“And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matt 19:24).
This saying of Jesus (also to be found in Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25) has received much comment and interpretation down through the ages. Two different explanations, or perhaps ways of sidestepping the parable, have been proposed. The first is that the word for camel is a mistake — that kamilos should be kamêlos, a rope, which is what some very late NT manuscripts have. The other is that there was a gate into Jerusalem called the “eye of the needle,” which was so narrow that camels had to be unloaded to pass. In both cases, this maintains the difficulty of the process, but negates the absolute impossibility. The second explanation, the gate into Jerusalem, is quite common in the pages of Christadelphian magazines as well as other commentaries.
Indeed, idea of such a narrow gate leads itself to a nice analogy, that you have to drop your burden of worldly goods in order to crawl though the entrance into the Kingdom. But this has two problems: firstly, I believe it destroys the whole point of the saying. And although the account of this gate has been around since the fifteenth century, neither archeological findings nor studies of ancient writings have found evidence of such a gate.
As we turn to the idea that instead of “camel” we should read “rope,” the manuscript support is very poor. So it seems most likely this idea was introduced to get around the apparent difficulty of the parable. To add a further difficulty to this saying, Luke uses a word for “needle” that is most commonly used for a surgeon’s needle, unlike the common term for needle used by Mark and Matthew.
So what is the point of the saying? The disciples clearly understood the true meaning. The camel was, at the time, the largest (as well as one of the ugliest) animal of those times. And a needle was the smallest common opening. So the impossibility is quite apparent, and the concept that the young man was quite unable to enter the Kingdom without shedding all his considerable riches was very clear to the disciples. It is not surprising that they responded with “Who then can be saved?”
Riches
Although addressed to a specific individual, the advice proffered by Jesus could equally well be addressed to the vast majority of my readers in North America. Certainly in terms of possessions, we almost all live a life of luxury that was true of only a tiny fraction of the population in the first century. We also see the a similar warning in the parable of the sower, where in Mark 4:19 Jesus says “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.” Riches are indeed capable of deceit: it is part of the focus of the New Testament on the danger of riches. There is indeed a common conception that money usually brings happiness. There is a saying that “I know money does not bring happiness — but I sure would like to try!” But in fact, according to American research1, this is not so. There is a threshold effect: up to $75,000 indeed an increase in income helps, as the worries of surviving tend to overwhelm many people. But above this level, any reduction in money worries are replaced the “keeping up with the Jones effect”. There are always people better off than you, to be envied.
We are warned in many places about the danger of riches. We are warned about the great danger of the love of riches in 1Tim 6:10 and Heb 13:5. In Matt 6:24 we are told “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (The word mammon is simply the Aramaic word for riches, which somehow the KJV does not translate.) I think it quite revealing that the Wall Street Journal has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the USA, and its primary focus is on wealth accumulation.
So how should we apply this consistent message to ourselves? Are we to listen to the advice to the young man “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” Well I believe there are three main points:
- It is the love of money — not wealth itself — that is the problem. The mere fact of possessing riches is not necessarily bad, it is the unbridled desire for more, or the unreasonable impulse to hold on to every penny. The counsel of Scripture is to be content in the state you find yourself in — if that state does not inhibit you in your walk to the Kingdom. The mere fact of possessing riches is not the problem: it is the insatiable desire for more and more, that is so pervasive in our society, this is the problem. It is a parable of our society that in the USA the Wall Street Journal has the highest circulation of any newspaper.
- We can think of many examples of rich, but faithful, individuals throughout the old and new Testaments. Of Abraham, Joseph, and particularly in this context of Joseph of Arimathaea, who “wrapped it [the body of Jesus] in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock” (Matt 27:59). In so doing he fulfilled the words of Isaiah 53:9 “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.” Without the riches of Joseph, our master would not have been laid in this new tomb — a prerogative of the ultra-rich in the first Century.
- The essential point of the parable is that the rich man was trying to earn his salvation, without fully committing himself to the gospel. “If thou wilt be perfect.” Jesus knew full well that such a state was impossible for man. And this is why the answer of Jesus to the question of the disciples “Who than can be saved?” rings so loud. “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” It is quite impossible for the rich in particular, and for all mankind in general, to obtain salvation simply by keeping the commandments, to obtain salvation by works. But, by the grace of God, we have the hope encapsulated in the gospel, irrespective of our wealth (or lack of it).
The Message of the New Testament
The consistent message of the New Testament is that there is only room for one focus in our lives. We cannot hope to obtain salvation if our lives are centered on anything other than the gospel of the Kingdom of God. And certainly we cannot serve God and strive for wealth at the same time. Now the rich man of the parable clearly attached more importance to his riches than truly following his Messiah. It is of value to note that in the gospel of Luke, the parable of the eye of the needle is preceded by the account of the prayers of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18:9-14). The publican’s prayer of penitence was accepted, but the Pharisee’s prayer of self-righteousness was rejected. So shall be rejected those who pride themselves in their possessions.
So we come back to the clear teaching of the parable: it is absolutely impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom, hence the question of the disciples. And this question is as relevant to ourselves as it was the rich man. With all our material riches, it is as impossible for us to enter as it was for him.
Who then can be saved? The answer was given to the disciples and to ourselves. Compared to many Christadelphians in Africa and elsewhere, the level of riches common to those in North America is almost incomprehensible, but these possessions can be more of a hindrance than a help. It is only through the grace of God that we, in all our affluence, can be saved. Our wealth is, indeed, a great hindrance in our walk towards the Kingdom. We tend, as humans, to equate possessions with righteousness, however much we try to deny it. But this is opposed to the message of our Lord in the parable here.
With God all things are possible, if we have faith in our Lord Jesus, and we accept his sacrifice in humbleness and in the recognition that earthly riches are of no value in our quest for the Kingdom.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One