The Impossible Truth

There is a famous passage in the Bible where Jesus states that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of heaven. This statement was shocking to those who had heard Him, and they responded by asking the question, “who then can be saved?”. If salvation is based upon the amount of possessions one has, or doesn’t have, then how is it possible that anyone can be saved? Surely this is impossible, or is it?

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Author of Sherlock Holmes

Today is the anniversary of the birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (May 22, 1859 – July 7, 1930), the Scottish writer who is the creator of the mythical Sherlock Holmes. In the world of Sherlock Holmes, deductive reasoning was the order of the day, and by systematically eliminating the impossible one could find the truth. So I thought I’d have some fun with what is impossible today.

In the Gospel of Mark, where we find the analogy of the camel through the eye of a needle, Jesus redefines “impossible”. His followers were no different than people in the world today, and likely believed that if you were a good person, then you would go to heaven. It didn’t matter your status in life, as long as you weren’t a thief or a murderer or some other type of “bad person” then you were OK. Heaven was totally possible. But when Jesus made His statement about how hard it is for a rich man to go to heaven, it all of a sudden became impossible for anyone to be saved.

Looking through the eyes of the natural, the logical, when you eliminate the impossible then you are left with the truth. In this case the truth is that no one can be saved. Even the Apostle Paul ackowledged this truth saying, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. However, Jesus did not end it there.

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” – Mark 10:27 NKJV

Let’s be thankful today, that when it comes to God, nothing is impossible. He has provided a way where each and every one of us can be saved in His Kingdom through His Son Jesus. So with God, we never can eliminate the impossible. And that is the impossible truth.

Tell us how God took an impossible situation in your life, and turned it into possible for you – leave a comment below.