Eye of the Needle
Mark 10:17-31
HMC, October 13, 2024
Craig Atwood
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
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 answered. “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.’[a]”
“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, and 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[b] to enter the kingdom of God! 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.”
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; all things are possible with God. Then Peter spoke up, “We have
left everything to follow you!”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or
sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to
receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters,
mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to
come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
1INTRODUCTION
The Gospel of Mark is a fascinating book. Even though over 85% of Mark is
found word for word in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, Mark ocers a unique
perspective on the life of Jesus. I took a course on the New Testament at the
University of North Carolina when I twenty years old, and it was transformative
for my faith and life. We read each of the gospels straight through in their
entirety, and on the final exam we had to identify from which gospel specific
statements came. Almost all the selected verses from the Gospel of Mark had
the word “immediately.” Those were easy to identify.
Jesus is constantly on the move in Mark. He seems to be in a hurry to get from
Capernaum to Jerusalem as if he was afraid of being late for his own arrest.
Mark boils down the life of Jesus to a savory broth. Every story is challenging
yet revelatory, including the story I just read. It is a story that makes most
Christians, myself included, uncomfortable.
THE RICH YOUNG MAN
The story begins with a rich young man coming up to Jesus to ask him a
question. We don’t know much about the man other than he is rich and young,
which means that his profile would be popular on a modern dating site. I think
we can assume that in addition to being young and rich, he was rather
handsome since he could acord oil for his hair and skin. His back wasn’t
bowed from heavy labor and the only callouses on his hands came from the
quill he used to keep his accounts. He probably had on gold and jewelry, too.
He was young, rich, and respected. That’s what most of us wish we were!
But there is more to the man than that. He approached a wandering rabbi with
an important question. He respectfully asked Jesus something that was
bothering him. What must I do to inherit eternal life? The question is more
interesting than you might think because many Jews, most notably the
Sadducees, did not believe in eternal life. They believed that when you die, you
die. There is almost nothing about an afterlife in the Old Testament. Some of
the Pharisees believed in a resurrection of the dead and a judgment day. They
taught that the righteous would be with Abraham in paradise. This young man
had probably listened to rabbis’ sermons and read books that raised the
question of eternal life. It was all very confusing, and so he asked Jesus his
opinion on how to get to heaven.
2It is interesting that he asks how he can “inherit” eternal life. Since he is young
and rich, we can assume that he had inherited his status in life. He was one of
those people born on third base instead of having to hit a triple. Naturally he
assumed that there was some way that he could inherit an even better life in
eternity. From his position of privilege and power, this seemed like his
birthright. And yet, he is still troubled. How can he make sure that he will have
eternal life?
I think it is interesting that Jesus does not give him an evangelical sermon like
the ones I grew up with. He didn’t say, “you must repent of your sins and
accept me as your personal lord and savior. ” Jesus didn’t say, “Don’t worry, I’ll
take care of that for you on the cross. ” Instead, he told him to follow the Jewish
law, and even repeated some of the Ten Commandments.
The young man was ready for that advice. He insisted that he has always been
righteous, and we have no reason to doubt his sincerity. He wasn’t just a rich
young man; he was a good, pious man. He was an Eagle Scout who was
trustworthy, loyal, clean, brave, reverent and all the rest. I’m sure that he was
a generous guy who gave money to his synagogue and alms to the poor. He
was just like many of us. If following the Ten Commandments was enough to
inherit eternal life, as some people believe, this guy was already there. He was
so good even he asked Jesus how he could be better.
JESUS LOVED HIM
And Jesus loved him. Jesus had compassion on him. This is one of the few
times that a gospel say that Jesus loved an individual. Jesus didn’t engage him
in an argument like he did Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes. He didn’t
condemn him or criticize him or make fun of him. He cared for this young man
who had lived his whole life righteously, piously, and prosperously in a
protected bubble, but who still was troubled about the next life. What more do
I have to do, he asked?
Jesus invited him to join his disciples. He told the man he had to do to one
thing beyond what he’s done so far. It’s not complicated. Just give up
everything you’ve worked for; everything you are proud of. Leave everything
behind, just like the sons of Zebedee had left their fishing nets.
3This is the only time that Jesus told someone to sell everything and give the
money to the poor. We don’t know why he did this time. There was something
about this young man that elicited this response from Jesus. Sell everything.
Turn your back on the life you are living and rethink everything you thought you
knew. Quit living oc the sweat and labor of others and rely on God.
Acknowledge that your possessions are not making you happy. You are
troubled in your soul. You want a dicerent life. It’s time to make a change.
Jesus told him he needed to do one thing: leave everything behind and follow
me. But the man walked away.
The disciples were shocked that Jesus let him walk away without trying to
recruit him. Surely this rich man would have been an ally in their cause. He
could have paid for their meals and traveling expenses. They were poor; he
could give his money to them. He could be a helpful advocate. But, no, he
walked away, and Jesus let him. Jesus never compelled people to follow him,
he invited them. And he didn’t demand that everyone sell all their
possessions, just this man.
EYE OF THE NEEDLE
Jesus then gave one of his most famous and challenging statements. It is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to
enter the Kingdom of God. It’s a very graphic and rather funny phrase if you
picture it. One of the earliest commentators on this text, the church Father
Clement of Alexandria, suggested that there was a scribal error in this verse. A
scribe may have mistakenly put an “e” instead of an “I” in the middle of the
Greek word for rope or cable making it into a camel. It’s an easy mistake to
make. The fishermen who followed Jesus knew how to sew and use ropes, so
that metaphor would have made sense to them.
