What does the scripture “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” really mean?
In our long history of wrestling with this verse, our tradition has taken many approaches. We have theologized it and said that Jesus was simply challenging the common Hebrew wisdom of the day that viewed wealth was a sign of God’s favor and this is just another time he turns this belief upside down.
We have claimed that the “eye of the needle” was a small gate in the protective stone wall surrounding ancient cities through which a camel could only pass through if it’s load was removed and it scooted through on its knees. Which makes the task difficult, but not impossible.
Some scholars claim that the word translated as “camel” is very close to the word in greek for “rope,” so if we had a big enough needle and a thin enough rope – it could happen!
We have individualized it, saying that wealth just happened to be the weakness of this particular young man and that “riches” could symbolize other things for other people such as career, reputation, security, fame, power, vanity, etc. So its not necessarily a statement on wealth as much as surrendering whatever is keeping us from God.
All these may be valid approaches to interpreting this passage, however, I think we risk quite a bit if we don’t consider the possibility that this passage may be intended just as it is written. What if it is really hard for the rich to enter heaven? Very hard. Maybe even impossible?
What if wealth is an obstacle to eternal life?
What if our saints like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Benedict and Mother Theresa, had it right?
What if God is truly calling us to give up everything we own?
What if the ‘shall nots’ are simply not enough?
Where does this leave us?
At the very least, it should leave us uncomfortable, looking quite seriously at the choices we make. Beyond that, I don’t even pretend to have a clue.
We stand lacking, and sad with the rich young ruler, knowing deep within that God is calling us to more selflessness, more surrender, more sacrifice, more than we feel able to give. We stand with the apostles asking “Then who can be saved?”
Jesus’ response is key to our hope. The young ruler comes to Jesus with a restlessness, an awareness that something is missing in his life, there is a pull, urge, whisper, thirst, a deep desire that haunts him. He has done his best to live as a decent, honest, hard-working person who has “observed the commandments since his youth” but he still believes he could do more...BE more….and Jesus looked at him with great love and holds unwavering hope for him even as he turns to walk away.
We too need to feel that loving look of Jesus upon us, and hear his continual invitation to a deeper more authentic Christian discipleship. Theologian Walter Rauschenbusch suggests that the key to this story is to concentrate not on what the man was asked to give up, but instead consider the incredible opportunity he gave up. Because of his ‘many possessions’ he declined the opportunity to be one of Jesus’ closest friends.
The apostles lived passionate lives full of purpose and love and turned the world upside down. The rich young ruler walked away sad…and he had reason. Each of us are invited and uniquely equipped to be a part of the ongoing radical transformation of the world. The question is are we too walking away sad? Are we missing the point of life?
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