Mark 10:23-31. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday March 01, 2020.
In our passage this morning, we have the famous statement of Jesus that involves a camel going through the eye of a needle. It is given right on the heels of the rich young ruler whom Jesus challenged to sell all his possessions and follow him. We are told that the young man went away sad because he had a lot of wealth. We should have that young man walking away from Jesus dejected in our minds as we hear these next words from Jesus. The young man wanted eternal life and Jesus told him what he needed to do to get it. Yet, he balked at such a drastic action.
I would like to deal with the idea of a camel going through an eye of a needle up front, so that we can focus on the main point when we get to it. I am sure that needles and their holes were larger due to the technology employed. Regardless, it is my contention that Jesus intended this to be a statement of impossibility. Over the years, various ideas have surfaced as to alternate meanings. All of them reduce this from a statement of impossibility to one of great difficulty.
The most famous attempt involves a gate into Jerusalem called the camel gate. It was apparently so small that the only way a camel could enter is to be unloaded and to crawl on its knees. This is a great image for coming to Jesus. However, the problem is that there is no first-hand evidence that this is true. The Bible makes no mention of such a gate, and the earliest reference to such a gate that scholars have found is somewhere in the 10th or 11th century AD. This gap of a millennium should cause us to balk at jumping on the camel gate band wagon.
Others have pointed out that the word for camel is just one letter different from a word for a rope made from camel hair. Of course, there is no evidence that any manuscripts used this alternate word. It is nothing but speculation that cannot be put forth as the true interpretation.
It seems obvious to many others that Jesus is employing simple hyperbole. Camels going through the eye of a needle is impossible pure and simple. Just like the Pharisees straining out gnats and swallowing camels, the absurdly impossible is used to press a point that we won’t actually believe or take seriously. Let’s look at our passage.
The rich man may still be in their sights as he trails off over the horizon. Here, Jesus uses the moment to teach an important thing to his disciples. Jesus makes a statement that it is hard or difficult for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God. I believe that Jesus is connecting the Kingdom of God back to the young man’s desire for eternal life. Though they are two different concepts, they are very connected. Those who have eternal life will participate in the coming Kingdom of God, in which the Messiah of God rules over the earth from Jerusalem. They are one and the same. We are not just talking about a reward here, but, even more foundational, also salvation. This is a statement of difficulty that catches the disciples by surprise.
How can it be difficult for rich people to be saved? They had been taught that good Israelites would be blessed by God with wealth. Of course, they knew that wicked people could be rich, but our context is about an Israelite who has been observant of the Law of Moses his whole life. Surely, the wealth of such a man was proof of God’s blessing, favor, and salvation. This man is the poster boy for what all religious Israelites of the time would aim to be.
It is definitely easier for our age to swallow this statement. We might be some of the first to say, “Right on Jesus. Give it to those 1%-ers.” Riches add temptation and hindrances to our hearts and minds that the lack of them do not. Yes, riches can be a boon in life, but only if you aren’t a slave to them. This is much easier said than done. It is sad that many Christians in the West believe that they will be wealthy if they are truly pleasing God. We must be very careful about such notions because Jesus never said that. Yet, Jesus doesn’t stop there.
They are amazed with this statement, so he turns around and gives them the statement again. This time Jesus emphasizes that trust in riches is the problem. As he said elsewhere, it is hard to serve wealth and God. One of them will win your heart, and you will despise the other. Our treasure is where our heart lies and the rich tend to have their heart in the wealth of this life. They trust in riches in the way that they should be trusting in God. They may desire eternal life, but they are unwilling to divorce their heart from their riches in order to come into relationship with the God of heaven. Thus, Jesus has made a similar statement of difficulty regarding the salvation of rich people.
If Jesus had stopped here then it would have been a remarkable lesson to absorb for these first century Israelites. However, Jesus then gives a metaphor that compares something that he has said is difficult to something that is basically impossible. This is the metaphor of the camel. A rich man being saved is not just a little difficult. It is more difficult than a camel going through the eye of an actual needle (no one said the camel had to survive the experience). That degree of difficulty can only be described as impossible. Is Jesus really saying that it is basically impossible for rich people to be saved? Yes, I believe he is. Hang with me if you can.
