Jesus Speaks With a Kneeling Man About Richesby Jeff
10:26Mark 10:26
And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
The question was asked in astonishment out of measure after Jesus warned how difficult it is for those who have riches to enter God's kingdom, and especially for the one who trusts in riches. The disciples were greatly astonished by the danger riches posed to salvation, and their Who then can be saved grew directly out of that warning. Their astonishment carried self-conviction, for they realized the warning reached their own desire for wealth and power. Like the Jews around them they were not wholly free from a grasping, mercenary spirit.
That exchange opened the way for the teaching that God's favor and the reward of the righteous are not earned by human works. Salvation is impossible through human power, and human beings cannot free themselves from attachment to earthly treasure. Jesus answered that what people cannot do God can do, so the hope of salvation lies in God's remedy. Through God's grace even a rich person can enter the kingdom, as Zacchaeus's conversion demonstrates.
Riches become a danger when trusted in or cherished as an idol. A rich person enters heaven not because of wealth or merit, but when Christ's love changes the heart to hold possessions as God's trust, serving others and helping save the lost. The same danger to the hope of eternal life threatens those who rely on their own ideas and insist on doing things their own way, for wealth and self-will can put eternal life at risk. Their opportunity is to use their means in God's cause, where His blessing can make the investment fruitful.
The question also belongs to the anguish of the coming Judgment when the book recording the sins of those who profess to believe the truth is opened. There every sin is seen entered under selfishness, with covetousness, ambition, jealousy, intemperance and their lesser sins in columns opposite each name. The Holy One on the throne turns the leaves of the Ledger of Heaven, and His glance brings every word and action of life before the mind in letters of fire. In that setting the question means who will stand justified before God, whose robe is spotless and who is faultless in the sight of a pure and holy God. Careless indifference and security then give way to trembling, paleness, nameless terror and self-condemnation for throwing away eternal life by sin.
The question was asked in astonishment out of measure after Jesus warned how difficult it is for those who have riches to enter God's kingdom, and especially for the one who trusts in riches. The disciples were greatly astonished by the danger riches posed to salvation, and their Who then can be saved grew directly out of that warning. Their astonishment carried self-conviction, for they realized the warning reached their own desire for wealth and power. Like the Jews around them they were not wholly free from a grasping, mercenary spirit.
That exchange opened the way for the teaching that God's favor and the reward of the righteous are not earned by human works. Salvation is impossible through human power, and human beings cannot free themselves from attachment to earthly treasure. Jesus answered that what people cannot do God can do, so the hope of salvation lies in God's remedy. Through God's grace even a rich person can enter the kingdom, as Zacchaeus's conversion demonstrates.
Riches become a danger when trusted in or cherished as an idol. A rich person enters heaven not because of wealth or merit, but when Christ's love changes the heart to hold possessions as God's trust, serving others and helping save the lost. The same danger to the hope of eternal life threatens those who rely on their own ideas and insist on doing things their own way, for wealth and self-will can put eternal life at risk. Their opportunity is to use their means in God's cause, where His blessing can make the investment fruitful.
The question also belongs to the anguish of the coming Judgment when the book recording the sins of those who profess to believe the truth is opened. There every sin is seen entered under selfishness, with covetousness, ambition, jealousy, intemperance and their lesser sins in columns opposite each name. The Holy One on the throne turns the leaves of the Ledger of Heaven, and His glance brings every word and action of life before the mind in letters of fire. In that setting the question means who will stand justified before God, whose robe is spotless and who is faultless in the sight of a pure and holy God. Careless indifference and security then give way to trembling, paleness, nameless terror and self-condemnation for throwing away eternal life by sin.