A Camel Through the Eye of a Needle Matthew 19.23-30 wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me." That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go. Today s reading has a saying that has caused a lot of discussion amongst interpreters of the bible. The reading we have heard today is the second part of a scene where a rich young man approaches Jesus and asks him what he has to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells the man that he has to keep the ten commandments: Don t commit adultery, don t steal, don t lie, honour your parents and love your neighbour. The rich young man surprisingly answers that he has kept all of these commandments. He said, "I've done all that. What's left?" "If you want to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your And so Jesus says to his disciples that it is harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. This is a difficult saying and one that has had lots of different interpretations as ways of explaining what Jesus meant by it. The idea that those with wealth cannot get into heaven is a challenging idea. It was challenging even for the disciples, whose response to this saying was: Who then can be saved? In their time, probably not unlike our own, being rich was a sign of being blessed. The rich were those who had lived good and respectable lives and who had been rewarded for it by being prosperous. The rich were considered the winners in society. Being wealthy was a sign
of having been blessed by God. One of the ways this difficult saying has been softened over the years is by the explanation that in jerusalem, there was a gate into the city called: the eye of the needle, unlike the other gates, this one was much smaller and had a lower lintel, so that a man riding a camel could not ride his camel through the gate. Instead, he would have to dismount from the camel and unload all of the baggage on the camel, and some say the camel even had to kneel, in order to pass through the gate. Therefore, the meaning of this saying is not that the rich cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, only that they must humble themselves in order to enter. While this is a very interesting interpretation of this verse, it is hampered by one important fact: there is no evidence at all that a gate like this ever existed in Jerusalem - it was an idea made up hundreds of years later in an attempt to soften the meaning of Jesus saying. Other interpreters of this passage have realized that the word used for camel in this passage is very similar to the word used for rope, and the original intention of Jesus saying could be that it is easier for a rope to enter the eye of the needle, than for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. After all, it s not impossible for a rope to pass through a needle just get a very thin rope and a very, very large needle, and you can make it happen. But of course, this is really just another failed attempt to soften what is a very difficult saying. Jesus himself admits that what he is saying is impossible not just difficult. But note that he says it is impossible for humanity, but that for God all things are possible. So how do we interpret what Jesus is saying here? Do we interpret it literally, as meaning that no rich people go to heaven? And if so, what s the cut-off. How much can you earn and still go to heaven? It s pretty clear that Jesus is
using hyperbole here or exaggeration to make a point. He is saying that it is very, very difficult for the rich to enter in. But why is that? meditating on this painting and have been gaining some insight into this verse. The rich young man is very obvious in the painting he is wearing nice clothes, well made, and looks very well off. Jesus is easily recognizable too, beside him. And to the left, are two figures. One is an old man, barely clothed, who looks in need and who appears to be sick in some way. What you can t see clearly from where you are is that he also has crutches under his arms. With that man is what looks like a woman. And on her face is a look of sadness. Perhaps she is sad about the need of the man that she is helping. Perhaps she is sad because she herself is one of the poor and needy. Perhaps she is sad because of the rich Here is a painting by an artist called Heinrich Hoffman called Christ and the Rich Young Ruler. It depicts the scene of this young man and his conversation with Christ. As I have been preparing a sermon on this topic, I have been young man and the way he is turning away. The sight of the poor in this picture changes my understanding of Jesus discussion with this rich young man. Jesus lists for the man all the commandments that he needs
to fulfill, and the last one he lists is love your neighbor as yourself. It could well be that this is the point that the painting is set at: and perhaps as Jesus says: Love your neighbor as yourself he is gesturing toward the poor couple who are cowering beside the building. Note that the rich young man doesn t see the poor people. He is looking away. Either he hasn t noticed them or he refuses to look. Either way, he insists to Jesus that he has kept these commandments, and he is wondering what he is still missing. And so, Jesus makes it clear to the man the way in which he has failed to love his neighbor: He tells the man to sell his possessions and give to the poor, and then invites the rich man to follow him. But this is clearly too difficult for the man. He clearly wants to follow Jesus. He has come to him asking about how to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He s clearly a religious young man who wants to do what is right. But he is a bit stuck. He is a bit stuck because he is rich. He has many possessions. And he doesn t just possess them. It seems to some degree, they own him. Look at Jesus face and his posture. Jesus is inviting the young man. He is inviting him to see these people as his neighbours. Look at the poor. They are together. They are close to each other. Look at the way Jesus is dressed he is dressed in the same colours the poor are wearing. There is a similarity between Jesus face and the face of the woman. It reminds me of the verse where Jesus says that whenever you feed the hungry, clothe the naked or do anything good to the least, then you are doing it to Jesus. Now look at the rich young man in this picture. He looks sad. He looks torn. He is set apart from Jesus and the poor in the way he is dressed and in his posture. He has already begun to turn away. It says in the bible that when he heard
what Jesus said that he went away sorrowfully. Why does Jesus ask the man to sell his possessions and to give to the poor? Because he can see that this man is imprisoned by his riches as I said before; his possessions own him. He is not free to drop them in order to grab hold of something bigger, something that he is desperately seeking: the Kingdom of God. Ironically, he leaves Jesus empty handed. Whereas Jesus has already made it clear in his sermon on the mount that the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are poor in spirit; to those who do not depend on their wealth and possessions for their status or their security. And all this reminds me of a book that I haven t yet read, but that I have heard a lot about. It is not a religious book but it is called The Spirit Level. It is a book about social research that has been carried out all over the world over the last thirty years, and it has discovered that there is one thing, one single, solitary thing that affects the incidence in all societies of: life expectancy, infant mortality, obesity, child wellbeing, amount of mental illness, use of illegal drugs, teenage pregnancy rates, homicide, fighting and bullying among children, imprisonment rates, levels of mutual trust between citizens, maths and literacy attainment, social mobility (children rising in social scale compared with their parents), the status of women, inventiveness and innovation, waste recycling and spending on foreign aid. There is one factor that is behind an increase in the negative factors and a decrease of the positive factors. And it is this: inequality. To Quote from The Spirit Level : The big idea is that what matters in determining mortality and health in a society is less the overall wealth of that society and more how evenly that wealth is distributed. The more equally wealth is distributed the better the health of that society. When we define ourselves by our possessions or our wealth,
we define ourselves by externals that are of finite worth, and of limited value. When we think of these things as our worth, then our worth is only at the expense of or in As Jesus says: many who we think are first, are actually last. Many who appear to be the last, are first. A new world is coming, a new kingdom; won t you be a part of it? comparison to others. And so we define ourselves as separate from others, as in competition with others. And we exclude ourselves from the kingdom of heaven from the place where we are all of infinite worth, and where are all one race of equal human beings, with nothing to fear from each other, nothing to lose from being with and enjoying each other. This is what Jesus invites the rich young ruler into he invites him to let go of the external things and join the kingdom of God, where all the poor in spirit live in peace, together with Jesus. What is it that would stop you from accepting that invitation? What would you have to let go of in order to join that kingdom where we are all equal, we all belong and where no one is better than any other?