We see Jesus using hyperbole in many places. He told the Pharisees that they swallowed camels as a picture of the size of the false teachings that they had accepted all the while straining out, or rejecting, the smallest of deviations from the Law. Yes, in the natural swallowing a camel is impossible, but theologically these Pharisees were doing it every day. We are not intended to minimize the hyperbole, but rather see the contrasting items in a greater light. The Pharisees were not just a little bit wrong. They were hugely and absurdly wrong. There is a part of us that laughingly thinks that we would rather take our chances when it comes to riches. Like Topol in Fiddler on the Roof, we are tempted to state that if riches are a curse then may God smite us with it…and may we never recover! Such things make for a humorous play or movie, but this is no laughing matter. Jesus intends to put the fear of God in his disciples.
Do I actually believe that being rich makes it so difficult to be saved that it is basically impossible, statistically a zero chance? If it sounds shocking to you then you are in good company. The disciples are even more amazed than before. They whisper among themselves, “Then who can be saved?” It reminds me of the time that Jesus taught on divorce. By the time he was done, they were exasperated and stated, “If that is the case then it is better not to marry!” Even religious communities can inoculate us to the pure or raw truth of God. The teachings of their day pointed to the rich observant Israelite as a success story. Were not the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob wealthy men? Did not the Law of Moses promise wealth and bounty to Israel when they obeyed God? Yes, all of these things are true. Yet, we might ask ourselves this. Did Abraham trust in his riches and cling to them rather than follow God? Did his riches mean more to him than a relationship with the God of heaven?
It is similar to the wisdom of Solomon. Many things that seem to be a blessing in this life only add a bigger burden to our task. If your mission is to enjoy life the most you can then maybe riches can help. However, if your goal is to come through this life with the assurance of eternal life then many things that we call blessings are actually making it harder.
The point is not that we shouldn’t have wealth or even wisdom. Rather, we must be wide awake and alert to the difficulties that they present to us. Jesus gives an answer to the question they are asking (that is, who can be saved), which seems to end up with the answer, no one.
It is interesting in verse 27 that Jesus doesn’t say, “With rich men this is…” Yes, it can be assumed, but I believe he makes it general on purpose. It seems that he is expanding the point of salvation being impossible for the rich. We all have hindrances to trusting God, whether rich or not. Is grasping hold of eternal life impossible for us as humans? Our modern sensibilities want to jump in and say, “Of course not! Don’t worry. God has made a way.” Yet, Jesus would rather that we face the hard facts first without mitigation. The answer is not to diminish the difficulty of salvation by pointing to the grace of Jesus. Rather, the answer is to absorb the revealing of just how impossible salvation is so that we can then see just how amazing grace is. If sin is no big deal and if salvation is easy then the grace that God gives us is also no big deal. No one can save themselves. It is impossible. You can do good works until you are blue in the face and it won’t fix your problem before God. In the end, you will still be a person in love with things of this world more than God.
Jesus then turns the shocking statement on its head. With God all things are possible, even the impossible. If I am in relationship with God then my impossible situation now becomes possible. This is a huge problem. The average person on the street who isn’t a believer thinks that they are good enough that God sort of owes it to them to let them into his kingdom. Sadly, many Christians today have an extremely low view of the grace of God because their view of sin is depraved. God by definition is great at dealing with impossible things. The Old Testament is full of impossible situations that God made possible. Thus, salvation takes an intervention from God Himself, and even then, He only makes it possible. Jesus had made salvation possible for the rich young ruler in that moment, but he went away sad that he couldn’t have eternal life and his love of wealth.
Yes, salvation is as simple as yielding to Christ, and yet as difficult as parting with all your wealth, or parting the Red Sea. It is a spiritual work that will never happen without the help of God Himself. Our story is about rich people, but they are not the only ones who find it difficult to obtain eternal life. Be careful that the things of this world do not get between you and Jesus. You can be sure of your eternal life, but it won’t be without its difficulties of dealing with temptations and getting rid of things that hinder your relationship with your Father in heaven.
True to form, Peter speaks out about their own condition. They had left their various lives in order to follow Jesus. Matthew 19:27 adds the question, “What will we have?” Up until now, they had been talking about eternal life and participating in the reign of Jesus upon this earth. Peter wants to know if they will be rewarded for leaving all of their stuff to follow Jesus. Apparently, he had never thought of that as something righteous. He had done it for various reasons, but some of it probably had to do with their fascination that the Messiah might actually be here! They had unwittingly done the most important thing, which is often the case when we simply listen to the Spirit of God.
