material possessions is not the problem. Jesus doesn't say that being rich will keep anyone from entering the kingdom of God. He simply says it will be difficult. Job, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David and Solomon  all had tremendous wealth. Yet their faith and their relationship with God is recorded in scripture as an example to us all. In reality wealth and material possessions are a relative thing. Even some of the poorer people in this country have comforts and conveniences that kings and the richest people did not have 200 years ago, let alone 2000 years ago in Jesus time. It really is a heart issue. It's not about how much or how little we have. It's a matter of making God our priority regardless of whether we have plenty or little. The first and great commandment according to Jesus is:  “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the great and Foremost commandment.  The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40) 

Not everyone is commanded or called to sell all their possessions and follow Jesus into the mission field. In fact Paul says in 1 Timothy 5:8:  if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Each one of us is individually responsible to follow Jesus as He calls us. He won't  ask us to ignore our responsibilities, He just wants us to rightly prioritize them. Jesus makes it clear that there will always be poor people and our priority is to love and worship God.

Mark 14:3-9     While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. ⁴ But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? ⁵ For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. ⁷ For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. ⁸ She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. ⁹ Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”  

What we do in loving, serving and providing for the poor and needy is not to justify ourselves. It's not by these righteous acts that we gain our place in God's kingdom. It is as Jesus says in Matthew 25, our motivation for doing these things is that in doing for the least of these Jesus says you have done it for Him. Jesus identifies with the poor and needy. True worship and love of Him will lead us to love others. There is a powerful video, from Shores of Grace ministry,  on the worship video page of the site. I encourage you to take a few minutes to watch and listen. 

The final thing I want to look at from today's text is found in the account of the  blind man, Bartimaeus, receiving his sight.   And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ³⁹ Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”     We see frequently in scripture accounts that those who were with Jesus would often try to prevent others from coming close and receiving Jesus ministry. I am sure that they thought they were doing a good thing, protecting Jesus from the masses and keeping Him focused and on schedule. But whose schedule and agenda was it? Jesus was not concerned with keeping a schedule. He certainly didn't need these disciples to shield Him from the masses. After all they were the ones He came for.

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.(Matthew 9:36)

When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.(Matthew 14:14)

Jesus would often take time away from the crowds and His apparent plan in order to minister to those along the way. Jesus explains His actions in John 5:19.  “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.

We need to be careful that we don't become like those who tried to keep others from Jesus by putting our own programs, schedules and agendas ahead of God's. Will we take the time to stop with Jesus and go out of our way to minister to one God has brought into our path? We struggle with this in our Sunday services and throughout our daily activities. Do we prefer our own plans and agendas over God's? In the end we will have plenty of time to accomplish what we need to do.

Devine appointments, orchestrated by God, on the other hand may be only for that moment He has ordained.

May we, like Jesus, be faithful to do the things God is doing.