Mark 10:26

‘And they were exceedingly astonished, saying to him, “Who then can be saved?” '

They had previously been amazed at the statement of how hard it was for a rich man to enter under the Kingly Rule of God but at this statement about the difficulty of  anyone  entering under the Kingly Rule of God, and the ‘impossibility' of rich men so entering, they were absolutely staggered. General Jewish theory from the Old Testament was that men prospered because they were pleasing to God and that prosperity was a sign of God's favour. The rich were expected to give alms generously, but that would surely only count in their favour. So if they could not enter, who could?

We should note, however, that a counter position about the rich is found in the Bible, especially in the Psalms, and that was that the poor tended to righteousness and the rich to ungodliness. This was more in line with what Jesus was saying here and fitted in with His proclamations about His own coming treatment at the hands of powerful men. It is also the stress of much New Testament teaching.

We have the same tendencies today. There are those who magnify the idea that truly believing will result in physical prosperity, but that is countered here. Jesus was saying that too much prosperity is dangerous and that Christians should not seek it, for there are few who can cope with it and remain true (Proverbs 30:7; 1 Timothy 6:9). And that has been proved by many a modern man.