What Matthew 19:26 Means

Matthew 19:26

What Matthew 19:26 means

With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. Jesus says this about salvation itself, which no human effort can secure. It is both a humbling and a hopeful word: we cannot save ourselves, but the God who can, does, accomplishing what is impossible for us.

In Matthew's account of the rich young man, Jesus turns the disciples' despair into hope by pointing away from human ability to God's. After the wealthy man walks away unwilling to part with his riches, the disciples ask who then can be saved, and Jesus answers, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." He is saying that no one, rich or poor, can save himself; salvation is God's work alone. The word "impossible" is strong and deliberate: it is not merely hard for a person to earn heaven, it cannot be done by human effort. Yet the same breath that closes the door on self-salvation opens it wide to grace, for with God all things are possible. This is deep hope for the one who has given up on being good enough, because what you cannot do, God can and will do for those who come to Christ.

Matthew 19:26 in different translations

Understanding Matthew 19:26

Jesus speaks to his disciples in Matthew 19, just after a rich young man asks what good thing he must do to have eternal life (Matthew 19:16-22). Told to keep the commandments, the man claims he has, and then Jesus invites him to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow him; the man goes away sorrowful, "for he had great possessions." Jesus then tells the disciples how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom, using the camel and the needle's eye, and they are "exceedingly amazed" and ask, "Who then can be saved?" (Matthew 19:23-25). Verse 26 is his answer, and the passage continues with his promise of reward to those who have left all to follow him. Matthew's Gospel presents Jesus as the promised King teaching the way of his kingdom.

This verse does not mean that being rich sends a person to hell or that poverty saves; the man's problem was a heart that would not surrender its treasure to follow Christ. Nor is "all things are possible" a promise that God will grant every wish, for the "all things" here is the impossible thing under discussion, the saving of a soul. The disciples' shock proves the point: if the outwardly blessed and law-keeping cannot save themselves, no one can. The verse leads to Christ, who alone bridges the impossible gap. He kept the law we could not, gave the all we would not, and by his death and resurrection makes salvation possible for everyone who trusts him rather than self.

Matthew 19:26 in context

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