“But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”
Due to the reckless nature this verse is tossed about like a free wish I must give notice this will be long. I plan to give the normal run of the details as usual however it will be at the end. This is important and I pray you soak it in.
“The impossible is the conversion of the proud heart.”
— Augustine
“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
The disciples did not look confident when Jesus said it.
They did not nod their heads or shout “amen.”
They stared at Him like He had just shattered the ground they were standing on.
Because He had.
They had grown up believing the same thing everyone else believed:
If someone was wealthy, respected, successful, God must be pleased with them.
If someone had religious discipline, they must be close to heaven’s door.
So when the rich young ruler walked away from Jesus, the disciples were not shocked that the man left.
They were shocked that Jesus let him.
They watched the man disappear into the distance, still rich, still important, still admired by crowds, but spiritually unchanged. Heart untouched. Salvation untouched.
And that is when Jesus turned to them and dropped the truth like a hammer:
“With man it is impossible.”
Not difficult.
Not unlikely.
Not “needs a little help.”
Impossible.
The disciples felt it.
The sting.
The undoing of everything they thought they understood.
Because if that man, disciplined, moral, wealthy, successful, could not save himself, what chance did anyone else have?
Jesus saw the fear on their faces.
He looked directly at them.
Not with disappointment, but with a gaze that pierced through the illusions they did not know they were carrying.
“But with God all things are possible.”
He was not offering them comfort.
He was offering them clarity.
He was not telling them they could achieve anything.
He was telling them they could achieve nothing apart from God, not salvation, not transformation, not breaking free from sin, not entering the Kingdom.
The impossible thing was not a dream or a goal.
It was the human heart.
The early church understood this.
They did not read this verse and think of success or achievement.
They read it and thought of surrender.
They read it and remembered who they were before Christ found them:
lost
blind
proud
self-reliant
aching
empty
unable to change themselves
unable to save themselves
They remembered how impossible they were
until grace did what flesh never could.
They did not hear Jesus saying,
“You can do anything.”
They heard Him say,
“Stop trying to save yourself. You cannot. Let God do what only God can do.”
And that is the sting we still need today.
Because somewhere along the way, the modern church turned this verse into a motivational poster.
A slogan.
A pep talk.
A spiritual sugar rush.
But Jesus spoke it as a rebuke.
A holy, cleansing, liberating rebuke.
A reminder that:
your effort cannot fix you
your discipline cannot cleanse you
your habits cannot make you holy
your will cannot resurrect you
your strength cannot rewrite your story
Only God can.
What is impossible?
You changing yourself.
You saving yourself.
You freeing yourself.
You making yourself righteous.
What is possible?
God doing the impossible inside you.
So, the real devotional moment is this:
Stop asking God to empower yourself reliance.
Stop trying to be your own Savior.
Stop pretending you can earn your way into transformation.
Stop dragging your brokenness into the next season as if you can fix what only grace can heal.
Let God do the impossible.
Let God do the work you cannot.
Let God be God.
Because Matthew 19:26 was never meant to inflate you.
It was meant to free you.
“What is impossible for man is the breaking of his own chains.”
— Ignatius
The early church treated this verse like a dagger against human pride.
“Everything is possible with God” wasn’t a motivational phrase.
It was an indictment:
“You cannot do this. Stop acting like you can.”
THE REAL STING: JESUS WASN’T ENCOURAGING THE DISCIPLES — HE WAS CORRECTING THEM
They believed wealthy, impressive, “blessed” people had easier access to God.
Jesus tells them:
“You’re wrong. Dead wrong.”
Wealth does not save.
Status does not save.
Good works do not save.
Your “good Christian behavior” does not save.
Your emotions do not save.
Your sincerity does not save.
Only God can do what you cannot.
The early church called this the scandal of grace
This verse is not about:
-
achieving your dreams
-
manifesting your goals
-
visualizing success
-
claiming a car, house, job, or breakthrough
-
believing hard enough to twist God’s arm
None of that existed in the minds of the apostles or the early church.
