But Jesus, looking on [them], said to them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
Commentaire de ce verset
The Setting
The Lord has just told the rich young ruler to sell all and follow Him, and the man went away grieved. The disciples, amazed at "how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God," cry out "Who then can be saved?" — and Jesus answers with the verse that lifts salvation entirely out of human hands and into God's: "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."
Riches — and Everything Else We Trust In — Are Only a Hindrance
The Lord's word is sweeping. Whatever a person leans on for entrance into the kingdom — wealth, morality, position, religion — turns into an obstacle, not a help.
William KellyIf it was a question of man's doing anything to get into the kingdom, riches are only so much hindrance. And so it is with all else counted desirable. Whatever I may have, and trust in, whether it be moral ways, position, or what not — these are but impediments as far as concerns the kingdom, and make it impossible to man. But with God (and we may bless Him for it) all things are possible, no matter what the difficulty.
Salvation Is of God, Not of Man — and It Cost Him Everything
The disciples' question "Who can be saved?" exposed how counter the Lord's words were to their secret desires. His reply rules out every other hope.
William Kelly"The things that are impossible with men are possible with God." There is no other hope of salvation. It is of God, not of man. Yet to save cost God everything, yea His own Son. And "if the righteous are with difficulty saved, where shall the impious and the sinner appear?" (1 Peter 4:18.) … None can serve two masters. Happy he who through grace makes wealth to be only for Christ's service, looking to have the true riches his own in everlasting glory!
The Word "Impossible" Must Sink Deep
One commentator urges the preacher and hearer alike not to skim past the word. To save a soul is no easier for man than to stop the tide or to create an angel.
J. T. MawsonImpossible to make a man prefer faith to sight, choose the wealth of heaven to the gold of earth, abandon self for Christ, and choose God's way instead of his own. But the saved man, according to God, does these things; and this means that his very nature is changed. But it is impossible for a man to change his own nature… Let the word impossible sink into our souls; we have surely not sufficiently considered it, or our grasp of its meaning has been very superficial. It is impossible, impossible, IMPOSSIBLE!
The right effect on the servant of Christ is humility: "He will not go forth lightly; certainly not to make a parade of his powers or display himself, for he is powerless." (J. T. Mawson)
God's Difficulties Are God's Opportunities
That God can save anyone at all is not theory — Scripture shows Him reaching the most unlikely.
William KellyTherefore God chooses in His grace to call all sorts and conditions of people. We read of a person called out of Herod's court; we read of saints in Caesar's household. A great company of the priests believed; so did Barnabas the Levite, with his houses and lands; nay, above all, Saul of Tarsus, brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. All these difficulties only gave God the opportunity to overcome all obstacles by His own power and grace.
Bringing God In Changes Everything
The same principle answers every "impossibility," whether in salvation, in miracle, or in daily Christian life.
W. W. FeredayOne has only to bring GOD in, and the greatest marvel becomes simplicity itself. "With God all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26).
And the same word steadies the believer faced with the call to live for Christ:
J. T. MawsonEverything that the Christian is asked to do is impossible with men, but not with God, and when we have believed the Gospel the grace of God delivers us from iniquity, and from our sinful wills that make it impossible, and gives us a new life and power.
A useful contrast is drawn between the merely difficult and the truly impossible:
J. Wilson SmithIf a thing be only difficult we will face it in our own strength, and perhaps be beaten. If it be impossible, we repudiate all confidence in ourselves, and go forward in the grace and power of the living God, and the mighty giant falls by a stone from the sling.
Summary
- Salvation's source. Salvation is wholly of God; man can contribute nothing, and to accomplish it cost God His own Son.
- Trusts become traps. Riches, morals, or position — anything we lean on for the kingdom — turn into hindrances that make entrance impossible to man.
- Impossible, not difficult. The word is "impossible," not "hard"; recognising this strips self-confidence and casts the soul on God.
- God's opportunity. The very obstacles that defeat man — Herod's court, Caesar's household, Gamaliel's pupil — give God room to display His grace.
- Bring God in. Every demand of the gospel and the Christian life is impossible to men but possible to God; faith brings God in, and the giant falls.