Mark 10:26-27
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God."
I just love biblical commentary! It gives context to things that otherwise would make no sense. Just before this passage Jesus tells his disciples not once but twice that it is exceedingly difficult for wealthy people to get into heaven. At this time in history wealth was seen as a sign of God's favor on a person. Those who were wealthy and well off were considered righteous and deserving of God's grace. The converse of that is people who were poor, sick, disabled, widowed, or alone were looked down upon. The culture believed those people were sinners because God did not favor them enough to give them good fortune. Jesus came to turn that notion on its head!
We still face the same misconception today. People think that if they are doing well in life they must be "favored" by God. But Jesus warns us, that is not the case. I learned the other day that Jesus mentions money in his teachings more than heaven, hell and love combined! He was desperate to warn us that concentrating on earthly wealth will distract us from true wealth, eternal wealth. We must remember that wealth and good fortune are not indicators of God's love for us. They are the product of luck, hard work or both. None of these things can get us to our ultimate goal, heaven. The only thing that gets us there is the grace of God. As we approach the season of Lent think about the things in your life that are distracting you from heaven.
