This semester we've been going through parts of Luke's account of the life of Jesus with our kids in Scripture class. Last week we looked at Luke 18:18-30 about the rich ruler who came to Jesus and asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?". Jesus told him that keeping the commandments was not sufficient; that he had to sell his stuff and give it to the poor and then follow him. But he didn't want to do it. The cost was too great. Jesus then remarked, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Naturally, the disciples wondered if anyone could be saved in light of this. “What is impossible with men is possible with God”, Jesus said.
Great words. God can even save rich people. He can change even the hardest hearts.
The wonderful thing that I noticed today is in Luke 19 (the next chapter).
Many of us will be familar with the tree-climbing Zacchaeus, but what struck me today is that he is a rich man. He is a living example of what Jesus said. God made the impossible happen. He saved Zacchaeus. “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (v9-10)
It's a good thing to read big chunks of the Bible to see the development of ideas. In the Gospels it is particularly good to think about them as narratives and to ask the question "why is this story here?"
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