Matthew 19:26 – What’s Possible?

^“Jesus looked at them intently and said, ‘Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.’” (Matthew 19:26)

We humans tend to think too small. Although I am always amazed when I hear of a new gadget on the market solving some problem I never would have thought of myself. You can probably think of examples of this as well. When we look at the Creator and the intricacies of nature, we are again stunned of the limitless possibilities. God has such great plans for us.

Context (Matthew 19:16-30): It’s interesting to understand how Jesus was using our verse as a teachable moment. Jesus had just finished responding to a rich man who was asking about eternal life. Jesus had told him what he needed to do, but the man wasn’t ready to take those steps. After the disciples wondered who could ever be saved, Jesus told his disciples that it would be impossible to get into heaven, but with God’s help, everything would be possible.

This verse talks about our possibility of eternal life. Jesus said it is impossible for us without God. That fits with everything I know about eternal life because we can’t earn our way to heaven. But Jesus tells us with God, everything is possible. Whether or not Jesus intended this statement to be all inclusive of “everything” we can think of or not, the issue of salvation is a big deal, the main point, and should be our life focus, too. We trust that only God can save us.

I’ve seen people take this verse out of context—me included. It’s a grand promise and believable that God, the creator of all things, would be able to make any whim or request of ours “possible.” But just because God can do something doesn’t mean he is going to do it.

God’s wisdom is far greater than anything we could imagine. Some of our prayer requests we hope will become possibilities must seem frivolous and self-focused to God. Yet it makes sense why we ask, if we’re relying on this verse,  Our trust in God should help us discern whether our requests are worthy of God’s intervention. Do our hopes and dreams further the kingdom and draw us and others closer to God?

When we pray in that way, it’s a lot more likely God will make our requests possible. There’s another Bible verse that speaks to this. 1 John 5:14-15 says, “And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.”

It’s good for us to remember that “everything” is possible with God. It speaks to his majesty and his power. It helps us to approach God with the appropriate awe and wonder. Having an expectant heart, confident God is listening and responding, is also beneficial for growing our faith.

We have limits to what is possible for us to accomplish. God’s abilities know no bounds. When people wonder what happens to people after death if they didn’t know or follow Jesus, I turn to this verse and know that it’s up to God. I don’t have to understand what happens. Rather, we can pay attention to what God wants us to do. Jesus answered the rich man’s question about eternal life. We can start there and follow Jesus to our eternal home.

Let’s pray. Lord, you are full of possibilities and in control of all things. Sometimes I don’t understand what is happening in this world. Help me to trust you in those moments of uncertainty. Furthering your kingdom and making you known to the world is what you have asked me to do, may I do it well. Help me to set aside anything that doesn’t play into this goal.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.