Inherent Misconceptions About Inheriting the Kingdom of God
A Sermon on Wealth, Camels Crawling Through the Eye of a Needle, and the Cost of Discipleship
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age — houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions — and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” Mark 10:17–31 NRSV
I’m going to level with you and confess that Mark is not my favorite gospel. It’s probably good that the different lectionaries, which are collections of scriptures to be used in worship, all assign the gospel every 3–4 years. Otherwise, I can’t imagine that I would ever choose to spend months on end preaching from Mark. I mean it shouldn’t really surprise any of you that I connect more with the poetry of John and the compassion of Luke than with the cut and dry natures of Mark and Matthew.
That being said, I’ve been surprised that, so far, I’ve actually enjoyed preaching through Mark this winter. That is, I’ve enjoyed it up until now. Hang onto your hats because I’m afraid we are in for an uplifting Lent. As Jesus heads toward Jerusalem in Mark’s gospel, he is getting down to business. Last week, we had to tackle “deny yourselves, take up your cross, and follow me.”, and today we’ve got Jesus saying that it’s easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a person with wealth to get into heaven.
Apparently, I am not the only pastor to read this story and think, “I’ve got to preach what?” because scholars have squeezed their way through all sorts of needle eyes in attempts to soften its blow.
For example, if you read this story is a King James Bible, it doesn’t say that it’s hard for the wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God. Instead it’s only those who “trust in riches” who have a problem.
Another example is that back in the 9th century someone decided that there must have been a low gate into Jerusalem, and that low gate must have been called “the eye of the needle”. The gate must have been so low that camels could only fit through it if their cargo was unloaded and they shimmied through on their knees. If this were true, it would mean that Jesus was really concerned with pride, not wealth. Well-intentioned preachers have peached this angle ever since; even though, there is no evidence whatsoever that any part of that story is true.
Others often preach that Jesus could somehow tell that this particular rich man struggled in how he handled his wealth, that the issue was his and may not be ours. To me, this seems like an easy way to let ourselves off the hook.
Still other people suggest that Jesus was testing the man much like God tested Abraham with the sacrifice of Isaac. Jesus didn’t really expect the man to give up his wealth. Jesus really just wanted to see how the man would respond to the request.
While these approaches certainly make preaching the text more palatable, there’s one big problem with all of them: Jesus doesn’t say anything about attitudes toward wealth in the story. He addresses wealth itself. For today, we are going to assume that Jesus means what he says to the man. Hopefully, nobody will get up and walk away as I preach. If you’re tempted to do that, take some solace in knowing that I got up and walked away numerous times during my study this week.
As Jesus is setting out on a journey, he encounters a man. This man is clearly self-confident. He runs right up to Jesus, calls him “good teacher”, and asks him a direct question: What must I do to inherit eternal life? The man also seems to have a sense of entitlement, though, because he thinks eternal life is something that he can inherit.
Despite his entitlement, the man is respectful of Jesus and seems to be sincere. He appears to genuinely seek eternal life and to be someone who tries his best to honor the commandments. There is no reason to assume that he is anything other than an affluent, devout person of faith.
Now, our tendency is going to be to separate ourselves from this man. Many of us don’t consider ourselves to be wealthy, and we might also question whether we are faithful enough be to considered “devout”. The reality, though, is that we all want to do what’s right, and, while we all certainly don’t possess the same amount of wealth, we’re all getting by living in the DC area. Each day we get to choose between different shirts to wear. We have more than one option of things we can eat in our pantries. While some of us may be able to take more exotic or frequent vacations than others, I imagine that we all are able to take occasional vacations. We have access to vaccines, something that people in many parts of the world sacrifice greatly to try to obtain. By the world’s standard, everyone here likely possesses some degree of wealth. We are not unlike the man in our story.
After the man asks Jesus his burning question, Jesus responds by reminding him that he knows the commandments. He then names the 6 of the 10 commandments that deal with ethics. Interestingly, Jesus does make one change. He leaves out “You shall not covet” and replaces with “You shall not defraud”, which is a Levitical law but not one of the big ten.
