“Then who can be saved?”

Matthew 19:13-30 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

¹⁶ And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” ¹⁷ And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸ Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁰ The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” ²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” ²² But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³ And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I say to 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.” ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁶ And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

²⁷ Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” ²⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

In today’s text it says:    “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to 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.” When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”   It is not wealth though which keeps people from God. The Old Testament is filled with accounts of some of the wealthiest people of their time having relationship with God. Abraham, the father of faith, Jacob, Job and David, through whom the lineage of Christ is traced, were all extremely wealthy. In our society and culture we have been made to distrust those who have much money. There is an effort to pit the wealthy against the poor, those who have little against those who have much. The problem with that type of cultural bias in regard to salvation is that it doesn’t help anyone. There is a misconception or a frequently misquoted principle which says: Money is the root of all evil.  The actual scripture is in1 Timothy 6:9-10, which says:  Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.   It is the love of money, the longing for it, that is the root of all sorts of evil. So first it is not the root of all evil. Jesus first answer to the man when asked what he must do was:  “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”    It is possible for a wealthy person to do all these and conversely it is also possible for someone with very little money to fail at some or all of these things. Whether a person has much or little money is not what is important. When God was choosing David to be king and his older brother was brought to Samuel first, God said:  “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”    It is the heart response to wealth which is important regarding salvation. The one who has very little money, who has allowed themselves to be affected by the cultural mindset set against those who are wealthy, despising the and not loving their neighbor, envying their neighbor, coveting his things, justifying taking what he has because he has more than enough, has:  wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.  

The truth is, money is just one of many things Jesus tells us not to love more than Him. Prior to Jesus statement regarding wealth, in Matthew 10:37-39 He says:   “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”   The love of anything above God is a hindrance or a barrier to entering the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 22:34-40 it says:   When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘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.”  First and foremost we are to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. Only then, loving God, can we even fulfill the second commandment. Notice too how we are to love others, not as we love God, but rather as we love ourselves. Our love for God is to be greater than our love for anything and everything else.

In the beginning of today’s text it says:  Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”    Our hearts should be like the hearts of children regarding the Father and Jesus. A child is not affected by the learned behaviors and influences of society and culture. They have no love for money, nor do they despise others for who they are. What they desire most is the love and affection of their father. Given the choice of things or time with the Father, they will choose the time and attention of the Father. That should be our heart and our desire as well, that first and foremost we would love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind. David, the psalmist, although he had much wealth understood, he said:  Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)   In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says:  “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Jesus promise to the disciples, who follow Him is:    “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”

Regarding salvation, today’s text says:  When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”    No one, rich or poor can enter the kingdom of heaven on their own, but with God it is possible for anyone to be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven because: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  Whether rich or poor, old or young, regardless of outward appearance, stature or social status: If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You that it is not anything we have to offer, nothing we have done that You ask of us. But, only that we come with the heart and faith of a child, that we delight to be in Your presence, that we love You with all our heart, soul and mind. Thank You for giving us many times more than we would have without You and for eternal life through Christ our Lord.    Amen.