The Eye of a Needle
In this week’s Gospel, Jesus’s words to the young man are confronting, and they are meant to be.
"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.” Mark 10:25
This famous phrase has been creatively explained and reinterpreted over the centuries. Medieval pilgrims told stories of a side gate in Jerusalem, or Damascus, called “The Needle’s Eye,” suggesting that the saying referred to a narrow gate through which a camel could pass only if it was unburdened or on its knees. This interpretation implied that wealthy Christians could perform acts of charity or humility, and still retrain their riches. However, there is no evidence that such a gate ever existed.
Variations of this phrase from other sources of the time have been found, some featuring elephants instead of camels. This suggests that using a large animal to illustrate the impossibility of a task was a common metaphor. Therefore, we should probably take Jesus’s words at face value. Just as we might say: “when pigs fly”, a 1st century Jew might say: “an ox through a buttonhole,” or: “a camel through the eye of a needle.”
The point is that the Kingdom of God is fundamentally opposed to a lifestyle focused on accumulating and protecting personal wealth. This message challenges us to reassess our priorities.
Are we capable of giving without counting the cost?
Would we give our everything, as Jesus asked the young man?
Would we also walk away, sadly clinging on to our Ipads and Jimmy Choo shoes?
Jesus isn’t rebuking or shaming the man; he answers him out of love. It is simply not the answer the man wanted to hear.
Today's Readings: Wisdom 7:7-11 Psalm 89 (90) Hebrews 4:12-13 Mark 10:17-30
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Source: Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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