Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 19:25

"And when the disciples heard it, they were astonished exceedingly, saying, Who then can be saved?" — Matthew 19:25 (ASV)

Who then can be saved?—There is an almost childlike naïveté in the question the disciples asked. Whether among their own people or among foreigners, they had found the desire for wealth to be the universal passion. Even they themselves, when they had left their earthly possessions, had done so with a far-sighted calculation, as Peter’s question showed all too plainly (Matthew 19:27). They were counting on outward riches in that kingdom, as well as outward glory.

Now they heard what seemed to them a sweeping condemnation, excluding from the kingdom all who possessed riches and, by implication, all who sought after them. This same feeling that the disciples showed has, curiously enough, affected the text of the narrative in Mark. What appears to be an explanatory and softened statement, How hardly shall they that trust in riches enter into the kingdom of God! (Mark 10:24), is not found in the best manuscripts.

The omission may have been an accidental error by the copyists, but this is unlikely. Its absence from Matthew and Luke, combined with the fact that it was not our Lord’s usual method to soften or explain His teaching, leads to the conclusion that a marginal note, added by someone who felt as the disciples did, has found its way into the text here.