The eye of the needle

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
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But this does not make sense in context. Jesus does not say that the camel passing through the eye of the needle is akin to the ease of entrance of a rich man, but easier. If your answer is that Jesus is directly analogising between getting into heaven and a camel getting through the gate, then he’s saying that being unsinful and humbling onself is not enough, that it is lacking. For an interpretation to be correct, the meaning would have to be one that is significantly more easy than getting into heaven, not one that’s directly comparable.

As you later quote in your posts, to provide further evidence in your views, Jesus says that to get eternal life, a person must LAY ASIDE and HUMBLE themselves. Yet your interpretation here suggests that a person must do *significantly more * than that - in other words, your interpretation directly contradicts Jesus’ own words. A person might argue that the difference in ease need not be much, but I am sure for a person like yourself that takes Jesus’ words so seriously this is a problem that needs to be addressed.

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Jesus goes on.

Matthew 19:23-26: [sup]23[/sup]Then said Jesus unto his disciples, “Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. [sup]24[/sup]And again I say unto you, 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.”

[sup]25[/sup]When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, “Who then can be saved?”

[sup]26[/sup]But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

Mark 10:25-27: [sup]25[/sup]“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.”

[sup]26[/sup]And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”

[sup]27[/sup]And Jesus looking upon them saith, “With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”

Luke 18:24-27: [sup]24[/sup]And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! [sup]25[/sup]For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

[sup]26[/sup]And they that heard it said, “Who then can be saved?”

[sup]27[/sup]And he said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

All three times, He’s saying the same thing. It’s not simply hard – it takes an outright miracle.

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Is it possible/probable that the rabbis who spoke of an elephant going through the eye of a needle were deliberately borrowing from the biblical quote? Because the kamilon theory definitely makes the most sense of any explanation I’ve heard. (I had heard the “door within a gate” explanation all my life and just assumed it was true.)

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A rabbi would be unlikely to quote Jesus, but the expression could easily have been current, anyway.

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Why would they take the camel through the door?

You go in the door and open the gate and then you bring your fully burdened camel inside.

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By the way, C. S. Lewis’s posthumously collected Poems includes the following little gem.

All things (e.g., a camel’s journey through
A needle’s eye) are possible, it’s true,
But picture how the camel feels, drawn out
In one long, bloody thread from tail to snout.

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And I suspect this one may well be long and bloody too…

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Or is he just saying a rich man (or any man, or woman?) can enter the kingdom of heaven, if he’s got God on his side?

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Tell me what that means, and I’ll take a stab at it.

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Heck. I don’t know. It seems a lot of people on opposing sides think they’ve got God on theirs. Then again, a God I could believe in would be on everybody’s side. So maybe the miracle would be everybody deciding that we’re all on the same side. But that seems impossible. Heck, I don’t know.