And the disciples were amazed at his words. And Jesus again answering says to them, Children, how difficult it is that those who trust in riches should enter into the kingdom of God!
The Lord has just watched a rich man walk away sad. Now He turns to His disciples to explain what they saw. Their shock raises the question that follows: if wealth gets in the way, what hope has anyone of entering the kingdom of God?
The warning opens with a word of affection. One writer sets this address beside the same word spoken after the resurrection, in John 21.
Scripture speaks of the disciples of the Lord as children in different ways. When He was on earth, the Lord Jesus said to His own with affection, "Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!" (Mark 10:24). Then again, after His resurrection, He spoke to them in the same affectionate way: "Children, do you have any fish?" (John 21:5).
The wording changes between verse 23 and verse 24. One writer weighs that change and finds the two hard to separate.
Verse 23 speaks of those "who have riches," and verse 24 of those who "trust in riches." Of course, it is very hard to have riches without trusting in them. By nature we cling to riches and earth. Christ offers the Cross and heaven.
Note that translations differ here. William Kelly records that many manuscripts carry the phrase "those who trust in riches." Some of the oldest leave it out. That is why the ESV gives the shorter reading: "Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God!"
The Lord defines the rich man by his trust, not by his bank balance. So the warning reaches further than we expect, and it blocks a popular way of softening His words.
Some would soften this by applying it to an eastern city gate. They should remember that the Lord says plainly that what He speaks of is "impossible for man." On the other hand, Mark records the explanation for us: a rich man here stands for one who trusts in riches. That guards against the obvious mistake of a crude, literal reading, and it stretches the principle to the poorest in actual possessions. In the sense meant, only the man who trusts in riches is "rich" — and a man may do that who never gets them.
Their reaction was more than surprise at a hard saying. It showed what they believed about wealth, and what they hoped they could do with it.
These words astonished the disciples. As Jews, they expected God's blessing to be earthly, so they looked on riches and possessions as a mark of God's favour. What is more, the thought in their heart may have been the one we so often have: if only we had riches, how much good we might do! To meet these difficulties, the Lord shows where the great danger of riches lies. Men think they can secure salvation and the blessings of the kingdom by means of riches, and so they put their trust in riches.
The Lord could have softened the shock. He did the opposite. One writer shows what that leaves for anyone's salvation.
So Jesus does not soften the hard truth at all. The very things men call blessings — of the flesh and of the world — turn out to be hindrances in divine things. With men, then, salvation is impossible. Here too it is a question of God; but, blessed be His name, all things are possible with Him.
If no one can secure a place by his own resources, the way in must come from God.
The danger of having riches is that it becomes too easy for us to put our trust in them. We should remember that God is Creator, and we should own His rights as Creator over whatever possessions He entrusts to us... Therefore only a wholly divine work of grace can bring a rich man into the kingdom of God. But poor men who have a will to be rich need the same sovereign work of God in their hearts. Indeed, all need it, for it is a universal disease to prefer something else to a path of faith.
- Trust, not amount. The Lord does not name a sum of money. He names an attachment, so the test lands on rich and poor alike.
- Trust misplaced. Wealth is easy to lean on. But God is the Creator, and He holds rights over all we own.
- Trust exposed. The disciples read wealth as God's approval. The Lord called it a hindrance, and He did not soften the word.
- Trust impossible. No city-gate story softens the camel and the needle. The Lord Himself calls it impossible for man.
- Trust transferred. Only a divine work of grace moves a heart off its possessions and onto God — and with God all things are possible.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Just before this, a rich young man came to Jesus, and Jesus loved him. He went away sad because he had many possessions, and the words that follow left the disciples asking who can be saved at all.
Attempts have long been made to soften the picture by making the "eye of a needle" a low gate in a city wall that a camel could just barely squeeze through. Those attempts run against the Lord's own explanation a verse later.
Some have tried to make 'the eye of a needle' mean a small gate that a camel can pass through, but only with great difficulty. Yet the Lord speaks of it as something 'impossible' except to God. No doubt a common needle was meant. The rabbis had a similar saying about the elephant. Needles have been found in Egyptian tombs, made of bronze about three inches long.
Another writer notes that the gate theory has no solid support behind it, and that riches meant something different to the men listening than they do to us:
The suggestion that the comparison of a camel going through the eye of a needle referred to a small gate through which a camel could not go without unloading may appeal to some, but no reliable historian backs up this idea. In fact, the Lord says it is impossible with men, but possible with God, showing that this is naturally an impossibility. His hearers were astonished at His words, for riches were considered a sign of God's favour in Israel, but such favour can easily become an occasion for self-satisfaction. Riches are not a sign of God's favour today.
The choice of animal is not random. A camel is the beast that carries a load.
The Lord now uses this case to show His disciples how hard it is — no, how impossible it is — for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. A camel can pass through a needle's eye more easily, He says. We must let these words stand in all their simplicity — the thing goes completely beyond nature. The camel is no doubt the fitting picture of someone burdened with his possessions, like the young man here. The things of the world claim and control the natural man; and how often that influence shows in someone who is a Christian by grace!
Mark's account carries a phrase the other gospels do not: the Lord speaks of those who trust in riches. That one word changes who the warning is aimed at.
Mark records the explanation that a rich man here means one who trusts in riches. This keeps us from the obvious mistake of taking the words in a crude, literal way, and it extends the principle to the poorest in actual possessions. Really, he alone is "rich" in the sense meant who trusts in riches; and he may do that who never gets them.
Their shock came from an assumption they were raised with, and from a hope many of us still hold.
These words astonished the disciples. With their Jewish thoughts of earthly blessing, they looked on riches and possessions as a mark of God's favour. What is more, the thought in their heart, as too often with us, may have been: if only we had riches, how much good we could do. To meet these difficulties the Lord shows where the great danger of riches lies. Men think they can secure salvation and the blessings of the Kingdom by means of riches, and so put their trust in riches.
If wealth were the only obstacle, poverty would be the cure. The commentators locate the difficulty somewhere deeper.
The Lord's answer put the case in its right light. "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible." It is a question of the heart and nature. It is not about wealth or a pleasant character, but about new birth (John 1:12-13), which God alone can bring about.
This warning also reaches anyone whose life is going well.
But if we are seeking the world or riches, the effect in practice will be to separate us from God. I always tremble now when I hear of a Christian getting on in the world... Generally there is a going down in spiritual life when there is a going up in the world... Someone once said to me, What harm is there in riches? My reply was, Suppose they keep you out of heaven; what then? Oh! he said, I never thought of that! If riches do get hold of the heart, they must surely keep Christ out; and a heart without Christ never got into heaven yet.
The chapter that shuts every human door also names the one that opens.
Even with the best intentions, a readiness to be taught, and plenty to use well, the true state of the heart comes out; "who then can be saved?" With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible... the Cross alone would do; those who follow Him must take it up — death to what man was, the only path. But then there was a blessed starting point for this: "He came to give His life a ransom for many," Mark 10.
- Impossible, not hard. The needle is a needle. The gate theory collapses against the Lord's own word: this is impossible with men.
- Impossible for everyone. "Rich" means one who trusts in riches. So the poorest person can be the rich man here. The verse targets a heart, not an income.
- Impossible because of nature. Wealth is not the disease; it exposes it. The cure is new birth, and God alone works that.
- Possible with God. What man cannot do, God can. Salvation is His work from start to finish.
- Possible through the ransom. The chapter that says man cannot save himself ends with the Servant giving His life a ransom for many. That is how camels pass through needles.