Luke 18:18-30
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Jesus Makes the Impossible Possible
Have you ever seen or heard this word before?
Adynaton
Adynaton is the Greek word for impossible. It is also a rhetorical term for a specific kind of turn of phrase. Even if you don’t the term, I’m sure you know several examples of it – “The Maple Leafs will win the Stanley Cup… when pigs fly.” “Alberta’s premier will have a 100% approval rating… when hell freezes over.” I’m particularly partial to the Bulgarian version, “That’ll happen… когато прасето в жълти чехли се качи на крушата (when the pig in yellow slippers climbs the pear tree).”
Using an adynaton is a colloquial way to talk about something that is virtually, if not literally, impossible. Jesus used an adynaton in our Gospel for today when talking about heaven. He said,
“Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”[1]
What are the chances that a camel could fit through the eye of a needle? Pretty low. So low, in fact, that the disciples immediately asked,
“Who then can be saved?”[2]
Think about the man at the center of this story. Luke introduces him as “a certain ruler.” We don’t know his name. We don’t where he came from or what he ruled over, but you don’t toss a word like “ruler” around willy-nilly. This was a very important person with a prominent position in society. The people who were there that day would have known him, if not personally at least by reputation.
By his own admission, this certain ruler was an upstanding citizen. He was the rare example of a politician you would want to use as a role model for your children. He didn’t sleep around. He wasn’t a bully. He was honest, both in the way he talked to people and in the way he dealt with them. He was a faithful son to his parentsand a productive member of society. He had the respect of the people around him.
So, when Jesus said that this man had a snowball’s chance in hell of going to heaven, the people were understandably surprised. “If this guy can’t get into heaven, then who can?”
It is a fair question – one that I can completely understand asking – but it was the wrong question, and the fact that the disciples asked it showed that they were just as misguided about heaven as this rich young ruler was.
Do you remember his initial question?
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”[3]
It’s not wrong to desire eternal life. That’s the promise that God holds out to us. We heard all about it last week. We should desire eternal life.
It’s not bad to call Jesus good. Even though Jesus gives this guy grief for calling him “Good teacher” (“Why do you call me good? No one is good – except God alone.”[4]), Jesus isn’t really talking about himself. He is not trying to get this rich young ruler to admit that Jesus is God and should be called good; he is trying to get this rich young ruler to really think through whether he is good. So he tests him,
“You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”[5]
If the rich young ruler thought that he was a good person, he would say exactly what he did,
“All these I have kept since I was a boy.”[6]
Not only did this rich young ruler think that he was a good person, he actually thought that the 10 Commandments were child’s play, e.g. “Oh, c’mon Jesus! Give me a real challenge – one that’s worthy of a reward like heaven.”
To which Jesus said,
“You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor.”[7]
And Luke tells us that when the rich young ruler heard these words, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.[8]
It was not wrong for this rich young ruler to desire eternal life. It was not bad for him to call Jesus good. It was bad for him to think that he was good. It was wrong for him to think that there was anything he could do to inherit eternal life. It would be wrong for you to think that too.
Would you consider yourself a good person? That’s kind of a tricky question as a Christian, isn’t it? We live in a wicked world. We see so many good examples of bad people. Whether they are malicious in their actions or just foolish with their decisions, it is easy to imagine ourselves to be at least a little bit better than average.
Maybe you’ve been a Christian your whole life. You committed the 10 Commandments to memory when you were a kid. You wouldn’t dream of breaking them. Or maybe you became a Christian later on in life. You used to make bad decisions, but not anymore! You’re above that now. You know better than most how bad that life is and how much better it is to put that behind you.
Even if it would be tacky to call myself a good person, it sure is tempting to think it. You might even be tempted to think that you’re a better person than this rich young ruler. I know I’m not a very wealthy man. I could wipe out my entire financial portfolio just trying to buy one of the cars that’s in the parking lot right now. If I’m not careful, I might read a passage like this and be relieved that I’m not rich, because I might think that it’ll be that much easier for me to go heaven. It’s only hard for rich people to go to heaven, right? They’re the camels trying pass through the eye of a needle. They’re the pigs trying to climb pear trees in yellow slippers.
But that’s not what Jesus is saying. Jesus doesn’t single out rich people as if they are the only people who will find it hard to get to heaven based on what they do. Jesus talks about wealth because that was this man’s hang up. What’s yours? What one thing could Jesus pick out of your life to pin you to wall? What is the one thing that Jesus could tell you to cut out of your life that would make your face fall and cause you to walk away sad?
Go sell your cabin at the lake. Then come follow me.
Don’t drink another drop of alcohol. Be sober, especially on Saturdays so you can worship with a clear mind on Sundays. Then come follow me.
Don’t look at another person with lust in your heart. Enable the safe search function on your phone. Then come follow me.
Go apologize. Let go of the anger you’re indulgently holding onto. Then come follow me.
It’s not just the rich who have a snowball’s chance in hell of going to heaven. It’s every one of us… if we think that we get to heaven by being good people… if we think there is something we can do to inherit eternal life…
I don’t know about you, but the more I learn about God and the more I look at myself the worse I feel about myself. The older I get the more I regret. I’d be terrified to be called on the carpet by Jesus like this rich young ruler was, and to imagine which one of many things I lack that he would bring to light.
But as harsh as this feels and as impossible as it seems, Jesus says something even more unbelievable:
“What is impossible with man is possible with God.”[9]
It is literally impossible for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. It just as impossible for a pig to sprout wings and fly, as it is for them to wear yellow slippers and climb pear trees. It is literally impossible for any of us to go to heaven because of anything that we do. But what is impossible for us is possible with Jesus.
Heaven is not a prize we earn. It is a gift we are given. Heaven is the reward that Jesus earned by doing so many impossible things. The eternal Son of God became a mortal human being. A full-blooded man, who faced every temptation that you and I could ever experience, led a perfect, sinless life. The almighty, immortal God allowed himself to be put to death on a cross. A dead man came back to life by his own power. A righteous God who upholds justice will not punish you for any of your wrongdoing. A sinner like you will go to heaven and inherit eternal life, because God loves the unlovable and because Jesus makes the impossible possible.
On our own, we would stand a snowball’s chance in hell of going to heaven. But because of Jesus eternal life is his gift of love to you. You don’t have to be good. You should still try, but that’s not where our confidence comes from. Jesus has done the impossible. He is the one who gives us hope. He is the one who has forgiven your sin and soothes your guilt so that you don’t have to live in endless regret.
But more than that, he even enables and invites you to follow him – falteringly as that may be. That was his promise,
“Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children…” or cabin on the lake, or junior varsity volleyball career, or Sunday morning hangovers… “for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”[10]
Heaven is not a prize we earn. It is a gift we are given, because Jesus has made the impossible possible. Now may we learn to leave our sin behind, as best as we can, and follow him. Amen.
[1] Luke 18:25
[2] Luke 18:26
[3] Luke 18:18
[4] Luke 18:19
[5] Luke 18:20
[6] Luke 18:21
[7] Luke 18:22
[8] Luke 18:23
[9] Luke 18:27
[10] Luke 18:29,30