Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.”
- KJV And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
- NKJV But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”
- NASB Looking at them, Jesus *said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
- NLT Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus says salvation is impossible for people but possible with God, for whom all things are possible. Salvation is entirely a work of God's grace.
Overview
This is the heart of the passage and of the gospel: no one saves himself, but God can save anyone. Human inability gives way to divine power and grace. The verse anchors Christian hope not in human effort or worthiness but in the saving might of God, who alone makes the impossible possible.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jer 32:27“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
- Matt 19:26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Job 42:2“I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
- Jer 32:17“Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
- Gen 18:13–14And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’
- Luke 1:37For no word from God will ever fail.”
- Luke 18:27But Jesus said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
- Num 11:21–23But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’
- Heb 11:19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and in a sense, he did receive Isaac back from death.
- Phil 3:21who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
- 2 Kgs 7:2But the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” replied Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it.”
- Zech 8:6This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “If this is impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be impossible in My eyes?” declares the LORD of Hosts.
- Heb 7:25Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 10:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.