5th Monday of Lent (April 7). THEN WHO CAN BE SAVED?

Background.  The story begins in v. 18 when a rich ruler approached Jesus about inheriting eternal life.  Jesus told him to sell all he had and follow him.  The ruler was saddened because he was very rich.
 
Prepare to Listen.  The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.
 
Prayerfully Read Luke 18:24-30
24Jesus looked at him [the rich ruler] and said, ‘How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!  25Indeed, 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.’  26Those who heard it said, ‘Then who can be saved?’  27He replied, ‘What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.’  28Then Peter said, ‘Look, we have left our homes and followed you.’  29And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.’
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
When Jesus said it was hard for the wealthy to enter God’s kingdom, those who heard him asked, “Then who can be saved?”  What might you have asked?
 
Jesus’ ministry of lifting up the lowly, the least and despised (such as widows, tax collectors, children) and bringing down the powerful, is the focus of the stories in Luke 18.  This one, the 4th story, is of a rich ruler whom Jesus brought down.  He’d kept all the commandments Jesus named, the ones related to outward morality, but when Jesus challenged him about his idolatry and covetousness, he rejected Jesus’ way. [1]  That’s when Jesus said it was hard for the rich to enter the kingdom and his shocked listeners protested, “Then who can be saved?”
 
Jesus responded with an ancient truth: “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.”  Abraham and Sarah learned that lesson when they waited for a promised son.  Mary heard it when she wondered how a virgin could conceive.  We think we have control over our destiny by following good moral codes.  Not so, says Jesus.  It’s out of our hands.  Peter, half-questioning, half-bragging, said they, the disciples, had done what he told the rich ruler to do.  What do they get?  That’s what we too want to know.  What’s in it for me?  Jesus didn’t let up on his standards.  There’s more you could give up, he says to Peter—house, wife/husband, brother/sisters, children.  Let’s face it, it’s an alarming list that most of us ignore.  We hope Jesus didn’t mean it or that it doesn’t apply to us today.
 
But what if it does?  What do you think?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord Jesus, your standards are high and yet your welcome is to all peoples and your love is always forgiving.  When I fail, as I know I will, help me to accept your love and forgiveness and try again.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Trust the impossible to God.
[1] You can read the story in verses 18-23.