“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 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.’ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” – Matthew 19:23-26 (NIV)
A while back it was reported in the media that the world's richest man (worth almost 70 billion) recently completed building his new one billion dollar home. Many of us would be repulsed by such extravagance, but not all billionaires are so focused on self. In another news report, an American businessman donated the sum of one billion dollars to a UN humanitarian project. Wealth leads to power, and it seems some use this great power to feed the hungry, eliminate poverty & disease, and strive for peace. Certainly if someone could earn their way to heaven it would be an altruistic billionaire. But in the above passage, Jesus indicates the opposite. No wonder the disciples were astonished, for who then could possibly be saved?
Jesus is reply is simple: no one; at least, no one operating on human strength or initiative. Salvation is, from beginning to end, an act of God. Jesus uses an exaggerated metaphor to prove his point when he says 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. Some believe that Jesus was referring to a gate named the “Needle’s Eye”. By this, the sharp edge of Jesus’ statement is worn away, as a camel could get through this gate, though by first removing its load and then bending down. Thus, it is possible for a rich man to get into heaven, but exceedingly difficult. But this destroys the very point Jesus is making; namely, the impossibility of human effort to affect salvation. Regardless, the gate-theory is simply not true. As Tuner writes in his commentary on Matthew, “Despite sermonic lore, there is no historical evidence for the existence of a small gate in Jerusalem, supposedly called the ‘Needle’s eye’” [a]. Some tour guides in Israel (not exactly known for their commitment to historical accuracy) continue to support this myth by showing visitors one of the small gates in Jerusalem, assuring them this is what Jesus was referring to. Even if such a gate existed, its name most likely arose in response to this passage. Thus, Jesus was not referring to the gate; rather, the gate was referring to Jesus. Similar metaphors existed in Jesus day. In Jewish rabbinical literature an elephant passing through the eye of a needle is a figure of speech for something that is absurdly impossible [b]. The camel was the largest Palestinian animal and the eye of a needle was the smallest commonly used opening [c]. Jesus is intentionally exaggerating to prove a point, as he did elsewhere (Matthew 7:3-5; Luke 6:41). But the language of hyperbole was intended to drive the lesson home: it is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God—humanly impossible.
Human have limitations, God does not. If salvation were a human act none would be saved because by nature and will it is an impossible task. It is God who takes a willful sinner and places her on the narrow pathway towards heaven. Whatever difficulties the believer then encounters on her path to heaven are to remind her to despair of her own strength and abilities and to flee into the sovereign and merciful hands of God, to whom nothing is impossible [d].
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[a] Matthew-Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, p 252
[b] Babylonian Talmud, tractate Berakot 55b.
[c] Craig Blomberg, Matthew – New American Commentaries (Broadman, 1992). Compare Gundry (Matthew, A Commentary on His Life and Thought), p 390.
[d] David Dickson, A Brief Exposition of the Euangel of Jesus Christ According to Matthew, 1647. Comments from Chapter XIX, verse 26
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