Thoughts for the Day
Tuesday, 17th August 2021: The first may be last
Matthew 19 Salvation Heaven
Reading : Verses from Matthew, Chapter 19
Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, 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.' When the disciples heard this they were greatly astounded and said, 'Then who can be saved?' But Jesus looked at them and said, 'For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.' ...
Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)
Thoughts
Jesus has just spoken with a rich young man who cannot give up his wealth to follow Jesus. It was a step too far for him to take. His comment to the disciples about it being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, is found in various forms in Jewish writings and in the Koran. Shakespeare uses it in Richard II (Chapter 5.5) to indicate something that is entirely impossible. A camel obviously cannot go through the eye of a needle, it is absurd.
So what does this mean? Well Jesus is not saying that the rich cannot get into Heaven, or that they will be at the bottom of the pile, while the poor in this world will be at the top! Neither is Jesus saying that the only way to get to Heaven is to be poor. After all Jesus teaches us that the way to Heaven is through faith, and through God's grace. It is not through anything that we can do. But he does warn us that there will be surprises in Heaven, for God sees us as we really are, not as we appear to others. Perhaps Peter was getting a bit boastful when he says they have left everything for Jesus' sake!
We shouldn't get caught up in the world’s way of ranking people, for its likely to be wrong. Those who are considered first by others (or by themselves) may be surprised to learn on Judgement Day, that they are least by God.
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
You teach us not to put ourselves first,
or to think of ourselves as being better than we are.
Help us to be honest with ourselves,
and to remember that it is our faith that is important,
not how we appear to other people.
Help us also not to judge others,
but to treat them as we would wish to be treated.
Amen.
I found this in a blog by the Guardian newspaper, with comments on the subject by other readers:
I recently read that one of the gates into Jerusalem was named "The Eye of the Needle," and was quite tricky to negotiate, since it was quite small. Does this mean that Jesus meant that, far from being impossible for the rich to enter Heaven, it was merely tricky? Dara O'Reilly, London, UK.
- The "Eye of the Needle" was indeed a narrow gateway into Jerusalem. Since camels were heavily loaded with goods and riders, they would need to be unloaded in order to pass through. Therefore, the analogy is that a rich man would have to similarly unload his material possessions in order to enter heaven. Rick, Brighton UK
- The eye of the needle used to be in Damascus and was a side gate alongside the main gate of the "street called straight" Being a side gate it was not intended for passage by animals especially camels carrying side loads. So it was nigh impossible for the act to happen. Jack Hill, St Albans UK.