Open Word
Brief daily reflections on a lectionary text for the day.
Who then can be saved? - Aug 18
“Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men this is impossible,
but for God all things are possible.”
“Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men this is impossible,
but for God all things are possible.”
Jesus had just finished telling the disciples how hard it will be for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The disciples are baffled because if the rich, with all their entitlements, cannot achieve salvation then who on earth can? Jesus’ reply – No one can. God alone can.
Over the centuries, people have developed a variety of understandings of what salvation is and how salvation happens. For some, reading a tract and reciting a short prayer moves a person from the unsaved column to the saved column. For some, salvation is worked out through a lifetime of fear and trembling. My own definition has Salvation as wholeness, restoration, and being fully aware of our life in/with/for God.
Jesus’ response to the disciples seems to put into questions our efforts and maybe even our theories of salvation. This whole salvation is not possible through our efforts and intentions, Jesus tells us. Salvation is God’s doing.
God, through the incarnation of Jesus, his life through death and resurrection has brought wholeness and restoration – salvation - to the entire world. Our job is to open our eyes and ears and notice this reality, and by living a life in imitation of Christ live a life of salvation.
Who then can be saved? We all can. Thanks be to God.
p.s. Jesus ends his instructions about salvation with the words, “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” From Jesus words about how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom, and his closing words about the first being last we are receiving important insight into what a life in salvation looks like.