And they were exceedingly astonished, saying to one another, And who can be saved?
The rich man has just walked away. Jesus has told the disciples how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, and the shocked question they put to Him shows what they still believed about how anyone gets saved.
The words hit hard. The disciples read wealth as proof that God favoured a man, and as a means of doing good for Him.
These words astonished the disciples. Their Jewish way of thinking looked for blessing on earth, so they saw riches and possessions as a mark of God's favour. And the thought in their heart, as too often in ours, may have been this: if only we had riches, how much good we could do!
Their shock had logic in it. If a man like that cannot get in, the case looks closed for everyone.
The disciples were very astonished at these words. They felt that they cut the ground away completely from under our feet. So, indeed, they do. "Then who can be saved?" is a huge question. Verse 27 gives a definite answer. Salvation is impossible with men, though possible with God. It was as though the Lord said: "If it is a question of what man can do, nobody can be saved. But if it is a question of what God can do, anybody can be saved."
The way they ask it gives them away. You only ask who can manage it if you think someone can.
Their question shows that a thought still lingered in their minds: at least in some measure, their salvation depended on themselves. They had to learn, as we all have to learn, that our salvation is wholly the work of God, and not of man at all.
The Lord does not soften the difficulty or offer a workaround. He moves the whole matter onto different ground.
Beyond measure surprised, they ask, "Then who can be saved?" This gives the Lord the chance to explain what lies at the bottom of the whole question: salvation is a question of God, and not of man at all. Law, nature, riches, poverty — whatever a man loves or fears — has nothing at all to do with the saving of the soul. It rests entirely on the power of God's grace, and nothing else.
Commentators point out that Jesus speaks of those who trust in riches.
Note that the Lord does not speak of a man who is actually rich, but of one who trusts in riches. The person who owns least faces this danger just as much as the person who owns most.
The trouble is deeper than money, and so is the remedy:
It is a question of the heart and of our nature. It is not a question of wealth or a pleasant character, but of new birth (John 1:12-13), which God alone can bring about.
The young man had every good quality you could want — and still his heart was exposed.
Here was a man with the best disposition, ready to be taught, and with plenty to put to good use — and still the state of his heart came to light. "Then who can be saved?" With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. From the very start the Lord had shown him he was on the wrong track, looking for goodness in man — God alone was good... But there was a blessed starting point instead: "He came to give His life a ransom for many."
So the people we would write off are the ones God reaches:
He looks for the vilest sinners (the thief on the cross, for instance), and takes them to paradise. He does not take the pretty flowers and leave the weeds. What man calls goodness is often disgusting selfishness; and people say, "If that man doesn't go to heaven, who will?" They do not know the heart at all.
The question has a personal answer, and it turns on giving up your own efforts.
It is not possible for you and me to be saved by our own efforts. Why is it impossible? Because we are sinners, and cannot save ourselves... So who am I thrown back on? I am thrown back on God. How can you be saved? You must let God save you.
- Shock — The disciples took wealth as proof of God's favour. Hearing that riches block the kingdom cut the ground from under everyone.
- Impossible — Their question gets a blunt answer. On the side of what man can do, nobody can be saved. Salvation is not merely hard for man; it is impossible.
- Possible — Move the question to God's side and anybody can be saved, because it rests entirely on the power of His grace.
- Heart — The danger is trusting in riches, and the poorest can fall into it as easily as the richest. The cure is new birth, which God alone works.
- Ransom — The starting point is not the seeker's good character. It is the One who came to give His life a ransom for many — and that is why God gathers the weeds, not just the pretty flowers.
But Jesus looking on them says, With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.
A rich man has just walked away from Jesus, and the disciples ask who can be saved at all. His answer takes salvation out of man's hands and puts it in God's.
They assumed wealth showed God's favour. One writer notes what the Lord warned against — not money itself, but trust in it:
These words astonished the disciples. Their Jewish thoughts of blessing on earth made them see riches and possessions as a mark of God's favour... Note that the Lord does not speak of a man who is actually rich, but of one who trusts in riches. The poorest person faces this danger just as much as the one who owns the most.
Another writer draws out how far that answer reaches:
Amazed, they say to each other, "Who then can be saved?" That gives the Lord the opportunity to explain what lies at the bottom of the whole question: salvation is a matter of God, and not of man at all. Law, nature, riches, poverty — whatever a man loves or fears — has nothing to do with the saving of the soul. It rests on the power of God's grace, and on nothing else.
One writer refuses to soften the word "impossible":
We emphasise that word. For men, salvation is not improbable, but IMPOSSIBLE. As far as our own efforts go, the door is barred against us. God has opened another door, but it is by death and resurrection, and the Lord was now turning His disciples' thoughts to it.
Another writer sets it beside other things no man can do:
A man cannot stop the tide as it rolls onto the shore, or create an angel. He is just as unable to save a soul. With man it is impossible. No one can make a man prefer faith to sight, choose the wealth of heaven over the gold of earth, give up self for Christ, and choose God's way instead of his own. Yet the saved man, in God's account, does these things, and that means his very nature is changed. And no man can change his own nature, or anyone else's.
Why can no one do it? The answer lies in what we are, and in what God's righteousness demands:
Why is it impossible? Because we are sinners, and we cannot save ourselves. How can you meet the claims of God in righteousness? You would have to be more than a man to do that... God has judged you, and me, to be sinners in our sins, lost and ruined. He has judged us to be what we are: unable to get ourselves out of the condition sin has landed us in. And the thing that is not possible with us is possible with Him.
Only one change meets the case, and man cannot produce it:
The Lord's answer put the case in its right light: "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God." It is a question of the heart and nature — not of wealth or a pleasant character, but of new birth (John 1:12-13), which God alone can bring about.
One writer names people whose standing made faith look unlikely:
But with God — and we may bless Him for it — all things are possible, whatever the difficulty. So God chooses in His grace to call all sorts and conditions of people. We read of a person called out of Herod's court, and of saints in Caesar's household. A great company of the priests believed. So did Barnabas the Levite, with his houses and lands, and above all Saul of Tarsus, brought up under the teaching of Gamaliel. All these difficulties only gave God the opportunity to overcome every obstacle by His own power and grace.
Both halves of the sentence teach something — one about us, one about Him:
But what an immense grace, which shows us what we are and what God is!... you are lost in sin, and salvation is purely of grace, impossible for man. But the work of salvation is perfect and complete, and the righteousness of God is upon all who believe in Him who has accomplished it. No part of Scripture states the basic truth of man's state, and his need of God's salvation, more clearly.
It bears on the one who preaches, too:
Suppose the preacher shrinks from owning that he has no power, and that every effort he makes in his own strength is independence of God, and so sinful. How can he then expect his hearers to own that they have no power to save themselves, that their best efforts are sinful, and that God is their only hope?
- Impossible. Not unlikely, not hard — barred. Every human effort at salvation is shut out.
- The reason. We are sinners who cannot meet God's claims in righteousness, and no one can change his own nature.
- Possible with God. What He does is not repair but new birth, a work in the heart that God alone can bring about.
- Possible for anyone. Rich, religious, or hostile — the very difficulties become God's opportunity to show His power and grace.
- So turn to Him. Preacher and hearer alike have no power of their own. Salvation is purely of grace, and God is their only hope.