With God all things are possible
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Luke 18:18–27 (NKJV)
18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
24 And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!
25 For 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.”
26 And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?”
27 But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
Jesus by making the statement is verse 25 was showing to his descpiles the great difficulty in converting a rich man.
It is as dificult as trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle.
So why does Jesus reveal this to them, make them see how difficult it is.
It is for them to realise their limitation before he shows them what they are able to accomplish with him.
Luke 19:1–9 (NKJV)
1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
In the eyes of the Jews a tax colletor was a traitor. One who exploits his own people for the benefits of foregners. Furthermore he enriches himself in the process. Therefore to the Jews a harlot has a better chance in entering the Kingdom of God than a tax collector.
Zacheus was not only a tax collector but also Cheif, that is, the greatets tax collector (the worst of the worst). Furthermore he was also Rich.
the difficulty level of converting this man so that he will fosake all to follow Jesus was through the roof.
The difficulty of the rich young man following Jesus can not be compared to this, atleast he kept the law from his youth.
Zacheus was willing to give half of his goods for the poor just because jesus entered his home, without Jesus asking him to do anything.
Lesson Learned
God will show us how what impossible before he shows that what is possible. He will show us how its impossible with us before he shows us that is possible with him.
Example of Jeremiah
jeremiah 32.
God tells Jeremiah to buy a field from his nephew while the babylonians are besieging the city ready to take the land.
Jeremiah does what God commands him yet he inquired of God in Verse 24-25. What God was speaking was different to what God was showing him.
God wanted him to see the impossiblity of the situation, yet he wanted Jeremiah to acknowedge God being able to do what was impposible.
Jeremiah 32:43-44 “43 And fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “It is desolate, without man or beast; it has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” 44 Men will buy fields for money, sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captives to return,’ says the Lord.””
Lesson learned
There is nothing to hard for the Lord, Let us beleive his word, God’s shows us what is impposible without him before he shows us what is possible with him.
God is with us.
Gedeon as an example
Judges 6:11–16 (NKJV)
11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.
12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
16 And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
God was trying to tell Gedeon, when your weekness and your nothingness meets by greatness and my almightness you will do what is impossible. YOu will defeat the mideanites as with one man.
It is good to see our weakness and how we are least, in fact God will make sure we see it before he comes to do great and mighty things through us and with us.
Judges 7:1–7 (NKJV)
1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.
2 And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
3 Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.
4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.”
5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.”
6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water.
7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.”
God wanted the people of Israel to realise that there is no chance of them winning with what they have so that when God gives them victory they will acknoweldge the victory to be the hand of God alone.
Gedeon with 300 hundred men subdued 120 thousand men and two kings. The odds 1:400.
for every 1 chance for gedeon to win and there is a 400 chances that Gedeon will lose.
Conclusion
27 But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”