I like this theory, but the text that comes down to us says camel, not cable. It’s
ridiculous to imagine a camel being pushed through the eye of even the
largest needle. Jesus, of course, knew about camels. Merchants in his day
grew wealthy by using camels to transport their goods. Spices, cloths, and
foods that were inexpensive in one place could be sold in other places for a
big profit because of camels. The rich young man was probably wearing
4clothes and eating spices that had been transported by camels. So, it’s not
surprising that Jesus used a camel in a metaphor about wealth.
Today, of course, we rely mostly on cargo ships and trains to transport
precious commodities like oil, grain, cell phones, and even 12-ft tall plastic
skeletons for Halloween. Today, Jesus might have said that it is easier for a
container ship to pass through a narrow inlet than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of God. In other words, Jesus might be saying that the things we
depend on for our lifestyle won’t help us get into the Kingdom.
NOT A GATE IN JERUSALEM
There is a popular theory that has been used for a couple of hundred years
that the eye of the needle referred to a tiny gate in the wall around Jerusalem
called the Needle gate. Supposedly the gate was so low that a heavily laden
camel could not enter it until the baggage was removed. Thousands of
sermons have been preached on the theme of rich people having to be
humble to enter the Kingdom of God. I bet you’ve heard sermons on this.
I’m sorry to say that there is no evidence that there was such a gate in ancient
Jerusalem. The first time the story shows up was during the age of the
crusades, and we can see how this idea of a small gate could become a
popular way to interpreting this text, especially at a time when the Church was
rich and powerful politically. Protestants, especially wealthy Calvinists in
Geneva and Boston accepted this interpretation and put it in their Bible
commentaries. And so, to this day, there are preachers tell rich people to just
be humble give money to the church.
Some preachers even go so far as to preach a Gospel of Prosperity that says
that if you are generous to the church, you will be rewarded with wealth. If that
was all Jesus was asking, I doubt that the rich young man would have walked
away. He was already following the law of Moses, which means that he was
already generous and humble. But he could not imagine being poor.
We may not like it, but the literal meaning of what Jesus says is it is as
impossible for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God as it is for a camel to
go through the eye of needle. Jesus used a ridiculous image to shock us into
looking at faith and life dicerently. Perhaps eternal life is not something that
5we inherit the way we inherit property, status, and wealth. Perhaps it is
something dicerent altogether. Perhaps eternal life means that we stop paying
so much attention to the rich and famous and see that righteousness does not
have a price tag. Perhaps the only way to enter the kingdom is through God’s
grace. Perhaps, contrary to an old song, we cannot buy a stairway enter to
heaven but have to enter as beggars.
UNCOMFORTABLE METAPHOR
This metaphor about the camel makes us all uncomfortable, I bet. I’m
certainly not in the 1% in income among Americans, but compared to the rest
of the world, I am very rich. Simply being an American homeowner means that
I am wealthy compared to billions of people. And I don’t like the idea of giving
up my wealth, privilege, and status. I like having a retirement account and an
easy chair.
I bet that almost everyone who is hearing this sermon today, whether in this
room or on the radio, is uncomfortable with this text. We don’t want Jesus to
say what he is saying. But that’s the point. Jesus wanted people to be
uncomfortable. Discomfort is a necessary part of learning and changing.
The funny thing in this story, is that it was the disciples, not the rich young
man, who seemed angry at Jesus’ metaphor. Jesus entourage was filled with
people who had callouses on their hands and only one pair of sandals. They
seem ocended bacled. You’d think they would be excited to hear Jesus telling
rich people that they can’t enter the kingdom of God unless they become as
poor as they are.
The disciples boast about their sacrifices, but they were just as disturbed by
Jesus’ words as we are. They asked him who can be saved if not rich people.
The rich are blessed by God, sure they will be blessed in the next life too. I
suspect that some of the disciples were following Jesus because they
expected him to reward them with wealth and power after he took the throne
of Israel. They were poor and had left everything behind, but they still hoped
they would be rich. Christians who pray for power, glory, wealth and fame
don’t understand the prayer that Jesus taught us pray. The Lord’s Prayer says
“Yours are the kingdom, the power, and the glory.” Those things belong to God,
not us.
WHAT’S NEXT ?
Jesus invited the rich young man into eternal life, but he walks away sadly. It is
a poignant scene. Often in the gospels we read about people who responded
in faith when Jesus called to them, but this man chose to stay behind, and we
hear nothing else about him. Perhaps he went home and lived a happy life
until the Roman armies invaded 30 years later and destroyed all that he loves.
He may have learned the hard way that nothing is permanent in this life.
Floods and storms and war can sweep away all that we own and love in this
world. Perhaps Jesus was trying to save him from that fate by asking him to
voluntarily give things away and learn to live like most of the people in the
world – poor.
I like to imagine that the young man went home pondering what Jesus said. He
was sad, but thoughtfully. Perhaps his life had been touched by this
wandering teacher who ocered living water to the thirsty. He may have done
what Jesus asked only more slowly that the Gospel of Mark shows. Over time
he may have divested himself of luxuries, became compassionate towards his
workers, generous to his neighbors, and humble in his attitude. He may have
learned to live simply and store up treasures in heaven and told others about
his meeting with Jesus. We don’t know what happened to him, just as we don’t
know how our worship and witness touches the lives of others. We only know
that he met Jesus and turned away.
CONCLUSION
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus didn’t ask everyone to sell all their possessions,
just this man. We don’t know why. He asked dicerent things of dicerent
people. What is Christ asking you to do? We have such abundance of
possessions but do we have the one thing we need? Do we have Christ and
the Kingdom of God?
Whether you are listening in your car or home or here in the sanctuary, I hope
you will listen to your invitation from Jesus and let go of whatever is holding
you back from following him. May we all choose to embrace eternal life, not as
our inheritance, but as God’s gift.
Amen.