Jesus makes it clear that those who lose something in this life in order to follow him will be rewarded. It is important to recognize that only 12 disciples were called to live with Jesus and follow him around all the time. However, to believe in Jesus, to hear the call of the Holy Spirit, is every bit as real today as it was then. I am going to have to let go of things in order to follow Jesus, and not just wicked things. Many good things will have to be left in our wake if we are to stay fixated on trusting the word of Jesus and living the life that he has called us to live. Yet, notice that Jesus is not promising them only “pie in the sky.”
He gives a list of things that people might have to leave behind in order to follow him: a house, or brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, a wife, children, or even lands. The list is made of things and close relationships. The point is not that you must leave your wife to follow Jesus, but that your choice to follow Jesus may not be reciprocated by your wife. She may try to dissuade you, or hold you back. She may even lay down an ultimatum, me or this Jesus you want to follow! What a difficult decision to make, and yet it has happened many times over throughout history. Oh, how many times family members have thrown down the gauntlet and said, “If you walk out that door to follow Jesus then you are no longer related to me!”
The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7 mentions the case of having an unbelieving spouse. He counsels the believer to do their best in order to remain in the relationship, short of turning away from Christ. There is nothing righteous about leaving people behind for selfish motives. People leave spouses every day in order to follow their flesh. However, Jesus says “for my sake and the Gospel’s.” That is the key. We often do the unthinkable by sacrificing things and relationships to follow after sin and pleasure. This is not that. This is the choice that must be made when those things present themselves as obstacles to following the commands of Jesus. An unbelieving spouse is not an obstacle to following Christ, unless they give an ultimatum.
Jesus states that these things and relationships that we lost will be obtained many times over in this life. If you lose your parents to follow Jesus then you will find many spiritual parents in the group of his followers. If you lose your job, house, or land (yes, this happens in many places throughout this world) then you will find a community of believers that will love you, shelter you, help you find work. You will not necessarily own these things, and you will still need to keep your trust in Jesus, not Christians whom you think should give you something. May God help us to learn to be a better family, a family that is motivated by the Spirit of God. We are intended to be a blessing to one another in this life.
They will also receive eternal life in the age to come. This may sound like a lesser prize in comparison to the earlier large list. Yes, there is a reward in this life, but an even greater one in the life to come. We will participate in Christ’s rule over this earth and we will have eternal life! Incidentally, in Matthew 19:28, Jesus tells the 12 disciples that they will judge the 12 tribes of Israel, during the Kingdom Age. Wow! Now that is a promotion, from Galilean fisherman to leader of one of the tribes of Israel. We, of course, do not have a specific word regarding our station and reward in the coming Kingdom. However, that pales in relation to the fact that we will have eternal life with the One who is the author of eternal life, in fact who is eternal life itself. What is important is that we will have come out the other side of this side road of obtaining the knowledge of good and evil. And, in that moment, we will have healing from all that sin has done to us personally, and to us as a human race. We cannot know the full freedom that we will experience in that moment, as we look at a whole world of endless possibilities and no wickedness in sight, both without and within! Praise God for His indescribable gift!
Our passage ends with a proverb or adage that points out that many who are first in this life will be last in the age to come, and many who are last in this life will be first in the age to come. If you were to poll the Israelites of the first century as to who would have the greatest reward, their list would look a certain way. However, the real list will be created by God. God does not judge by mere appearances. By mere appearance, the rich man was high on the list, but his response to Jesus proves that he was not nearly as high as others would think, and even dangerously near the edge of missing out completely.
We must be careful of our judgments about how great people are. We do not often judge the same way that God judges, nor can we. Rather, we should let such things go. I must quit worrying about what I am going to get, and simply work to be faithful to what the Lord is giving me to do today. Learn to enjoy the work of God that is in front of you. The work of the future will also have joys, but I needn’t worry about it when I am in relationship with the One who is eternal life itself. Hierarchy in this life is fraught with impure motives and desires. In that life, we can’t imagine what it will be like when your eyes are wide open to the evils of sin, and your flesh is not tainted by rebellion. Oh, what a day that will be!