The early church fathers (Ignatius, Clement, Irenaeus, Chrysostom) were crystal clear:
“The soul cannot rise by its own strength.”
— Chrysostom
This verse is about the impossibility of saving yourself.
Period. It’s not about the impossible situations you want God to fix. It’s about the impossible condition of the human heart apart from divine intervention.
The “impossible” thing Jesus was talking about was:
-
a self-sufficient person entering the Kingdom
-
a person enslaved to wealth, status, self-righteousness, pride
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the human attempt to earn salvation or purify oneself
The early church hammered this point
THE REAL APPLICATION (NO FLUFF)
Stop thinking you can fix yourself. You can’t.
Stop thinking your works or your willpower make you holy. They don’t.
Stop twisting this verse into a self-help slogan. It isn’t.
The early church read this verse and trembled —
because they knew Jesus was confronting the deepest lie of the human heart.
“Man cannot heal himself. Man cannot save himself. Man cannot pierce his own darkness.”
— Clement of Rome
| CALLING OUT MODERN MISUSE | WHAT THE EARLY CHURCH SAID “ALL THINGS POSSIBLE” REALLY MEANS |
|---|---|
| “speak it into existence” | God can transform the unwilling |
| “you’re limitless” | God can humble the heart that worships security |
| “nothing can stop you” | God can redeem the self-righteous |
| “God can do anything you dream of” | God can save the proud |
| “God wants you to win” | God can cleanse sin |
| "Life will be perfect now" | God can break the chains you refuse to admit you wear |
| "God will make me rich" | God can overturn human impossibility: the hardened heart |
The early church understood something modern culture hates:
This verse is not about empowering your will — It’s about surrendering it.
That's what Jesus meant.
That’s what the early church preached.
That's what this verse was preserved for.
The apostles would have shredded this teaching. They never used Scripture to inflate human ego. They used it to crucify the ego.
Cultural & Historical Insight
In Jewish culture, wealth was often seen as evidence of righteousness.
If someone rich couldn’t achieve salvation on their own merit, the disciples were undone.
Jesus responds with a powerful shift:
“You cannot achieve the impossible. But God is not limited by your limits.”
The phrase “looked at them” is intentional.
It’s the Greek word emblepō — to look deeply, to see into someone.
It wasn’t a lecture.
It was reassurance.
A steady, grounding gaze that untangled their fear.
Hidden Truth
Most people quote this verse to mean:
“God can give me whatever I want.”
But in context, Jesus was not promising success, money, or open doors.
He was saying:
“What you cannot do for yourself —
God can do in you, through you, and for you.”
The impossible thing wasn’t a situation. It was a soul condition.
Salvation.
Transformation.
Freedom.
Healing.
Spiritual rebirth.
The things that break human effort bow to God’s power.
When you hit your limit:
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God is not limited
-
God specializes in what you can’t fix
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God moves where your strength runs out
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God sees what you cannot see
-
God steps into what is impossible for you
This verse isn’t about forcing outcomes.
It’s about trusting the One who can do what you cannot do on your own.
Your breakthrough may not look like what you expect,
but it will always come through God — not striving.
| Spiritual Connection | Scripture |
|---|---|
| Luke 1:37 | “Nothing will be impossible with God.” |
| Jeremiah 32:17 | “Nothing is too hard for You.” |
| Ephesians 3:20 | “Able to do abundantly above all we ask or think.” |
Lord,
You know the places in my life that feel impossible.
You know the walls I’ve hit, the prayers I’ve whispered,
the things I’ve tried to carry on my own strength.
Remind me that impossibility is not a barrier to You.
Where I am weak, be strong.
Where I cannot move, You can.
Where the door is locked, let Your hand be the key.
Where my heart is tired, be the power that lifts me again.
Teach me to trust Your possibilities
more than my limitations.
Let my faith rest in who You are,
not in what I can achieve.
Amen.
| Key Words | Price |
|---|---|
| Adynatos | impossible, powerless, unable |
| Dynatos | possible, capable, powerful |
| Para tō Theō | with God, in God’s presence, by God’s ability |
Jesus creates contrast:
Humans: inability
God: capacity
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