Of Camels and Needles
By: Dr. Gregory S. Neal
The exchange between Jesus and the man with many possessions is found in all three synoptic Gospels. In it, we find a young man who comes to Jesus to ask what he needed to do to have eternal life. In response, Jesus outlined the Commandments and the young man’s reply almost sounds like he’s bragging: “I’ve kept all these since my youth.” It’s a striking claim, really; he claimed to have kept the Commandments, without fail, since his youth? He’s rich, and yet he hasn’t stolen, lied, or defrauded another? That’s impressive!
Sarcasm aside, this young man recognized in Jesus the authority to tell him how to obtain eternal life.This means that he had sufficient spiritual discernment to know the truth. That’s better than many, if not most, of us! The young man affirms that he’s been proficient in keeping the whole Law, something that might seem boastful, but also could possibly be true … at least, according to the ways in which the religious leaders of his day interpreted the Law. However, even considering that incredible achievement, he still wants to know what more he must do.
I think that’s very interesting. Good spiritual discernment, keeping the law, doing the right thing, and living in accordance with God’s will, all should certainly be enough … correct? But this man doesn’t discern that; he seems to realize, deep down inside, that he’s lacking something. He suspects that he needs to be doing something else, something more, or something different, and so he presses Jesus for that “one thing more.”
With Jesus’ words, the man’s response was eloquent in its silence: “he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” Here, we have a peek into the truth about this man which he had kept even from himself: he loved his wealth more than the truth; he loved his attainments – his ability to keep the law – more than the truth of God’s all-encompassing calling on our lives.“Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” (Mark 10:21-22)
We frequently want to forget this, but following Jesus is an all-or-nothing proposition. God want’s all of us — not just the portion we’re willing to share, but every bit of who and what we are. This young man wasn’t willing to give it all away to follow Jesus. And, when we’re honest with ourselves, neither are most of us.
This guy had already done better than most of us: he had kept the mosaic covenant … or, at least, an acceptable approximation of it. I couldn’t have told Jesus that I had kept the Commandments since my youth. Had I tried, I would have been breaking the commandment about bearing false witness!
Some interpreters have said that this is the man’s problem: he only thought that he had sufficiently kept the law. I’ve always liked that approach, but I’m not sure that it fits with the rest of Jesus’ own interpretation of the event. At least, Jesus doesn’t say it that way. Rather, the passage says that Jesus looked at the young man and: “loved him.” Jesus’ compassion for this guy was total and genuine: he wasn’t playing with him, he wasn’t being sarcastic, he was being very serious.
Giving up all the things that he depended upon was the first step; giving the proceeds of that sale to those who had nothing was the second step; following Jesus would have been the third step. And, instead of responding in the affirmative, the man was shocked and went away grieving.“You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. (Mark 10:21-22)
The contrast between how the man came to Jesus, and how he left Jesus, is startling to me because it is so disturbing. He comes inquiring, with almost an excited and eager anticipation: just another task or two to perform; just another law or two to keep, and I’ll have it all made! He’s still into acquiring “things” and achieving brownie points. But he leaves Jesus hurting, grieving, disappointed, and dejected. How very sad! But, would he have responded any differently? Hold onto that question for a moment and let it stir around for a bit.
I’m reminded of how frustrated I was as a kid when, every year, I failed to earn the Sunday School Perfect Attendance Pin. This was a little award that was given out to the Sunday School kids at Walnut Hill Methodist Church for those who managed to not miss a single class throughout the year. I always missed a few due to travel, illness, or just sleeping in late on Sunday morning. I wanted one of those pins, but I never managed to get one. I was far from perfect in attending Sunday School and Church, and as much as I wanted one, I knew I didn’t deserve one. The man in our story, today, knew deep down inside that he lacked something; he had achieved so much and had kept the whole law, but he knew it wasn’t enough. And then, he discovered that it wasn’t about what he possessed, his perfect performance of the Law, or his spiritual discernment; he found it was simply about following Jesus. He had thought it would be about him: “What must I do to inherit eternal life.” "What more must I be doing to be achieve eternal greatness?"
I had that problem, too. No … let me rephrase that … I have that problem, too. When I was a kid, I wanted to be shown how to tie my shoelaces and, then, I wanted to tie them myself. I messed up a lot, but I always wanted to "do it myself." When I would mess up – tie my laces in horrible knots, or together between my pair of shoes, Mom and Dad would lean over to help me tie them correctly and I would get angry and cry: “Greg Do!” This man is the same way. He wanted to know what he should be doing. But, when he was confronted with the truth that it’s not about what he has or what he has done but about simply giving it all up and following Jesus, it was too much for him.
