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“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier
for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is
rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were exceedingly astonished
and said among themselves, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at
them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God.” Mark 10:24–27
Have you ever been “exceedingly astonished” by the demands of the
Christian life? Hopefully you have been. And if you have been,
hopefully you are no longer. Being exceedingly astonished is one of
many purifications we must go through in order to enter the Kingdom
of God.
The “eye of a needle” is a reference to one of the gates in the
wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem. After dark, the gate would
be closed and the only way to enter was through a small door in the
center of that gate. A person could pass through by ducking down,
but a camel could not enter unless it got down on the ground and
literally crawled through. This took much effort and direction from
the master of that camel, but it was possible.
The point of this story is to emphasize that we will not be able to
easily stroll into Heaven. In this case, Jesus was speaking about
how easy it is for a person with money to become so attached to
that money that they fail to obtain the riches of Heaven. The rich
young man, to whom Jesus was just speaking, went away sad because
Jesus lovingly invited him to detach from his earthly wealth so as
to obtain the riches of Heaven. Jesus said to him, “Go, sell what
you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in
heaven; then come, follow me.” To that, the rich young man went
away sad.
Greed and an all-consuming attachment to material wealth clearly
have the potential to destroy your soul. That’s a fact. There is no
way around it. But this teaching applies to every other form of
attachment also. When we are attached to any sin to a serious
degree and refuse to separate ourselves from that sin, we will not
enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, if love of God does not
motivate us to turn from sin, perhaps fear of hell will.
When the disciples witnessed this rich young man preferring his
wealth over Heaven, and then Jesus standing His ground and making
it clear that it is very hard to make it to Heaven, their
astonishment would have challenged them personally. But that is
good. It is good because it reveals that they were also convicted
of their own unholy attachments and their astonishment arose from a
holy fear within. As they saw the rich young man walk away, they
would have thought about those things that they also held onto that
needed to be purged from their lives. “Astonishment” in this case
is the holy realization that they needed to change. The good news,
however, is that when a person does change and becomes freed from
the attachments that keep them from God, then they will no longer
have any attachment that will lead them to be astonished at God’s
demands. The ultimate goal is to overcome the astonishment caused
by the demands of discipleship so that conformity to these demands
becomes a way of life.
Reflect, today, upon anything that our Lord has taught that is
difficult for you to face. Is there any commandment that you tend
to ignore? Any teaching that you attempt to rationalize? Any demand
that appears to you to be too much? If you are to enter the eye of
the needle, you must be wholeheartedly committed. Jesus will not
shy away from demanding a total surrender of your life to Him.
Reflect upon those attachments that you continue to hold onto and
try to see Jesus speaking to you about those attachments as He
spoke to this rich young man. Overcome all astonishment and make
unwavering submission to the will of God your way of life. This is
the only way to enter the gates of the Kingdom of God.
Most demanding Lord, Your invitation to discipleship is an
invitation to surrender every sinful attachment over to You so as
to be freed of those sins. You ask and demand of me everything,
dear Lord. May I accept Your demands of holy love and respond
generously, holding nothing back, so that I can share in the riches
of the Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You.
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Featured image above: Jerusalem. Jaffa Gate. Needle's eye.
Matt. 19:24, via Wikimedia Commons
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