Mark 10: 17-31
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.”
Today’s picture was taken in 2019 at the entrance to The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. One must bow to enter – fitting as you enter the holiest site in that city. They call this doorway “the eye of the needle”. A strategic entrance built to keep invaders out, it was specifically designed so that a rider on a camel could not enter. It had nothing to do with absurd word picture we westerners have created. You know, the one of a camel trying to walk through a sewing needle.
The rider, trying to enter into the city, will have needed to dismount and unload their camel in order to get through the very narrow opening. In Jesus’ time, there were these such gates in Jerusalem, Nazareth, Damascus, and Bethlehem.
Knowing this historical context, Jesus’ statement to the rich ruler makes much more sense, a does the ruler’s response. Jesus had just finished to telling the man to, “sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” I suspect He already knew the answer the man would give. He knew the man wouldn’t be able to dismount the camel, so to speak.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells people that they cannot serve 2 masters. “You cannot serve God and money”, He said. We live in a world that tells us that the more we have, the more we need. Enough is never really enough.
God doesn’t tell us that having money is bad – it’s what we do with it, and how it controls our decisions. Are we driven to always have more, or to tightly hold onto what we have? There might be a camel we need to dismount in order to truly enter the Kingdom of God.
Joyfully Yours 