I am sure you are familiar with Jesus’ statement, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” It is an interesting statement to be sure. Jesus’ encounter with the rich man is recorded in Matthew 19:16-26, Mark 10: 17-27 and Luke 18: 18-27. Here is the story in Mark:

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good,” Jesus asked. “No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.”

“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor. Then you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!

The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “who then can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said, “with man this is impossible, but not with God; with God, all things are possible with God.”

Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.”

The man was familiar with the Jewish terminology regarding inheritance, which is used throughout the Bible and, in the spiritual sense, has to do with the gifting of God’s promises and blessings. In the story above, Jesus directed the man’s attention to God’s goodness and then listed six of the ten commandments which, not incidentally, have to do with our relations with others. In doing so, Jesus establishes some important basics, and that is to recognize God for his goodness and do well with others. All indications are that the man has done well. However, Jesus wanted more. He wanted the man to completely turn away from his current life and follow him in an act of faith, similar to other instances in the Bible such as Abraham, who is described in Genesis 12:1 as leaving his country, his people and his father’s household to go to a land that God would show him. Abraham is also mentioned in Hebrews 11, which is known as the Heroes of Faith chapter, for his obedience to God in this regard.

The story twice mentions that the disciples were amazed at Jesus’ words, and the primary reason is because Jesus turned away wealth. The first time was after Jesus said, “how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The second time it says the disciples “were even more amazed”, after Jesus made the comment about the camel and needle, meaning it was impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom. In that day and age, just like here in America, money was the bedrock of their economy. [*] The people worked hard to earn it and relied on it to purchase everything they needed. Survival was difficult without it, so imagine how the disciples must have felt when they saw this extremely wealthy man who, even if he contributed a small portion of his money, could help with their nascent movement. And, after witnessing this interaction with this man who could obtain anything he wanted in this world, it is no wonder the disciples asked the question, “who then can be saved?”

Jesus often illustrated his kingdom lessons using familiar elements from the natural world, and his use of the camel and needle fits in that mold. The people of ancient times (and even now in the modern age) used camel wool to make clothing, tents and many other textiles. Matthew 3:4 states that John the Baptist wore camel hair and many believe that 2 Kings 1:8 reveals that Elijah did also.

Though wool producers, camels were primarily used for transportation. Referred to by some as ships of the desert, they can carry heavy loads over long distances. Their bodies are equipped to allow water storage, and their humps are primarily made of fat, which allows their bodies to have fuel when there is little or no food available. Their nostrils can close to keep the sand out, and their feet are designed to enable them to traverse over desert landscape. Camels produce milk and are used for food. However, the Jews were prohibited from eating them due to their dietary laws (Leviticus 11:4) and they were not typically owned by the poor. As primarily service animals, ownership of camels often indicated economic advantage and  symbolized wealth and status. Jesus’ imagery made an especially poignant and vivid impact on his followers and puts an exclamation point on the fact that wealth has no standing for entering the kingdom of God.

Three pillars of the Christian belief system are represented in this story: faith — the man leaving his current life to follow Jesus, sacrifice — the man giving his possessions to the poor, and service — represented symbolically by the camel. All three were non-starters for the rich man, but why would Jesus put forth an impossible requirement that the man give away all of his possessions? Being rich is not a sin, and turning someone away does seem to contradict Jesus’ ministry. After all, aren’t we all sinners and subject to the same grace? Would Jesus want you and me to give away everything we have? The story also mentions that the disciples gave up everything to follow Jesus, Would Jesus require that of us too?

These issues seem extreme. However, Jesus never asked us to do anything that he would not do himself. Consider Ephesians 5:30 – 32:

For we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery, but I am talking about Christ and his church.

Paul referenced Genesis 2:1 of the creation story to make this point. It was God’s desire from the beginning that Christ would leave the splendors of heaven to come to earth and die for us, be resurrected from the dead, and give us his Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts. Now he wants us to be his hands and feet, his smile, his tears, and his hugs as we minister to and serve others. In that regard we should always give him credit when we serve someone for the kingdom — just like Jesus’ example above, where he gave God the credit for being good.

After this encounter, there is no more mention of the rich man, but fortunately there is more to the story, which Jesus alluded to when he said that with God all things are possible. Let’s take a look at a few verses to help shed more light on the idea:

• Col 3:1 — “If you then be risen with Christ, then seek those things above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God”
• Col 2:12 — “…having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.”
• Eph 2:6 — “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

In the above verses Paul used the past tense when he wrote “risen” and “raised” to these people over 2000 years ago. Of course the promised bodily resurrection has not yet occurred, but the idea is that these people had already joined Christ in his victory. And in order for resurrection to occur, there must first be death:

• Col 3:1-4 “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”
• 2 Tim 2:11– “If we died with him, we will also live with him.”

Romans 10:9-13 says,

That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

This simple act of faith is all it takes to enter the kingdom of God because through Christ’s death and resurrection, the impossible became possible. Titus 2:11 says “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people,” which means the rich man would have had the same opportunity as everyone else. Please note, however, that the Christian life does not end there. Paul writes extensively in the New Testament that Christians are to live worthy lives. The following verses encapsulate the simultaneous ideas of grace and works in the Christian life:

• Eph 2 8-10 “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith — and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works
• 1 Thes 2:12 “…encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”
• Phil 2:12-13, “Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed — not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”
• Titus 3:4-8 “…he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy…so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life….And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing good.”
• Heb 13:15-16 “…let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

It is clear that as Christians we not only have salvation, but we also work out our own salvation and look forward to future salvation. We begin our journeys in Christ’s victory, live victorious lives and look forward to victory.

So what about the rich man’s money? Does the requirement to give it all away still apply? As stated earlier, the money stood in the way of the man giving his heart to Jesus. Fortunately, through the cross God provided a way to remove all barriers, and simply by believing and confessing the man is able enter Christ’s kingdom. As far as the money goes, Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Since the cross, I am sure  Jesus would say the same thing but a little differently:, “where your heart is, there your treasure will be also,” because when Jesus gets a heart, he also gets a pocket book. This being said, there are no requirements to pay any particular amount or percentage like many tithing teachers want us to believe. Paul says in Col 2:13: 

God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and was opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

Paul also said in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery,” which means the rich man is not under anyone else’s rules or expectations in regards to his money. Rather he is free to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in this regard.

Jesus wanted the rich man’s heart, and he knew he was not going to get it by simply allowing the man to add eternal life to his accumulation of treasure. Jesus wanted from him what he wants from us, and that is transformed lives in which we follow him in faith, recognize and give credit to God for his goodness, and do well with others in genuine acts of sacrifice and service.

---

[*] For more regarding the economy of that era, read my post, “Money in the New Testament.”