Proper 24B (Pentecost 22 2024)

Text: “26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”” (Mark 10:26–27)

This is one of those familiar passages that can easily go right by us if we are not careful. There are two fairly famous statements here. Either one could catch our attention. But it is only when you keep them together that you hear the message Jesus is trying to get across. Let’s take each of them individually and then put them back together.

First, it is easy to get caught up with this amazing image of a camel going through the eye of a needle. In other words, it can not be done. It is completely absurd. It is so absurd that quite a few people look for some explanation of what Jesus could be talking about. (Is there a mistake in the translation? Is Jesus making a reference to something else?) The image is so completely absurd that it can be easy to get stuck there. But, please, keep reading with me for a moment.

Second, we have the famous statement: “27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God”” (Mark 10:27). This statement, too, captures our attention— although in a different way. This is one of those verses that you find on t-shirts, on jewelry, on wall art. There is a fairly good chance that, at some point in your life, when you were going through a really hard time, a friend of yours sent you an image of a beautiful sunset— or mountains— with this verse written across the picture in fancy script. Whatever you think of Ohio, they made it their state motto. It is a popular verse. But please, keep reading with me for a moment because it does not mean what the state of Ohio seems to think that it means.

Think about what Jesus and the apostles are saying. Jesus has just told them that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. In our day, that statement would bring loud cheers— at least from some— “Yeah, you tell them, Jesus! Put those evil rich people in their place!” That would be the most likely reaction today. But did you notice that the apostles had the opposite reaction: “If the rich can not be saved, then who can?” The rich, of anyone, must be worthy of God’s Kingdom, aren’t they? They, of anyone, will enter the Kingdom, won’t they? If not, then who could possibly be saved?

And that is the question that Jesus answers with: “27 With man it is impossible, but not with God” (Mark 10:27). With God, all things are possible.

You and I are not as blatant about our assumptions of who is automatically worthy of God’s kingdom as the apostles were. But you still have that same sense, don’t you? Anyone who has died heroically, for example, is assumed to be welcomed into God’s kingdom, whether they believe in Jesus or not: firefighters who died trying to rescue people from a burning house; soldiers who died in combat, fighting to liberate some foreign land. I want to be very careful here, because their service, itself, is incredibly noble, let alone their sacrifice. At the same time, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a fire fighter or a soldier to enter the kingdom of God.

That offends you, doesn’t it? Yes, we have our values better calibrated, so to speak, than they did— service and sacrifice are a far better standard than just being ‘rich’— but Jesus would still say the same thing. Again, their service, itself, is incredibly noble. When you add their sacrifice, it is an amazing thing. They absolutely deserve all of the praise that they get. At the same time, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a fire fighter or a soldier to enter the kingdom of God.

Do you want to say it? Do you want to ask: “Then who can be saved?” (Mark 10:26). If the sacrifice of a first responder who is killed trying to rescue strangers— if a soldier’s courage and sacrifice— are not enough to make them worthy of entering the kingdom of God, then who can be? Are you itching to ask that question? If so, then you are ready to really hear Jesus’ answer.

To paraphrase this part of Mark 10 slightly, the apostles asked, “Then who can be saved?”

Jesus answered: “No one.”

Or let’s think about it from the opposite direction, so to speak. There are groups of people that you automatically assume have no place in a church. You fill in the blank: people covered in piercings and tattoos, pro-choice people, gay people, transgender people, Democrats… Republicans…. They have no place in a church, do they?

What if I told you that you’re right? They don’t. It would take a miracle for one of them to be saved. They do not deserve a place in Christ’s church. You’re right about that.

Where you and I are wrong is when you think that there are people who do. …who do deserve a place in Christ’s church. That is where you and I are wrong.

“[The idea that the rich were not automatically worthy of God’s Kingdom] bothered [the apostles a lot]. And[, although the specifics are slightly different, that idea] also bothers [you and me] today. [Jesus’ point is that it is impossible for us to be saved on our own terms.] If it is impossible for us to be saved on our terms, [whatever those terms might be, whatever it is that we assume makes someone worthy,] then salvation rests in God alone.” (Nafzger, Rev. Dr. Peter. “Gospel: Mark 10:23-1 (Proper 24: Series B).” Posted at https://www.craftofpreaching.com/essays/2018/10/14/gospel-mark-1023-31-proper-24-series-b)

“…[S]ee, it’s not really the money[, the tattoos, the piercings, the political affiliation, the gender identity, or anything else that is keeping them out of the kingdom]. It’s …sin. And we’ve all got that. Whatever else we’ve got— money or not so much— we’ve all got that. And …no [sinner is] getting into the kingdom of God without a miracle. How difficult it is for anyone to enter the kingdom of God.

“It took the Son of God becoming a human being. It took the sinless Son of God becoming sin. It took God dying in order for anyone to enter the kingdom of God….” And that’s exactly what He did. He was made man. “9 [He] was[, for a little while,] made lower than the angels… [until He was] crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9, ESV). And not just for everyone—so that He might taste death for you. “17 [H]e had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17).

“14 …[H]e himself likewise [took on flesh and blood], that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. [He did it to deliver you.] 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham[. He performed this miracle to help you]” (Hebrews 2:14–16, ESV). That is why He is not ashamed to call you His brothers (Heb. 2:11)” (Fickenscher).

You know what that means? It means that there is a place in Christ’s church for the rich. There is a place in Christ’s church for people covered in piercings and tattoos, for pro-choice people, for gay people, for transgender people, for Democrats/Republicans…— for all who grieve over their sin and and confess their unworthiness, who turn away from their sin to follow Jesus Christ. “With man it is impossible [for any of them to enter the kingdom of God], but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10: 27).

And there is a place for you. Not because you were born here; not because you went to school here; not because of all your family here— those are all wonderful, blessed things, but you and I are not saved on our own terms, whatever those terms might be— there is a place for you in Christ’s Church, not on account of any of those things, but because you have come in repentance and faith to follow Jesus.

By the way, don’t worry about what you or anyone else ‘deserves’. Just follow Jesus. “29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time… with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life” (Mark 10:29–30). Whatever you would have believed that you ‘deserved’, Jesus wants to give you a hundred times more now in this time— along with persecutions— and also in the age to come.

I’ll leave it up to you to decide how badly the state of Ohio misunderstood this verse when they made it their state motto. But, as for you, do let the image of a camel going through the eye of a needle or the beautiful pictures with the caption “With God all things are possible” distract you from the message that Jesus wants you to hear today— the message of what, exactly, God has done for you in Jesus Christ.