Luke 18:26

And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26) And they that heard it.—St. Luke’s way of putting the fact suggests the thought either that others may have been present besides the disciples who are named in the other Gospels, or that only some of the disciples heard what had been said.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

18:18-30 Many have a great deal in them very commendable, yet perish for lack of some one thing; so this ruler could not bear Christ's terms, which would part between him and his estate. Many who are loth to leave Christ, yet do leave him. After a long struggle between their convictions and their corruptions, their corruptions carry the day. They are very sorry that they cannot serve both; but if one must be quitted, it shall be their God, not their wordly gain. Their boasted obedience will be found mere outside show; the love of the world in some form or other lies at the root. Men are apt to speak too much of what they have left and lost, of what they have done and suffered for Christ, as Peter did. But we should rather be ashamed that there has been any regret or difficulty in doing it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 19:13-30.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

26, 27. For, &c.—"At that rate none can be saved": "Well, it does pass human power, but not divine."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Luke 18:18"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they that heard it, said, who then can be saved? These were the disciples of Christ, who so said; see Matthew 19:25.

Geneva Study Bible

And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 18:26. οἱ ἀκούσαντες, those hearing, a quite general reference to the company present. In Mt. and Mk. the words are addressed to the disciples.—καὶ τίς δ. σ.: as in Mk., vide notes there.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

26. Who then can be savedI] Here once more we catch the echo of the sighing despair caused in the minds of the still immature Apostles by some of our Lord’s harder sayings.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 26. - And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? This hard saying appeared to the disciples to be terribly comprehensive in its scope; the longing to be rich was confined to no one class or order, it was the universal passion. Were theft guiltless here? Were they not looking for riches and glory in the Messianic kingdom of the immediate future? And of all peoples the Jews in every age have been credited with the blindest devotion to this idol, wealth. In St. Mark (Mark 10:24) we find certainly an explanatory statement: "How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!" But this explanatory and softened statement is not found in the older authorities; these read instead, in Mark 10:24, simply the words, "How hard is it to enter the kingdom of God!' Hard alike, the Master meant, for rich and poor, though harder for the former. Luke 18:26