A camel through the eye of the needle - what did Jesus mean?

Recently we've been reconsidering many of the things we thought we understood regarding doctrine and faith. We have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern. We have deemed this our “Rethink.”

Our questions include, how did we arrive at our doctrines? Does the Bible really teach what we think it teaches? Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched?

It's easy to be spoon fed the conventional wisdom, but it's an entirely separate thing to search these things out for one's self. In the past we have read the Bible with these unexamined understandings and interpreted what we read through those lenses. We were lazy about our Bible study, assuming that pastors and theologians were telling us the truth, but we rarely checked it out for ourselves.

Therefore, these Rethinks are our attempt to remedy the situation.

We should note that we are not Bible scholars, but we believe that one doesn't need to be in order to understand the Word of God.

Introduction

Though there had been a lot discussion about what the eye of the needle actually is (this author ably refutes the notion that it was a literal gate), we are really more interested in what Jesus was actually teaching. What was it about this rich young man? Why did Jesus deal with him the way he did? And what did he mean when he explained it to the disciples? And last, why were they so surprised?

Here are the three accounts:

Mt. 19:23-26 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, 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.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Mk. 10:23-27 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 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.” 26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Lk. 18:24-27 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, 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.” 26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

Context 

One of the main principles of biblical interpretation is to consider the context. The rich young man was a Jew of course, and his riches in this culture meant he was blessed. He approached Jesus with a question, what good thing must I do to get eternal life? 

Jesus responded, obey the commandments. Let's list them:

1. Ex. 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.
2. Ex. 20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol...
3. Ex. 20:7 You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.
4. Ex. 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
5. Ex. 20:12 Honor your father and your mother...
6. Ex. 20:13 You shall not murder.
7. Ex. 20:14 You shall not commit adultery.
8. Ex. 20:15 You shall not steal.
9. Ex. 20:16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10. Ex. 20:17 You shall not covet...

Jesus only listed some of them for the young man: "Do not murder," (#6) "do not commit adultery,"(#7) "do not steal," (#8) "do not give false testimony," (#9) and "honor your father and mother." (#5) But the last one Jesus mentioned is not one of the ten: "love your neighbor as yourself." (Le. 19:18)

This is worth an entire study on its own, since Jesus elevated this to be one of the two greatest commandments (Mt. 22:39). We shall not do that here. Suffice to say, it is also found in other contexts like the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5:43), it was contained in the answer to the teacher of the law (Mk. 12:31), Paul's letter to the Romans (Ro. 13:9) and the Galatians (Ga. 5:14). The last mention is Ja. 2:8, where James calls it the "royal law."

Jesus didn't list all the commandments, but not because the others weren't important. Generally speaking, it is enough to list some when one is referring to the entirety. He was probably just hitting the high spots for the sake of the young man. Or perhaps He was listing the particular ones that were applicable to the young man. 

The young man replied that he had kept them all. But Jesus knew his heart. The one obstacle, the one of particular significance for him, was his riches. Jesus' prescription was twofold: Sell his possessions and give the money to the poor, and come follow Him. The young man went away sad.

Being Born Jewish is Not Enough

This brings us to Jesus' statements about how hard it is for a rich man to get into the kingdom. This shocked the disciples. We know this by their reaction: “Who then can be saved?” So, why would they be so surprised? Why is this so significant to them?

Let's recount the the young man's credentials. He was a Jew. He was blessed with riches. He kept the law. This meant that according to the Jewish understanding, this should be more than enough to enter Jesus' kingdom.

But Jesus was bringing a new message, the Gospel. Salvation by faith would never occur to a Jew. They were the chosen people of God. This means they thought they had the inside track on salvation. It was their birthright. 

That's the preconception that Nicodemus had, which is why he couldn't understand the idea that he needed to be born again (Jn. 3:9). He was born a Jew, why would he need to be born again?

The Pharisees and teachers of the law didn't understand it: We are Abraham’s descendants... (Jn. 8:33). Abraham is our father... (Jn. 8:39) We are disciples of Moses! (Jn. 9:28) They were God's chosen people. They didn't need to be set free. They didn't need this gospel:

Jn. 8:53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? 

However, John the Baptist understood: 

Mt. 3:9-10 And do not think you can say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Paul understood this as well:

Ro. 9:8 In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.

This is an important center of Jesus' teaching. Early on, He began explaining a different kind of righteousness:

Mt. 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

We need to understand the Jewishness of Jesus' ministry:

Mt. 15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

Everything we read in the Gospels should keep this understanding in mind. Jesus was a Jew who was talking to Jews, teaching Jews, and saving Jews. This does not mean Jesus did not intend to bring salvation to the gentiles, only that Israel was first (Ro. 1:16, Ro. 2:10). 

So this is the reason the disciples were astonished. The credentials for entering the Kingdom were not what they thought.

Difficult or Impossible?

As we read the three accounts, we do not see anywhere that Jesus was teaching that it is impossible for a rich man to get into heaven. "It is hard," not "it is impossible." The word for "hard" is duskolós, which means with difficulty. Interestingly, that word derives from duskolos (there's no accent mark on the "s"), which means "hard to digest." So it is difficult to stomach the idea of a rich man getting into heaven. 

What did Jesus say was impossible? “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Thus a rich man cannot get into heaven without God making it possible.  

Conclusion

We should resist the tendency to interpret Scripture by our own cultural contexts. Rather, we should put ourselves in the place of the hearers, and read the Gospels as Jesus' hearers would have heard them. We should read the epistles like we were the original readers of them. How would the crowds have heard Jesus? How would the Corinthian church understand what Paul wrote to them? How would Timothy understand the two letters written to him?

We think much would change in our understanding. In fact, some of the problem passages and hard-to-interpret verses might become clearer. It might even change some of our doctrines.