The God of Impossibilities

The God of Impossibilities

The rich young ruler walked away from Jesus with a sadness written all over him because he could not part with his riches. He failed to enjoy the spiritual blessings of salvation offered to him by Jesus Christ. This rich young man was one of the very few who rejected Jesus. A closer look at the public ministry of Jesus would reveal that Jesus never neglected the rich from hearing his message of the kingdom of God. Nicodemus came in the night to talk to Jesus. Matthew who was later chosen as an apostle invited Jesus to a dinner in his home along with many other friends. Jesus regularly visited Lazarus and his sisters who had the economic means to entertain Jesus and several of his followers. Many women from rich and royal households followed Jesus and also supported his public ministry from their personal funds. Jesus’ body was laid down in the personal tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
Jesus met two persons on his way to Jericho. One was Bartimaeus, the blind roadside beggar, and the other was Zacchaeus, the tax collector. Jesus stopped for both of them on his journey and met their personal needs. As much as Bartimaeus needed to be restored from his physical blindness, Zacchaeus needed to be restored from his spiritual blindness. When Jesus proclaimed “Today salvation has come into this house”, Zacchaeus went about sharing half of his wealth with the poor and returned four times the money of all whom he had cheated. The whole town was amazed at this transformation. The impact of one person’s life influenced an entire town. (Luke 18: 35 - 19: 9)

Jesus Christ proclaimed the Kingdom of God to the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed as well as the rich, the middle class and the influencers of the day. God shows no favoritism. It is a misconception to assume that all those who are poor will respond and those who are rich will reject. After the rich young man walked away, the disciples were concerned and asked who can then be saved? Jesus explained that it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God and compared the ‘hardness’ to the fact that even a camel can enter the eye of the needle. What is impossible with men is possible with God. (Luke 18: 26-27). When the rich hear the Gospel and respond like Zacchaeus did, it is an impossible event made possible by God. Transforming whole communities and nations require us to be involved in serving the unmet spiritual needs of the growing middle class who are the influencers today.  John Amalraj

© 2008, INFOCUS, Interserve India

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