The Impossible
The Impossible
“When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:25-26
Everyone knows that if you want to be happy, you have to have plenty of money, right!? Let me tell you, I have convinced myself that a full bank account and no bills would be quite pleasing to me on many occasions...I’ve never been able to physically prove this theory, but I have a pretty good idea that if all my financial needs were met, I could focus more on serving God better...well that’s what I want to believe. I’m not the only one, right!?
Jesus’ disciples wanted to be wealthy...as a matter of fact, they thought that following Jesus would make them wealthy...watch this! In Matthew 19 Jesus was teaching them something. You see a rich young leader of the synagogue had come to procure eternal life of Christ and the man was not happy with Christ’s request. Jesus told him to keep the commandments. The Money Man said, “I’ve done that my whole life”. So Jesus tells him to sell everything he had and give it to those that didn’t have, then to follow Jesus as a disciple...the dude walked away with his wealth and his pride.
Jesus tells His disciples that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into heaven. To this they were “exceedingly amazed” and asked, “well then who can be saved”...man was there so much in their actions and question!!!
You see, in their culture, only the rich were godly...it was a self-righteous godly but it was what they had grown up knowing...if you were going to be anything in the synagogue, you were going to be wealthy, dress well, live well, and be well in your own eyes and in the eyes of man. These followers of Christ were still waiting for what they thought inevitable...to get paid!!! When Jesus told them that the wealthy don’t make it, they were FLOORED! That’s what exceedingly amazed means...this took the air out of them...it flattened them...they were floored. Don’t believe me! Watch this!
Jesus responded to their question with, “With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Then Peter, my favorite, (because like me, he puts his foot in his mouth a lot) asks, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” You see that...Peter wanted paid for his following Christ...
Before you think less of Peter, there are quite few of us who enter into ministry thinking that God is going to make our financial problems fade away and that wealth is all we will know...and it is, just not today and if tomorrow comes the wealth won’t. The payment for a life following Christ is not about today. Does that floor you? Christ told his apostles that their wealth would be eternal and they still followed. Will you? Let that simmer for a bit.
Pastor Larry Hof
“When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:25-26
Everyone knows that if you want to be happy, you have to have plenty of money, right!? Let me tell you, I have convinced myself that a full bank account and no bills would be quite pleasing to me on many occasions...I’ve never been able to physically prove this theory, but I have a pretty good idea that if all my financial needs were met, I could focus more on serving God better...well that’s what I want to believe. I’m not the only one, right!?
Jesus’ disciples wanted to be wealthy...as a matter of fact, they thought that following Jesus would make them wealthy...watch this! In Matthew 19 Jesus was teaching them something. You see a rich young leader of the synagogue had come to procure eternal life of Christ and the man was not happy with Christ’s request. Jesus told him to keep the commandments. The Money Man said, “I’ve done that my whole life”. So Jesus tells him to sell everything he had and give it to those that didn’t have, then to follow Jesus as a disciple...the dude walked away with his wealth and his pride.
Jesus tells His disciples that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into heaven. To this they were “exceedingly amazed” and asked, “well then who can be saved”...man was there so much in their actions and question!!!
You see, in their culture, only the rich were godly...it was a self-righteous godly but it was what they had grown up knowing...if you were going to be anything in the synagogue, you were going to be wealthy, dress well, live well, and be well in your own eyes and in the eyes of man. These followers of Christ were still waiting for what they thought inevitable...to get paid!!! When Jesus told them that the wealthy don’t make it, they were FLOORED! That’s what exceedingly amazed means...this took the air out of them...it flattened them...they were floored. Don’t believe me! Watch this!
Jesus responded to their question with, “With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Then Peter, my favorite, (because like me, he puts his foot in his mouth a lot) asks, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” You see that...Peter wanted paid for his following Christ...
Before you think less of Peter, there are quite few of us who enter into ministry thinking that God is going to make our financial problems fade away and that wealth is all we will know...and it is, just not today and if tomorrow comes the wealth won’t. The payment for a life following Christ is not about today. Does that floor you? Christ told his apostles that their wealth would be eternal and they still followed. Will you? Let that simmer for a bit.
Pastor Larry Hof
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