“Mission Impossible/Possible”
Text: Mark 10:23-31
10-20-2024
In the name of Him who has made salvation possible for us sinners, dear friends in Christ. Have you ever heard something from the Bible that you really wish wasn’t in there? Come on, admit it. That business about loving your enemies kind of sticks in your craw, doesn’t it? Turning the other cheek ain’t so much fun either. But what about when Jesus says, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God”? Doesn’t that just make you want to say, “Doggone it, I really wish He wouldn’t have said that!” It almost sounds as if Christ is saying that acquiring wealth is evil. Well, is Jesus instructing Christians to take a vow of poverty? Or that there is some special virtue in being poor?
If any of that were true then it would be easy for me to hammer you with a sermon on giving money to the church. But the reality is that the Bible teaches that money and possessions are not evil in and of themselves. They only become evil if they interfere with your faith. If you place your love and trust in wealth above, or in place of, your love and trust in God then it must be gotten rid of. That seems to have been the problem of the rich, young ruler that Jesus had spoken to in the verses preceding our Gospel lesson. He had asked what he needed to do to get into heaven and Jesus told him to sell all he had, give it to the poor, and come follow Him. Sadly, that man turned and walked away from Christ’s invitation. That’s where last week’s Gospel left off.
Let me assure you, money is not the real issue here. Faith is! Jesus diagnosed the problem in the rich man and the obstacle to his faith was wealth. But really, it could be anything. And that’s the key to understanding the strange word picture that Jesus employs here of the camel passing through the eye of a needle.
You see, like many people today, the disciples believed that wealth was a sign of God’s favor. After all, a rich person must be doing something right or else why would God be showering wealth upon him? The rich, young ruler thought he had done a pretty good job of keeping God’s Commandments and therefore was blessed. The prosperity preachers of today work on that same premise and insist that if you’re poor it’s a symptom that you don’t have enough faith. Jesus says that’s absolute poppy-cock! If wealth is a sign that a person is doing something right in God’s eyes, then that means we humans can possibly do something to merit salvation. The other side of that coin is equally untrue: poverty doesn’t win you brownie points with God either. The fact of the matter is that whether you are rich or poor there is nothing that we can do to merit salvation. And that is precisely the point Jesus is making!
You know, some folks don’t believe Jesus had a sense of humor, but I’m not one of them. When He talked about a camel passing through the eye of a needle, He was using a comical hyperbole to teach a vivid, unmistakable lesson. It’s kind of like when people say, “Hah! The Cubs will win the World Series... when pigs fly!” Or “Yeah, right, the Nebraska Cornhuskers will win the national title... when hell freezes over!” Those phrases are expressing an impossibility by stating something ridiculous that could never happen! Well, a camel was the largest animal in Palestine and the eye of a needle was the smallest opening the disciples could imagine. Can’t you just see their faces as this mental image ran through their minds? It probably made them chuckle as they envisioned the camel squeezing through a needle. “Okay, that’s ridiculously funny Jesus, but it’s impossible!” And that’s exactly the conclusion Christ wanted them to come to: the sheer impossibility of it all.
Based upon their beliefs, they assumed that a rich person must be doing something right in God’s eyes. Jesus showed them that this was impossible. They were shocked and so they responded by asking a broader question, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus responds, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Did you get the gist of that? Jesus is saying that nothing we sinful humans can do will ever merit salvation for us. The rich man thought that by keeping the Law of God he could earn heaven. But he couldn’t keep the Law perfectly as God demands, and neither can you. It’s impossible! It’s impossible for us to pay for our multitude of sins. It’s impossible for us to make ourselves right with God. It’s impossible for us to do anything in order to get into heaven. It would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. It’s THAT impossible!
Now I should tell you that some Bible scholars interpret this camel and needle business differently. They say that the “eye of the needle” was a very small, pedestrian entrance through the city walls of Jesus’ day. And so, if a person had a camel loaded down with cargo, they’d have to remove that burden and coax the beast onto its knees so that it could crawl through the opening. Using that interpretation, some of them go on to say that the lesson is that we must set aside whatever hinders us from getting into heaven, whether that be pride, or wealth, or whatever. We must kneel before our Master and cooperate with Him as He leads us into heaven. But don’t you see how that totally misses the point of what Jesus was trying to teach here? Christ is showing us the utter impossibility of ANY human action or goodness or merit for gaining heaven. You cannot contribute to your salvation. Not even your humility will help get you in. And the only way that you “cooperate” with your Master who is leading you into heaven is by receiving something, not by doing something. God must perform an act of grace in order for you to be saved, apart from anything that you might do. If it relied in anyway upon our thoughts, words, or actions then our salvation would remain impossible!
But isn’t that right where our sinful human nature wants to take us? It argues with God about how and why we are saved. And so, when it comes to Baptism, we hear people ask: “How can mere water save us and create faith? No, you must be able to verbally repent of your sins and confess your faith before your Baptism can be valid. So you see, it’s foolish to Baptize infants. You have to be old enough to cooperate with God in order for Him to do such a thing.” When it comes to Holy Communion they insist: “Well, Jesus can’t truly be present in the bread and wine unless I believe He’s there! Besides, my human logic says it’s impossible for Jesus to actually be physically present so He's not. And how could forgiveness of sins be possible through the simple eating and drinking of a little bit of bread and wine anyway?”
And about worship they ask: “Well, isn’t the primary purpose for us to gather and give something to God, rather than Him giving something to us? Honestly, I think it would be nice if God gave me a pat on the back for my offerings and singing sweet praise songs to Him. And certainly, now that God has put me on the right path, then my good, clean living must make Him love me more and that has to get me one step closer to the pearly gates!”
Quite frankly, if any of what I just expressed is your attitude then you need to listen closely to what Jesus said. “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Like the disciples, Jesus wants you to see the utter impossibility of doing anything to save yourself. You can’t “help” save your soul by your feeble contributions or your supposed cooperation with Him. He wants you to despair of any thoughts or beliefs that you could somehow do so. It takes an act of grace by God and God alone in order to save you. If it were left up to you to “decide” to follow Jesus as your Savior then you’d be lost because it’s impossible for you to do it.
But have no fear. God has given us the Means of Grace in order or make the impossible, possible. Baptism is God in action, washing away your sins and creating faith. In the Lord’s Supper, Christ is truly present there with His very body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins and the strengthening of your faith. In worship God promises to be the giver. He shows us our sins, leads us to repentance, and showers upon us His words of love and forgiveness. Our response of prayer and praise is simply that, a response. And it’s also an act of grace on God’s part that the Holy Spirit is there, each and every day, sanctifying and leading us to live a Christian life which is pleasing to God.
All these things are possible because God did the impossible. In the womb of the Virgin Mary the Son of God did something impossible when He united His eternal being with finite human flesh. Jesus went to the cross and took upon Himself the sins of the whole world to pay the price for our disobedience. That was impossible for any human to do. But for the God-man, Jesus Christ, it was possible. It is impossible for a dead person to rise back to life, but that’s precisely what Jesus did on Easter morning, because all things are possible for God. Because of Christ’s work of salvation on our behalf we can now receive the benefits of His grace. Through God's Word and Sacraments, He gives to us the gift of faith, which was impossible for us to generate on our own. By faith we are able to receive all that grace, which is ours through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. And now, by faith, the impossible hope of heaven for us poor, miserable sinners is possible. God has indeed made the impossible, possible for us. And so, to Him alone be all the glory now and forever. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!