The Impossible Salvation Text: Matthew 19:16-26
Introduction: The Cosmic Barter
The human heart is a tireless negotiator. From the moment we are born, we learn to barter. A child learns that a certain kind of cry produces milk, and a certain kind of smile produces affection. We carry this instinct into every area of our lives, and most dangerously, we carry it into the sanctuary. We approach the throne of God not as beggars, but as businessmen. We come with our crumpled resume of good deeds, our portfolio of religious observances, and our carefully curated list of sins we have successfully avoided. And we ask the question that this rich young ruler asks, a question that echoes in the heart of every fallen son of Adam: "What is my part of the deal? What must I do to get God to hold up His end of the bargain?"
This is the native religion of mankind. It is the religion of "doing." It is the religion of the checklist, the spiritual ladder, the balanced scale. And in this encounter, Jesus takes a sledgehammer to the entire enterprise. This story is not, at its root, a lesson on financial stewardship, though it has implications for that. It is not a command for every Christian to take a vow of poverty. It is a divine diagnosis of the human condition. It is a demonstration that the law, when used properly, does not lead us to self-congratulation, but to self-despair. It is designed to show us that the price of admission into the kingdom is not high, but rather, from our perspective, it is impossible.
The disciples' reaction at the end of this exchange is the only sane one. When they are confronted with the radical nature of Jesus' demands, they are utterly astonished and ask, "Then who can be saved?" They have been led to the cliff of their own inability. And it is only at that cliff, when we have given up all hope of climbing our way to God, that we are in a position to hear the glorious gospel that Jesus delivers in the final verse. This passage is designed to make us ask the same question, so that we might receive the same answer.
The Text
And behold, someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, 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.” And when the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
(Matthew 19:16-26 LSB)
The Faulty Premise (vv. 16-17)
The encounter begins with a man who is earnest, respectful, and dead wrong.
"And behold, someone came to Him and said, 'Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?' And He said to him, 'Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.'" (Matthew 19:16-17)
The man's question is saturated with the theology of works-righteousness. Notice the key words: "what good thing," "shall I do," "that I may have." He sees eternal life as a wage to be earned, a product to be acquired through the right action. He is on a spiritual quest, and he approaches Jesus as an expert guide who can give him the final, missing piece of the map. He is asking for a task, a quest, a heroic deed.
Jesus immediately challenges his entire framework. "Why are you asking Me about what is good?" This is not a dismissal; it is a profound redirection. Jesus is saying, "You are using the word 'good' far too casually. You think 'good' is a quality that your actions can possess. But true goodness is not an action; it is a Person. There is only One who is good, and that is God." Jesus is forcing the man to lift his eyes from his own hands and his own deeds to the absolute, transcendent standard of goodness, which is the character of God Himself.
Then, Jesus appears to play along with the man's legalistic game. "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." Jesus is not offering this as a legitimate alternative path to salvation. He is a master physician, and He is handing the man the very tool that will expose the sickness of his soul. He is saying, in effect, "You want to get to heaven by doing? Fine. Here is the path of doing. The standard is perfection. Keep all of God's laws, perfectly, internally and externally, from birth until death. Go ahead." This is the proper use of the law: it is a mirror that shows us our filth, not a ladder we can use to climb out of it.
The Superficial Righteousness (vv. 18-20)
The man, tragically, does not see the trap. He believes he is up to the task.
"Then he said to Him, 'Which ones?' And Jesus said, 'YOU SHALL NOT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' The young man said to Him, 'All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?'" (Matthew 19:18-20)
His question, "Which ones?" is telling. He thinks of the commandments as a series of discrete, manageable tasks. Jesus obliges him by listing several commandments from the second table of the law, those dealing with our relationships to other people. These are the external, societal laws. And the man's response is one of the most tragic statements in all of Scripture: "All these things I have kept."
We know from the Sermon on the Mount that this is a lie. He may not have literally plunged a knife into anyone, but has he never been angry without cause? He may not have committed the physical act of adultery, but has he never looked with lust? His understanding of God's law is an inch deep. He is grading himself on a curve he invented, and he is giving himself an A plus. He is the poster child for the Laodicean church: rich, increased with goods, and in need of nothing, yet spiritually wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
And yet, there is a pebble in his shoe. "What am I still lacking?" Despite his confident self-assessment, he knows something is missing. He has a sense of spiritual emptiness that all his moral achievements cannot fill. He has climbed his ladder of righteousness only to find that it was leaning against the wrong wall.