Let’s look on at the extended interpretation from the best commentator of all, Jesus himself.
This is a perplexing statement from Jesus: camels going through the eye of a needle? What might he mean? Some interpreters have tried to claim that there was a gate in the Jerusalem walls called “The Eye of the Needle” gate, and that for caravan camels to pass through the gate they needed to have their heavily loaded packs removed. Without its cargo, the camel could be pushed, pulled, and squeezed through the gate … without its cargo, the camel could “go through the eye of the needle.” That’s one of my favorite attempts at interpreting the passage … if only because it’s all made-up hooey! There was no such gate.“Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is 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.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:23-27)
Another approach is to say that the reference is to a kind of heavy, course thread made from camel’s hair. Normally, it was just barely too thick to get it through the eye of a needle, but with lots of careful work, by shaving its end down to make it more narrow, and with much steady persistence, you might be able to get it through the eye of a sewing needle. Nope … that approach doesn’t really take the passage seriously, either.
This is one of those rare phrasings that truly does suggest a literal interpretation is warranted. That’s how both Matthew and Luke understood it when they borrowed this story from Mark’s Gospel for use in theirs; neither Gospel author attempted to spiritualize the statement to make it easier for us, even though the temptation must really have been great! Even more importantly, the Disciples understood it literally: An actual camel going through the actual eye of an actual needle would be easier than getting a rich person into heaven.
Ouch. No matter how hard things get for us, financially: if we have a roof over our heads, clothing on our backs, a car to drive, meals on our tables, internet in our phones, and phones in our hands, we’re rich by most of the world’s standards.
And that's how literally the Disciples took it:
“They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?”” (Mark 10:26)
That’s amazing, really, because the Disciples knew they weren’t rich, or powerful, or influential in the world. However, if the camel and needle reference was true for rich people, then it’s not going to be easy for them, either.
“Who can be saved?”
"Who can be delivered?"
"Who can be made whole?"
Throughout his ministry, Jesus had been about healing people … people who didn’t deserve it, hadn’t earned it, couldn’t pay for it, couldn't make it. Healing and wholeness was always just freely given. A response was frequently required for the healing to become known to those who received it, but they didn’t have to buy it or earn it or make it in order to get it. The Disciples should have known that this was true, not just for healing, and not just for forgiveness, but also for salvation.
Salvation requires following Jesus. And they’re doing that.
I love Jesus’ answer:
“For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27)
Any attempt to spiritualize this idea will collapse and make nonsense of the entire teaching. With mortals … with human beings, like you and me … it is impossible. We can’t save ourselves. Yes, we’re camels that are overloaded … but even if we didn’t have anything on our backs, that needle is just too tiny for us to pass through! If we’re depending upon ourselves to get through it, we’re doomed.
But for God, all things are possible!
This is where I find the Evangelical Christian approach running quite contrary to Jesus. So many Christians want to try and make the Spiritual Life be about what we do or don’t do; about who we are and where we’re from; about what church we belong to, what works we perform, what sins we’ve committed, what we believe and don’t believe … in other words, salvation by correct church membership and correct doctrine and dogma. And, in case you think I’m just picking on evangelicals, we progressives – and especially progressive Methodists – have the same kinds of problems: we seem to think that the Spiritual Life is defined by proper political and social affirmation. What’s more, Methodists of all theological and political stripes are guilty of making the Spiritual Life be about obeying those portions of the Book of Discipline and the Social Principles that we like. In all truth, none of that is what the Christian Spiritual Life is supposed to be about. It’s not about us, and our particular agenda; it’s about following the Way of Life that Jesus has for us to live: specifically, loving God and loving neighbor.
In the final equation, it’s not about us! It’s about Jesus. It’s about trusting in God … for, with God, all things are possible. It’s about realizing that we are the camel, incapable of squeezing through that eye of the needle apart from God’s amazing grace.
© 2021, Dr. Gregory S. Neal
All Rights Reserved
As a popular teacher, preacher, and retreat leader, Dr. Neal is known for his ability to translate complex theological concepts into common, everyday terms. HIs preaching and teaching ministry is in demand around the world, and much of his work can be found on this website. He is the author of several books, including Grace Upon Grace: Sacramental Theology and the Christian Life, which is in its second edition, and Seeking the Shepherd's Arms: Reflections from the Pastoral Side of Life, a work of devotional literature. Both of these books are currently available from Amazon.com.