“With God all things are possible.”

Luke 23:13-43 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now Pilate summoned to himself the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, ¹⁴ and he said to them, “You brought this man to me on the ground that he is inciting the people to revolt; and behold, after examining Him before you, I have found no basis at all in the case of this man for the charges which you are bringing against Him. ¹⁵ No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. ¹⁶ Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” ¹⁷ Now he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner.

¹⁸ But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!” ¹⁹ (He was one who had been thrown into prison for a revolt that took place in the city, and for murder.) ²⁰ But Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, ²¹ but they kept on crying out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” ²² And he said to them a third time, “Why, what has this man done wrong? I have found in His case no grounds for a sentence of death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” ²³ But they were insistent, with loud voices, demanding that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. ²⁴ And so Pilate decided to have their demand carried out. ²⁵ And he released the man for whom they were asking, who had been thrown into prison for a revolt and murder; but he handed Jesus over to their will.

²⁶ And when they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷ Now following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and grieving for Him. ²⁸ But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are those who cannot bear, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have not nursed.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³² Now two others, who were criminals, were also being led away to be put to death with Him.

³³ And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴ But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing His garments among themselves. ³⁵ And the people stood by, watching. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” ³⁸ Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our crimes; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” ⁴³ And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Matthew 19:25-26 says:  When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  In John 14:6 Jesus says:  “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  How often do people argue that it is unfair or impossible that Jesus could be the only way to heaven? They argue, what about those who have never heard the gospel? The thing is, those who make the argument have no basis for their point because they obviously have heard. By their argument on behalf of other anonymous people is actually an attempt to excuse themselves. For those who truly haven’t heard the gospel, or had the revelation of who Jesus is, the answer is, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”   

In today’s text it says:  Now two others, who were criminals, were also being led away to be put to death with Him. And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, watching. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our crimes; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”  The thief on the cross didn’t change his lifestyle. Perhaps he never did good in his entire life, but there on the cross, without hearing the gospel message, he had a revelation of who Jesus was, that he was not only the King of the Jews, as the inscription read, but that He was and is, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords; the only way to heaven. “With God all things are possible.”   

Just because we can’t understand or comprehend how those who lived before Jesus, or those who have, for whatever reasons never heard the gospel message, that God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life, doesn’t mean that the eternal, omnipotent, omnipresent God, even at their last breath, could not reveal to each one that Jesus is the Christ, that He is the way. We cannot, with our natural minds, comprehend what is spiritual. We cannot with our finite minds comprehend God who is infinite, but neither should we limit what He can do, to our own understanding. “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Jesus says:  “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” 

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, thank You that it is not for us to explain or even to understand, but rather only to trust and believe. Thank You that: “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible,” and that You: so loved the world, that You gave Your only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  Amen.