The Surgical Strike (vv. 21-22)
Now that the patient has admitted a symptom, the Divine Physician makes His incision.
"Jesus said to him, 'If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.' But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property." (Matthew 19:21-22)
This command is a diagnostic tool, not a universal prescription. Jesus is not teaching that wealth is inherently evil or that all disciples must be penniless. He is exposing this particular man's idol. The man claimed to have kept all the commandments, including "love your neighbor as yourself." But Jesus now puts that claim to the test. More importantly, the man's real problem was not with the second table of the law, but with the first. His god was not Yahweh. His god was Mammon. His great wealth was his security, his identity, and his master.
Jesus puts His finger on the one thing the man loves more than God and says, "Get rid of it. And come, follow Me." The call of the gospel is always a call to leave something and to follow Someone. For this man, the thing to be left was his portfolio. For another, it might be their reputation, their lust, their bitterness, or their political power. The idol must be smashed before the true God can be worshipped.
The man's reaction is heartbreaking. He goes away grieving. Notice, he is not repentant. He is sad. He is sad because he has been forced to choose between his two lovers, and he has chosen his money. He wanted to add Jesus to his collection of assets, but Jesus demanded to be his only treasure. The cost was too high. The law had done its work perfectly. It had revealed his sin, and because his heart was unregenerate, it drove him away in sorrow.
The Divine Commentary (vv. 23-26)
Jesus now turns to His disciples and explains the object lesson.
"And Jesus said to His disciples, 'Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, 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.' And when the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, 'Then who can be saved?' And looking at them Jesus said to them, 'With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" (Matthew 19:23-26)
Jesus makes a shocking statement. It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom. He then intensifies it with a memorable hyperbole. It is easier for a camel, the largest animal in Palestine, to pass through the eye of a sewing needle than for a rich man to enter God's kingdom. We must resist the well-meaning but misguided attempts to soften this. There was no "Needle's Eye Gate" in Jerusalem. Jesus means exactly what He says. It is an absurdity. It is an impossibility.
Why? Because riches create a powerful illusion of self-sufficiency. The rich man does not feel his need for daily bread in the same way a poor man does. He can buy his way out of trouble. He can insulate himself from the harsh realities of a fallen world. His wealth becomes his functional savior, and it is exceedingly difficult to convince a man he needs rescuing when he feels perfectly safe. He trusts in his riches, not in God.
The disciples are rightly stunned. In their culture, wealth was often seen as a sign of God's favor. If the rich and "blessed" cannot be saved, then what hope is there for anyone? "Then who can be saved?" This is the question the entire encounter has been designed to produce. They have finally understood. They have seen the height of the standard and the depth of their own inability. They are at the end of their rope.
And here, at the point of utter human despair, Jesus delivers the gospel in its purest form. "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Salvation is not a human project that God assists. It is a divine rescue from start to finish. It is not difficult; it is impossible for us. But our impossibility is the stage upon which God displays His omnipotent grace. God can do what we cannot. He can thread the camel through the needle. He can raise the spiritually dead. He can give a new heart to the idolater. He can save a rich man. He can save a self-righteous Pharisee. He can save you.
Conclusion
This rich young ruler is a warning to all of us. We all have our idols, the things we trust in more than God. For many in our affluent society, it is the same idol of money and possessions. For others, it is our moral record, our political righteousness, our family, or our intellectual pride. The question Jesus asks this man is the question He asks us: What is the one thing you love more than Me?
The call of the gospel is to see that our own efforts to save ourselves are an absurd impossibility, like trying to push a camel through a needle. It is a call to stop trying, to declare spiritual bankruptcy, and to fall helpless into the arms of the God for whom nothing is impossible. He does not ask us to add Him to our portfolio. He asks us to liquidate everything else and find that He is our treasure. And when we do, we discover that we have not lost a thing, but have gained everything.