"Who then can be saved?" It was a poignant question raised by the disciples in response to the parable Jesus tells of a camel trying to get through the eye of a needle. But I am getting ahead of the story, because the context of this parable is critical.

The rich, young ruler
Our narrative begins when a rich young man respectfully approaches our Lord Jesus Christ and asks him: "Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" (Matt. 19:16). We would all like to know the answer to this question. The inquiry was apparently made in all sincerity and Jesus treats the question most seriously, obviously knowing the "heart" of this young, rich, ruler (see also Luke 18:18).

From the immediate response of our Lord Jesus -- "Why callest thou me good?" -- we get a hint of the problem this young man failed to appreciate. The Greek word rendered "good" in most English language versions seems to imply "intrinsic worthiness" as distinguished from mere outward appearance and all three Gospel writers use identical language. Jesus objects to being called "good" in this perfect sense, reserving this designation only for the Lord God, his Father.

A good, young man
Here is the crux of the issue -- it appears that the young man thought that perfect goodness could be achieved by man by virtue of his own actions, apart from the grace of God. Hence his request asking what "good" thing he could do to, in a sense, "earn" eternal life. The young man’s emphasis is clearly on his own actions (thinking typical of Pharisees).

The term ruler in this context is usually one referring to a "magistrate." That one so young would be entrusted to an office of such responsibility gives us a hint of the upright character that this lad must have shown. The seriousness of our Lord’s response confirms further the just character of the youth.

Considering the commandments
Working from the ruler’s own premise, Jesus gives a simple, direct answer to the question -- "Keep the commandments." The young man, with no apparent guile, asks further, "Which?" (The Luke and Mark versions omit this question, but Matthew was an eyewitness to the event and included this important detail.) Again this hints of the possible Pharisee in the lad: the need to precisely define in exact detail what, and what not to do, is characteristic of the actions of a legalistic mind.

Yet our Lord does not lose his patience but spells out several commandments with emphasis on those from the second tablet of the Law of Moses. These all focus our relationship with our fellow human beings. One should not assume that Jesus was omitting others because they were not as important. In another context, our Lord Jesus guides a "certain lawyer" to confess: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself" (Luke 10:27). Given the obvious sincerity of purpose and real yearning for eternal life that this young ruler had displayed in coming to Christ in the first place, it is probable our Lord realized that the lad, beyond a doubt, believed he loved the Father with all his heart, soul, strength and mind. Thus that side of the law did not have to be reiterated.

What then was the young man’s weakness? The Psalmist tells us, "If riches increase, set not your heart upon them" (Psa. 62:10).

Dealing with critical weakness
Jesus knew where this man’s heart really resided. He had great riches and they possessed his heart, soul, strength and mind. When an illness possesses our bodies the only way to free us from it is to get rid of all the infection. The Lord did not make a general practice that everyone had to give up 100% in order to be his disciple. Zacchaeus the publican whom we shortly meet in chapter 19 of Luke gave up 50% of his riches and this appears to be well pleasing. This young man wanted to be "perfect" (Matt. 19:21) and this clearly was not possible.

Jesus uses the innermost thoughts of this young man to demonstrate that no matter how good any of us think we are, yet within all of us are weaknesses. We have to realize this and let go of those things within us that separate us from being more faithful followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. It may be our possessions, just as with this young ruler. It may be our time which we are unwilling to give to His service. It may be some flaw in our character, which we refuse to confront and control. But while we certainly need to mold ourselves more fully in the character of our Lord Jesus, the bottom line is our lives are a work in process and our own actions, regardless of how good we are, will not earn us so great a reward as eternal life. We obviously need a different approach than our own goodness.

The young man could not bear this response; giving up all his wealth was never an option that he contemplated. What is it that prevents us from completely following Jesus? What is it that we refuse to give up? Sad to say it is often the cares of this world and sheer laziness that cause us to stumble. How many of us have been too tired to go to meeting or Bible class, but would have dragged ourselves to work if that had been necessary?

