The needle’s eye, according to some scriptural scholars, may refer to a narrow gate that merchants used to enter Jerusalem. And, since this small, oval-shaped gate could not allow a camel with baggage to pass through, a merchant traveler would have to remove the baggage first and literally push or pull the camel through the narrow gate, called the needle’s eye. Thus it was not impossible to pass through the needle’s eye, but it was not easy. It could only be done by applying a lot of effort.
Everyone has had the experience of being burdened by some kind of baggage that prevented him or her from being truly free and fulfilled. No one can possess the happiness of the children of God, which is within, while being attached to material things, especially money. You cannot have it both ways. You must let go of your attachment to money but, not only money, your attachments to power, to possessions, to persons, to things, if you are to enter the kingdom of God. Once you do this, you can fully enjoy the things of God’s kingdom because you are not attached or controlled by any material thing.
The problem with the rich man in today’s gospel story is, not that he was rich, but that he was attached to wealth and possessions. You cannot serve God and money. Love of money, as St. Paul says, is “the root of all evil” for it becomes a substitute for the love of God which is the source of all good. Thus Jesus offered the rich young man a gift but he was too encumbered to accept it. The young man, who approached Jesus, clearly was seeking the kingdom of God. In fact, his long adherence to the commandments proves as much. Jesus appreciated his good intentions, but He pointed out the one impediment or obstacle to becoming part of God’s kingdom – his attachment to wealth and material riches. The young man had not the will to lay aside his cargo of material things. Sadly, Jesus pointed out how this burden would bulge and bloat to camel-size and hinder the way to God’s kingdom.
This message is particularly challenging in today’s culture wherein the lure of money is subtly consuming and destroying the lives of so many. It is a difficult message to put into practice for most people, but especially for those who have a lot of it. In our consumer culture, we tend to buy into the lie that we need to have the latest, the biggest, the brightest and the most expensive gadget or toy. The list seems endless and people worry, uselessly, about not having enough. What if there is a better way? But there is a better way, and that is to trust God to do what He promises and supply our every need. No mere thing and, certainly, no mere person can meet your every need. This is what entering into the kingdom of God is about. Put your trust in Him and you will lack nothing.
Detachment from possessions, riches, and material things, in the interest of the kingdom of God, is no easy matter. That’s why Jesus said to His disciples, who found this message baffling, “with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” It takes a special grace to accept this teaching.
The truth of the matter is that every one of us is carrying some kind of baggage: attachment to a darling little possession such as a car, a house, a career, or whatever that keeps our hearts from being open to receive the gift of God’s kingdom. It is not just the rich person who has this problem of attachment to the wrong things. A poor person can have it also. A rich person might be detached from his riches and do great things whereas a poor person might be attached to the smallest of his possessions and fail to grow in grace. Whatever it is in your life, therefore, that prevents you from following the Lord, be assured it is dulling you and tarnishing your spirit.
Let go of your burden and let the Lord gift you with His grace. Like other generous-spirited people, slip through the needle’s eye and come sparkling into the kingdom of light.
-Fr. Hugh Duffy
7 Comments
Peter Nagy
There is absolutely no Scriptural, historical, or archeological evidence for such a thing as a “needle gate.”
Look it up and try to find any city with one…..
Hugh Duffy
Thanks for your comment, Peter, about the needle’s eye.
Lynn Lindell
In my mind, the “ needle gate” presents a mental image of a camel, heavily burdened attempting to pass through a narrow passage. It also brings to mind the saying we often hear: “you can’t take it with you!” As we travel life’s journey we begin to “unburden ourselves” as the camel, to pass through a narrow gate. We cannot enter God’s Kingdom otherwise!
Hugh Duffy
Interesting, Lynn. The “eye of the needle” is a metaphor that’s used in the Hebrew Talmud also. Jesus uses it to describe the difficulty a rich man has to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whatever the interpretation, the point is that it’s difficult, but not impossible for a rich man to be saved for “with God all things are possible.”
Deacon Thomas E Brandlin
Thank you for sending this, Fr. Duffy. I used the eye of the needle metaphor and the part about the gate called the eye of the needle this weekend. People liked learning about this historical fact, which I had come across many years ago and forgotten. My point was similar to Ms. Lindell’s about unburdening ourselves as the camel has to be unburdened, to enter eternity.
Hugh Duffy
It’s a good story, Deacon, and provides an interesting perspective on the accumulative baggage we need to discard in order to follow Christ.
St . Cyril of Alexandria offers another twist to the metaphor. He maintained the Greek word, translated as camel, ought to be translated as a “ rope or cord” used to anchor large boats. Both words are almost identical. Interesting, don’t you think?
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