“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 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.”
26 They (the disciples) looked at each other greatly astounded and said to one another “Then who can be saved?” 27Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” (NRSV)
To understand this passage, we have to know that it is an answer to a question posed to Jesus by a rich man. He asks in Mark 10:17 “Good teacher, what must I DO to inherit eternal life?” The truth of the matter is that the question is bad. No one earns eternal life. Grace, when we receive it, is a gift from God. When the man goes away disappointed, then the disciples want to know why it would be so hard for the man blessed with wealth to enter the kingdom of heaven. In today’s vernacular it would be more like they looked at Jesus and said “what’s up with this, Jesus?”
Turns out wealth itself is not the problem. Our attitude toward wealth is the problem. When we accumulate riches, we are tempted to trust our own power and our possessions rather than God for our comfort and security. The more we have, the harder it gets. “Lean not on your own understanding but on God.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) It is God who shows you the right pathways. Should you choose another pathway, that is yours, not God’s.
Jesus explains that it will be harder for a rich person—more impossible than a camel fitting through the eye of a sewing needle. Just imagine that. And then the disciples become even more perplexed and ask “Who then can be saved?” Jesus answers the ultimate: “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” In other words, we must trust in God to save us because God works best when things look impossible. Now in our time with this Corona Virus it looks like nothing will ever be normal again. We might have to wear masks indoors for the rest of our lives. There were hopes that it would disappear by summer. My hopes and prayers are that it does not hit hard before a vaccine will be found effective. At this point only God will save us from death and the fear of getting the virus. We need to lay this at His feet. If he can fit a camel through the eye of the needle, so much more could He help us with this virus. Let us pray.