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23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And 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 His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." ~ Matthew 19:23-26
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 19 where the Rich Young Ruler had just walked away from the Lord Jesus with sadness in his heart because he loved his riches more than the truth. When this man first came to the Lord Jesus he was quick to proclaim his lack, yet, he could not let go of that which kept him from gaining that which he truly lacked. This is what our sin did to us, it separated us from our source of being and it distorted our understanding of what is really real.
In v.23-24 of today's passage we read, "23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And 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.'"
Affluence can create in us a greater appreciation for the non-essential values over the essential ones. Rich people do not worry about where their next meal will come. Rather, they tend to be concerned about how the food will taste. Rich people tend not to be concerned about whether they will have a roof over their head and clothes to wear. Wealthy folks tend to be more concerned with fashion and style and decor. Riches tend to transfer our concern from the necessary things of life to the not so necessary. This is the most dangerous place that we can be because it is the place which is most plastic and unreal. We are at our best when we are convinced that we utterly need God because our ability to invest in what is really real comes out of our desperation.
Our wealth tends to insulate us from that which is really real. Many think that the wealthy are overprivileged, but, in reality, they are underprivileged. They are more likely deprived of a deeper intimacy with the Lord, because it is the deeper struggles of life coupled with in-depth interaction with God through His Word and prayer that we are afforded the possibility of deeper intimacy with Him. And, I might add, that translates into a deeper intimacy with others.
Some say this needle of which the Lord Jesus spoke was a reference to the Needle Gate, a low and narrow after-hours entrance found in the wall surrounding Jerusalem. It was purposely small for security reasons, and a camel could only go through it by stripping off any saddles or packs and crawling through on its knees. In Luke's account of this story, though, the physician Luke used the Greek word which means "the eye of a surgeon's needle." The Lord Jesus used this metaphor to describe an impossible task that only God can perform. The greatest impossibility is that sinful man can access a personal relationship with God.
The Jews had long been conditioned for thousands of years to believe that wealth is a sign of God's favor. They assumed that their acceptance before God was based on certain conditions, like wealth. But, God's grace introduces us to a different way of thinking. It was only His grace that made unconditional acceptance a possibility for fallen man. Our salvation must be unearned since the only thing that can turn around that which prevented us from having a personal relationship with God in the first place is the shed blood the Lord Jesus Christ.
The world is full of people who are caught up in religion because they are aware of the huge hole in their soul. And, most can't figure out what's missing. This is the cry of the unsatisfied, this is the plea of the unfulfilled heart. The answer is to get to the place where we cry out to God for His help. It is our utter lack that positions us to do this. The Rich Young Ruler had a life-long habit of appearing to others that he had it all together. His facade fought against him, keeping him from the humility required to believe in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In v.25 of today's passage we read, "When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, 'Who then can be saved?'"
The disciples found it most difficult to believe these words of the Lord Jesus because all of their lives their hearts had been conditioned by their ignorance. They believed it was their devotion to God that gave them favor in His eyes. The answer is to be trained by God's grace. When we stop depending on ourselves and our resources, we open ourselves up to God's wonderful grace. And, His grace is the greatest change agent this world has ever known. However, it is not the change that grace brings about in us that makes us right with God. It is only by placing our faith in the Lord Jesus that the enormous gap that our sin created between us and God can be bridged.
In v.26 of today's passage we read, "But Jesus looked at them and said to them, 'With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'"
God is the only One who can make us fully what we cannot become and what we must become. He is the only One who can cleanse our sin from us. He is the only One who can replace our hearts of stone. He is the only One who can give us a personal relationship with Himself. Consequently, He is the only One who can teach our hearts to increasingly trust Him. He is the only One who can enable us to abandon our understanding of how life should work and be defined by Him. Once this process has begun, we will not only grow in our fellowship with God, we will also begin to deal selflessly with others. The greatest impossibility of them all is revealed in the words, "Whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus sin and death has been defeated forever.
