Camel, Meet Needle

Matthew 19:24 - "Again I tell you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich [person] to enter the kingdom of heaven."

Wow. That's some serious difficulty. It sharpens his point further. When Jesus uses expressions like this, he really wants his disciples to understand this new way of thinking. Clearly, the rich, young man was not prepared to hear this prescription. Do we go to Jesus asking what we can do only to balk at the answer? Are we ready to hear Jesus' prescription for us?

In any case, much ink and many electrons have been spilled writing about this verse. We make up all kinds of ways to accomplish this feat (boil the camel down, etc) or even other interpretations (the non-existent Needle Gate). But the Greek - for once - is clear. Hole of a needle ... the word for needle comes from the verb 'to sew'. There is no other way to interpret this passage honestly.

There are, however, some manuscripts that read kamilon instead of kamelon. Kamilon means rope or ship's cable. Still not going through the eye of a needle. So rather than giving rich people any out, as so many have done, Jesus actually doubles down on his original proclamation. Just in case they (or we) were not clear about the previous verse, he clarifies with a picture no one can misinterpret, unless they're searching for an out.

So my question is, why don't we live this way as Christians? The first apostles did, according to Acts. They clearly understood Jesus' words here. There are 2,000 years worth of reasons but I think it boils down to human beings wanting what we want. We are creatures of rationalization and justification after the fact. Especially here in America, we have a societal tendency to live by the motto, it is better to ask forgiveness than permission.

Jesus argues the exact opposite in these two verses. He is calling his disciples and us to be better than that, to have more integrity and intentionality about our actions and our thinking. He is reiterating the difficulty of getting into heaven. Rich people, by virtue of the immorality of their riches will not make it - unless God has mercy on them. He tells us all that God's heart is for those who are oppressed, poor, disabled and otherwise marginalized.

What about my heart? Yours? Do we have the courage to live with this as an ideal to strive for?
B