Matthew 19:26

A
B
C

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, 'With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'

Matthew 19:26 (NKJV)

Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'

Matthew 19:26 (NIV)

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Matthew 19:26 (KJV)

Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible."

Matthew 19:26 (NLT)

But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Matthew 19:26 (ESV)

And looking at them, Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Matthew 19:26 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

But Jesus looked at them and said, "With people [as the source of help] this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Matthew 19:26 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

But Jesus looked at them and said, With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God.

Matthew 19:26 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Jesus looked hard at them and said, 'No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.'

Matthew 19:26 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

Adunatos and Dunatos: The Contrast Is the Point

The Greek words translated "impossible" and "possible" in Matthew 19:26 share the same root. Dunatos means powerful, able, capable. Adunatos is dunatos with the prefix a-, which negates it: without power, unable, incapable. Jesus is not using two unrelated words. He is using one word and its opposite, making the contrast maximally stark. With human beings: adunatos, without power. With God: dunatos, all things capable. The category that is without power for humans is the same category that is fully within power for God. The impossibility is not simply relocated from one bucket to another. It is abolished by the nature of the One with whom all things are possible.

The Context Is Salvation, and That Is Not a Narrow Application

The immediate subject of Matthew 19:26 is salvation, specifically the disciples' question "who then can be saved?" after Jesus described the difficulty of the rich entering the Kingdom. The impossible thing in view is not a practical life problem but the most impossible thing of all: the transformation of a human soul, the entry of a sinner into the presence of God. If that impossibility falls within the scope of "with God all things are possible," then every lesser impossibility does also. The argument from the greater to the lesser runs clearly: if God can do what is required for salvation, He can handle the impossible circumstance you are carrying today.

Jesus "looked at them" before He answered. The Greek word emblepo means to look directly and intently, a penetrating gaze. This is the same word used in Mark 10:21 when Jesus "looking at him, loved him" in reference to the rich young ruler. Jesus does not deliver this statement at a distance or as a footnote. He looks at the disciples directly, which is the posture of someone who wants to make sure what they are about to say lands. The statement that follows is intended to land: with God all things are possible. He wants them, and you, to receive this.

Application for Your Life

The Category of Impossible Does Not Exist for God

Matthew 19:26 is not saying God makes some impossible things possible. It is saying "all things are possible with God." The word panta, all things, is comprehensive. There is no subcategory of impossible that remains impossible once God is involved. This is not a promise that God will do whatever you want. It is a statement about the nature of God: He does not operate within human limits, does not work only in the space of what is humanly achievable, and is not blocked by circumstances that are beyond human capacity. Ephesians 3:20 says He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Above. Not up to the limit of. Above.

The New Creation Is the Proof

If you want evidence that God operates in the space of impossibility, look at what He has already done in you. 2 Corinthians 5:17: if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The transformation of a person from death to life, from separated from God to indwelt by God's own Spirit, is the most radical impossibility there is, and it has already occurred. Every other impossible thing in your life is a lesser category than what God has already accomplished at the cross and resurrection. You are not asking God to do something harder than what He has already done. He has already done the hardest thing. The rest is possible.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, I bring You what looks impossible from where I stand. I am not pretending the circumstances look easy. They do not. But I am looking at them through what Jesus said: with You, all things are possible. Every. Thing. I receive that not as a motivational statement but as a declaration about who You are. You are not working within the limits of what is humanly achievable. You are the God who makes dead things live, who calls things that are not as though they are, who did what no human effort could accomplish at the cross. If You can do that, You can do this. I trust You with the impossible thing. In Jesus' name. Amen.