Imagine that twenty-five years ago, someone would have told you that you be able to send mail electronically, without a stamp or a post office or a mailman. You would have said, "That's impossible." Now we do it every day. It's called email. Or imagine twenty-five years ago that someone would have told you that you will be able to talk on a phone that won't even have a cord attached to the wall, and that pay phones would all but disappear. You would have said, "That's impossible." Or how about this one. Imagine that someone twenty-five years ago would have told you that you will have a camera that doesn't need film. You would have said, "That's impossible."

I bring this up, because in our text, the disciples hear Jesus say something to which they essentially respond, "That's impossible." And they were right. It's been two thousand years, and it hasn't become any more possible than it was two thousand years ago, nor will it ever be. That impossible thing is this: that sinners would be able to enter the kingdom of God. That sinners would be able to be saved. And Jesus agrees. He says, "That's impossible for people to do, but with God, all things are possible." So let's take that as our theme, that it's really not just hard, but it is impossible for man to enter the kingdom of God.

It's interesting how Jesus taught this truth in our text. There was a rich young man who came to Jesus and said, "Good teacher, what must I do to enter eternal life?" This man is sincere. He is honestly concerned about the eternal welfare of his soul. So he comes to Jesus with this all-important question, "What must I do to enter eternal life?"

Jesus gives a most surprising answer! He says, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." Jesus is trying to get this man to think of Him as more than a good teacher, but as God Himself - and that's going to be important as the text goes on.

Jesus gives a second most surprising answer. Remember, the young man's question was, "What must I do to enter eternal life." You would expect Jesus to say something like, "Nothing. God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Isn't that how you would answer? But Jesus answers this way: "You know the commandments - honor your father and mother, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony." Doesn't that answer shock you? The man answers, "What must I do to inherit eternal life," and essentially Jesus' answer is, "Keep the Law!" Is that true?

Absolutely. God is holy. No one who is a sinner is able to stand in the presence of the Holy God. God is a consuming fire, and He cannot have a sinner in His presence. Without holiness it is impossible to live in God's presence.

And the young man sincerely answers, "I've kept all these since my youth." And in his Jewish mind, he probably has, on the surface. He has never committed the act of murder, the act of adultery, the act of theft, the act of false testimony.

So Jesus needs to show him the real heart and core of the Law. But let's not overlook the little phrase, that Jesus looked straight at the young man, and He loved Him. He loved Him. He did not want this young man to be condemned. He did not want this young man to be lost. He wanted Him not only to be saved, but it seems to even be a disciple, in the broad sense of the word. So He says, "There is one thing you lack. Sell all you have and give to the poor, and then come follow me."

And the young man couldn't do it, because he was a wealthy man. He went away sad. It's the only person we read about in all of the Gospels that left Jesus sad. What had Jesus done? Jesus had shown the young man that he had not kept the Law. In fact, he had broken the very first commandment. He had loved his wealth more than God. He trusted his wealth more than God. He feared losing his wealth more than God. His sin was not that he was wealthy - that's not a sin. His sin was that his possessions possessed him. The things he owned, owned him.

And now we see what the Law is really all about. It is not only about outward actions. It is about inward attitudes. It is not only about what I do and what I don't do. What God cares about is why I do what I do, and why I don't do what I don't do. If someone is trying to keep the Law to be saved, they are sinning. If someone is keeping the Law because their afraid of getting caught or afraid of punishment or afraid of losing their reputation, they are sinning. If someone is keeping the Law outwardly, but inwardly longs to break it, they are sinning. If someone is keeping the Law outwardly, but secretly is breaking it, they are sinning. God wants us to do what we do because we fear Him, love Him, and trust Him above all things. If we do what we for any other reason, it is sin.

Now wonder Jesus used this as an opportunity to teach His disciples, because His disciples needed to learn the same lesson. He says not only, "How hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." He then repeats and says straight to the disciples, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God." As little as a camel can go through the eye of a needle, because He's so big He'll never fit, so little can a sinner enter into the kingdom of God because he's too big - big with sin, big with pride, big with self-indulgence, big with his earthly possessions he does not want to part from. And what can the sinner never do? He can never part His sinful heart from His sins. It is impossible.

That is why it is so hard for the rich man or the poor man, for any sinner at all, to enter the kingdom of God. Even if the rich man would sell everything he had and give to the poor, what would still be wrong with his sinful heart? He would still miss it. He would still long for it. He would still, even in his poverty, fear, love, and trust in his few possessions. And so it is with all our sins. The alcoholic would still miss the bottle. The porn addict would still miss the pornography. The gossiper would still miss the juicy gossip. The complainer would still miss having something to complain about. The gambling addict would still miss gambling. The person who uses God's name in vain would still miss using God's name in vain. The person who starts going to church would miss their free Sunday mornings. No matter what your own besetting sin is, even if you were to quit it, you would miss it! How lost is our condition! Even when we resolve to quit sinning and clean up our act, we still can't clean up our heart.

So the disciples come to a correct conclusion when they say, "Who then can be saved?" They recognize that they can't save themselves. And we ask with them, "Who then can be saved? Not me!

And Jesus agrees. He says, "With man, this is impossible." Why? Because man is sinful. A sinner trying to save himself is like a dead man trying to raise himself, a blind man trying to make himself see, or a deaf man trying to make himself hear. It is impossible. It is foolish to even try.

With man, salvation is not just hard. It is impossible. But, Jesus says, "All things are possible with God." Remember way back in the beginning of the text, when the young man called Jesus, "Good teacher," and Jesus responded, "Why do you call me good, no one is good except God alone." See, Jesus was trying to get that young man to think of Him no longer as merely a good teacher, but as God Himself precisely for this reason - because with man, salvation is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. Who is this man, Jesus? He is God.

And He came to do the impossible! In the process, He did the impossible! God became man in the womb of a virgin! A sinful mother conceived a Holy Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. And this Holy Son of God and Mary lived a holy life. He did the impossible. He did what we cannot do. Not only did He not sin. He did not even want to sin, though He was tempted as we are in every way. He did not even long to sin. He always kept His heart holy for you and for me.

And then something just as impossible happened. The Holy God became your sin and my sin. He took all our sins in His own body. And then something else impossible happened. Almighty God was arrested. The Eternal Judge was judged, sentenced, and condemned. The Living, Immortal God suffered and died. And then soothing else impossible happened. The dead one raised Himself. And in those events, something else impossible happened. The sinful world was saved and forgiven. What was impossible, is now not only possible. It is an accomplished fact.

Who would ever think we'd be sending mail without stamps or postmen? Who would ever think we'd be talking on phones without cords? Who would ever think we'd be taking pictures without film? Those things were impossible - but not anymore thanks to technology. Even more important - who would ever think that a sinner could live in peace and die in hope! That was impossible! But not anymore - thanks to Jesus and His blood. Amen.