The disciples were greatly astonished when they heard this and said, “Then who can be saved?” Matthew 19.25
A young man had approached Jesus with a question. He had asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus had told him to keep the commandments. The young man responded by asking which ones. It seems that he was trying to pin down exactly what he needed to do. Jesus responded with some of the ten commandments to which the young man affirmed that he had obeyed those laws wholeheartedly. What else did he need to do? In Mark 10.21, it is written than Jesus felt love for him and proceeded to tell him to sell all his possessions, give it to the poor, and come follow him.
The young man went away sorrowful, for he was very rich. His riches were more important to him than following Jesus and that was a problem. Jesus then went on to teach his disciples of the difficulty the rich would have to enter the kingdom. It would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle! Then who could be saved?
It was a preconceived idea of the time that the rich would go to heaven because they obviously had been blessed. Jesus did not agree with that idea. He taught that God was the one that made salvation possible, not your riches. That truth continues until today! You have to put things in the right order with God and his kingdom as priority!
People have many preconceived ideas about God. Many of them, if not most, are false. Spending time reading and studying God’s word is the only path that will prove whether your preconceived ideas are true. Or false. Will you go away sorrowful?