When the rich young ruler walked away from Jesus downward to his wealth, Jesus compared the salvation of rich men to taking a Camel through the needle’s eye.
The language here is very hyperbolic but all in all, Jesus wanted to make one point here. It is really impossible to convince us human beings that riches and wealth have no value compared to what the kingdom of heaven has to offer.
Jesus painted a picture to his audience and he used elements well known to them.
The Palestinian people knew what a needle was since they used it in sewing their garments, and they also knew the animal known as the Camel. The Camel was the largest domestic animal that was known to them.
Jesus drew their attention to an experiment where the Camel had to go through the eye of a needle to which most of them including ourselves would conclude that it is impossible.
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE
And yes, of course, it is impossible. In a sense, he was saying that it is impossible for such a rich man to be saved. And the disciples and other people who knew how morally good and how privileged the man was, asked: “Then who can be saved?” (Luke 18:26).
If it is difficult to enter the kingdom heaven for such a good and rich man like him, then who can be saved? By this question, all the audience surrendered on matters of heaven.
The perfect candidate that the earth had presented for the kingdom of heaven failed flat, and it was declared by the heavenly authority that the closest he was to enter the kingdom of God was the attempt to pass a Camel through the needle of the eye.
This was not good news, this was absolute bad news. It was like a declaration from heaven saying ‘NO NEVER’ to your best entering this kingdom.
NOT SIZE BUT KIND
The Jesus hyperbolic language of the Camel and needle’s eye serves to prove to all of us that we can assume our way to heaven but what we should know is that it takes what it takes to make a Camel go through the eye of a needle.
Jesus was telling all of us who think we can get ourselves to heaven through our good works (by our riches) that it is as possible as making a large bony animal like a Camel go through the eye of a needle as we do it with threads.
The issue here is not one of SIZE but rather one of KIND as it is one of the natural attributes.
The camel is naturally big and not even a baby camel would go through a Needle’s eye. The eye of the Needle is also naturally designed for threads, not animals.
At the entrance of heaven, they do not investigate how big or small you are, at the kingdom entrance they scan who you are.
No matter your size, the question is, are you designed to go through heavenly doors or not. Our Belief in Jesus makes us the kind (of such a nature) that goes through specific gates.
CARGO CAMEL
Again the hyperbole of Jesus here served to remind us even if we were the Camel and managed to go through the eye of a needle, then what would fail us as rich men is the luggage of our wealth we wouldn’t want to leave behind.
When the rich man in Luke 18 was told to sell-off his property and give to the poor, he wasn’t willing. He remained a Camel with a Cargo on its hunchback, something that took matters from bad to worse and from difficult to impossible.
Many of us are burdened and heavily loaded. We wish we could get rid of where we are since it is majorly our geographies that load us.
However, when it comes to crossing over, we want to cross with our cargo. People want to be in Jesus with their cargo.
Cargo of sinning, cargo of worries, cargo of pride, cargo of religion, cargo of success, cargo of their past, cargo of disappointment, cargo of un-forgiveness, of revenge, etc. they are camels with cargo.
They have stayed long at the entrance not because of any other reason but their cargo.
Dear fellow Camel, what is your cargo?
We human being like the rich man, are loaded Camels.
We cannot go through the needle’s eye entrance with our Cargo and what is true is that none of us is actually willing to leave their Cargo behind.
The conclusion on whether we can enter the kingdom of heaven was a unanimous IMPOSSIBLE.
The good news, however, is in the answer of Jesus Christ: “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27).
Now that the entire audience which essentially represented the entire world declared that it was impossible for rich men like us to get ourselves into the kingdom of heaven, Jesus categorically made it clear that it is only impossible for us but not for God. It is now at this point that the third demand that Jesus made to the young rich ruler makes sense.
He had earlier told the young rich ruler to first, go sell-off his properties, secondly, give all the money to the poor and third to come and follow Jesus.
The reason Jesus asked the rich man to follow him even after selling off all his wealth and giving the money to the poor, was because even then after doing all that, he (rich man) was still a Camel who couldn’t go through given his size.
The difference was that he was now a Camel without Cargo but still, he needed to follow Jesus to the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6) is the only one who can get we Camels to the kingdom of heaven.
God bless you I invoke TRUTH, REASON, and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Priest Isaiah White
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
@Think & Become
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 