Big Buts of the Bible

An Excerpt from Chapter 19.

Nestled in one of the best-known encounters in all four Gospels is one of the greatest buts in the entire Bible.

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

If someone asked me to list the most hope-filled buts in Scripture, this one would be near the top.

A wealthy young man approaches Jesus with what appears to be a sincere question.

“What good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

Notice the assumption hidden inside the question. What must I do?

Like many people before and since, he assumes eternal life is something that can be earned if only someone will explain the requirements clearly enough.

To his credit, he isn’t trying to trap Jesus the way the Pharisees often did. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all portray him as respectful and genuinely interested. He wants to please God.

The tragedy is that he believes the answer lies in himself.

Jesus walks patiently through the commandments.

The young man confidently replies, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”

That’s an honest question. But it also reveals a heart that still believes eternal life is one more accomplishment waiting to be checked off the list.

Jesus lovingly puts His finger on the one place this young man has never surrendered.

“Go, sell your possessions, give to the poor… then come, follow Me.”

Notice that Jesus doesn’t begin with the man’s wallet. He begins with his heart. Money simply reveals where that heart has placed its trust.

This isn’t a universal command that every follower of Christ must own nothing. It’s a personal invitation exposing the one thing this particular man could not imagine living without.

The young man walks away grieving. Not because Jesus asked too much. Because he loved something else more.

The Impossible Becomes Possible

Watching the young man leave, Jesus says something that astonishes the disciples.

“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.”

The point isn’t that rich people are uniquely excluded. The point is that no one saves themselves.

Some have spent centuries trying to explain away Jesus’ illustration. Perhaps there was a narrow gate called “The Needle.” Perhaps camels could squeeze through if they knelt just right.

Maybe.

Or perhaps Jesus meant exactly what He said. It’s impossible.

You can’t push a camel through the eye of a sewing needle. You can’t squeeze a llama through it. Or an alpaca. Or anything else of that size.

That’s the point.

The disciples understood immediately. “If that’s impossible… Who then can be saved?”

Exactly. Now we’re asking the right question.

Jesus answers with one of the most hope-filled sentences in all of Scripture.

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

There it is. Salvation isn’t difficult. It’s impossible.

At least for us.

We cannot clean ourselves up enough. We cannot perform enough good works. We cannot become righteous enough. We cannot rearrange the deepest loves of our own hearts.

But God can.

He can soften what has become hard. He can loosen what has held us captive. He can reorder our loves. He can transform our desires. He can do what no amount of determination or religion ever could. That’s grace.