At first, this made me wonder if that’s how the man acquired his wealth, by defrauding people, but there’s nothing else in the story to suggest that he’s dishonest. And when the man tells Jesus that he has kept the commandments since his childhood, Jesus doesn’t press or question him.
Now I wonder if Jesus’ reference to defrauding isn’t so much about this man actively cheating people as it could be a reference to the unjust systems that make wealth possible to begin with.
Clearly, not everyone who is wealthy got that way by being a scoundrel, but we have to admit that, throughout history, there have been systems in place that make it easier for some to acquire wealth than others, that are intentionally designed to keep certain people from obtaining wealth. There’s truth and wisdom in James Baldwin’s quote, “Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.”
Our story tells us that Jesus loves the man. He loves him enough to tell him the truth. Jesus says, “You lack one thing. Go. Sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven. After that, come, and follow me.”
When the man hears these words, he is shocked. The cost is too great. The man turns his back to Jesus and walks away grieving. You see, he has many possessions, and he can’t bear the thought of giving them all away.
I find it interesting that, in this story, Jesus uses the words “go” and “follow me”. These are the same words he uses when he calls disciples. Jesus isn’t calling the man to a life of poverty; he’s calling him to something harder: discipleship.
Jesus doesn’t tell the rich man just to get rid of all of his stuff. He specifically instructs him to give his wealth to the poor. Jesus is calling the man to dismantle the systems that made him wealthy to begin with, and by giving his own wealth to the poor, the man will help create more equity among people. This means that the man won’t just give up his money; he’ll also give up his power and his status. No wonder he can’t bear the thought of actually doing what Jesus asks of him.
After the man walks away, Jesus turns to his disciples who have witnessed the whole exchange. He wants to make sure that they, at least, understand what he hoped to teach the man. I imagine the he rolls his eyes as he says, “How hard is it for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!” The disciples are confused by this comment, so Jesus persists. “Children, how hard it is for the wealthy to find their way into God’s kingdom. I tell you I think you’ll see camels squeezing through the eyes of needles before you see rich people enter into the Kingdom of God.” (The Voice Bible Translation)
The disciples are astounded by what Jesus says. It seems that even they have bought into what we call today “the prosperity gospel”. They remark to one another in disbelief, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus responds, “For mortals, it’s impossible, but not for God. For God all things are possible.”
Apparently insecure about his own salvation, Peter speaks up and says, “We have left everything and followed you.”
Jesus doesn’t give Peter a pat on the back for that, but he does say, “Look. There’s no one who’s left behind their house or fields or family for my sake, for the sake of the good news, who will not receive one hundredfold in this age, along with some persecutions, and in the world to come, they will receive eternal life. But those who are first in this world will be last in the world to come, and the last will be first.” (The Voice Bible Translation)
Here, Jesus gives his disciples the answer to the question the rich man asked, and he makes clear the upside down nature of the Kingdom of God. Everyone willing to give up their means of wealth and inheritance for the sake of the gospel will receive a hundredfold in this life. They’ll also endure some persecutions because empowering the poor and dismantling unjust systems will upset the status quo. Those willing to do this work will receive (not inherit) the Kingdom of God.
The one thing that the rich man lacks is something with which it’s human nature to struggle. Ultimately, Jesus asks for more than his money and for him to relinquish his power. Jesus wants the man to give his whole self to the ways of Jesus. It’s our natural instinct to want to hold onto whatever power or status we have. We’re wired to want independence and security, but Jesus calls us to surrender, to walk away from our desire for self-preservation in order to create new community, a community rooted in care for one another.
Jesus knows this is a tall order. Even his faithful disciples who have given up so much aren’t sure they’re giving their whole selves. Camels don’t fit though the eyes of needles, and those who hold on to their wealth don’t fit into the Kingdom of God. Thankfully, God makes all things possible. Even for us.