Parable of camel
With sadness Jesus watches the young man walk away, for Jesus "loved" him (Mk. 10:21). "Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven’" (Matt 19:23 NIV). This statement astonished the disciples. In the Jewish world of the first century, riches in this life were considered a "sign" of the blessing of God. If a person so blessed was to be excluded from the kingdom of God, what chance did anyone else have? It is in this setting that Jesus tells this parable: "Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Luke 18:25 NIV).

The parable clearly paints a ludicrous picture. Why? Was it for comic relief to tone down a very tense moment? Probably not; our Lord Jesus Christ was a Master teacher (see earlier, at verse 16 of Matthew 19, among others) and now saw the opportunity to teach a very important lesson in a way that would never be forgotten. The lesson has apparently stuck, for many who have only the barest acquaintance with the Bible have heard of this parable. The comic juxtaposition of a camel trying to get through the eye of a sewing needle is a word picture that is easily remembered. But what does it mean?

Not needle gate
Some have attempted to give this image an interpretation that Jesus did not literally mean a sewing needle, but instead referred to the so-called Needle Gate into the city of Jerusalem. This gate was the smallest gate into the city and, because easily defended, was kept open later than any of the main entries. Hence, a merchant with a camel laden with goods could enter the city after curfew through this gate. The narrowness and low height of the so-called Needle Gate might require the merchant to unburden the worldly goods from the beast and even necessitate the animal to lower itself to crawl through the portal. The analogy is obvious, that if one wished to enter through the eye of the needle (gate), one had to drop the burden of worldly goods and humble oneself to crawl through the opening.

While this interpretation is an interesting possibility, I do not think that this is what Jesus intended for us to take from this parable. First of all, the indefinite article "a" is used instead of the definite article "the." The parable says "the eye of a needle" not the "eye of the needle."

Jesus must have been thoroughly aware of the layout of the city of Jerusalem and this lack of specificity could not have been an oversight. Furthermore, the Gospel was written not only for the people of the first century AD, but also for all ages including those who would have little, if any, knowledge of ancient Jerusalem.

Finally, the needle gate idea, while engaging, seems to somewhat miss the point of the parable. That interpretation implies that we can get through the eye of the needle (gate) by our own volition. All we have to do is become less worldly and more humble. Obviously there is nothing wrong with striving not to be consumed by this world’s material benefits, nor can we go wrong by trying to be more humble. But the mistake is thinking that we can earn admission to the kingdom of God by our actions. The scriptures make it clear that salvation is not by works, but by grace. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom 6:23). One cannot earn a gift (eternal life), but we do deserve our wages (death) which are just recompense for what we are and what we do. This is a difficult lesson to learn and it was one that astonished the disciples.

A needle is appropriate
The disciples, who were brought up in Jewish culture of that time, thought that riches in this life were surely a sign of blessing from the heavenly Father. For Jesus to say "that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:23) must have totally bewildered them, as the text makes clear by using the superlative "they were exceedingly amazed" (v. 25).

Hence this funny, ludicrous parable serves a double purpose. First, like any good funny image it is indeed easy to remember, but also the juxtaposition of the camel and the eye of a needle clearly poses an impossible feat. How can the camel ever hope to get through it? The answer Jesus gives is crystal-clear -- it is not by action on our part that will gain us the kingdom of heaven, but only through the power and grace of the Lord God: "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible" (v. 27).

There is a danger which inherently blocks the full understanding of this powerful parabolic image of the "camel and the needle." We are prone to an extreme that says essentially: if it is all by grace what does it matter what I do? Therefore once I have come to a perfect knowledge of salvation, my moral behavior is irrelevant. In the words of the Apostle Paul, "God forbid"! This is exactly the wrong thinking that Paul refutes in his letter to the Romans (see especially Rom. 3:31) and that James also denounces when he wrote "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26).

The fact of the matter is that we must try our very best, always realizing that we have nothing to boast about. Neither should we get discouraged or ever give up, for as long as we strive to do our best the Lord will carry us the rest of the way. Even as Peter could say that the disciples had forsaken all to follow Christ, yet later they all fled and he would be the same who would vehemently deny him. Even so it will be with us, we will have moments of strength and times of incredible weakness. Yet when strong, we should not be arrogant, nor when weak, should we despair: "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32), for with Him the impossible becomes possible.