but it's impossible, isn't it?

Question

in the bible jesus says:
"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."
from what i know about the size of camels, they are rather large mammals. and from what i know about the eyes of needles, they are very small. an ant probably couldn't pass through the eye of a needle let alone a full grown camel. this must mean that it is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. but how can this be? the bible tells us that it doesn't matter if we're rich or poor, sinner or saint, all we have to do is accept jesus as our savior and we will be saved. is this not a contradiction? what does the bible have against rich people? what if you're rich, but you're doing something beneficial to society with your money? is it still easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle?

but if it wasn't an actual needle, and it was a task easily accomplished, why say a rich at all?

shmit, then it's not easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle? so jesus was wrong, right?

Answer 1

"rich" as in too much pride or somthing like that. idk ?

Answer 2

Yes, the proverbial saying of Matt 19:24 refers to absolutely impossible, you are right. Jesus' comment about rich man's salvation would have been difficult for some Jewish people to accept. I tell you The Legend of the Needle's Eye Gate.

Since Middle Ages commentators have considered the possibility that Jesus' statement concerning the "eye of a needle " ( Matt 19:24 ) may have been reference to certain doors or gates that actually existed in his day. Some homes did in fact have large doors that would allow a fully loaded camel to enter to the courtyard. Since such doors were cumbersome and required great effort to open, there were often smaller doors cut within them, permitting easy passage of people smaller animals into the house. Some interpreters have argued that this smaller door was the " needle's eyegate, " while others have suggested that the needle's eye referred to smaller doors within larger city gates, such as those at Jaffa and Hebron. Passage through the smaller gate, it was said, would have forced camel to its knees. Thus, the pint of Jesus' teaching in verse 24 is supposedly that a rich man can enter the kingdom of heaven only if he falls down to his knees.

As illustrative, as these theories are, they are in fact diinishing the force of Jesus' words. The point is not that salvation is difficult without God but that it is IMPOSSIPLE
w i t h o u t Him. Jesus' contrast of the largest animal known to Palestine with the smallest of holes created a vivid and memorable illustration. The fact that modern-day gates have been so named can most likely be attributed to the influence of this and similar statements within the Talmud and the Koran. In other words, the term "needle's eye gate " most likely did not precede the reaching; rather, the popularity of the term evidently came about because of the teaching. But in Jesus' original setting, it is very likely that the needle's eye was simply a needle's eye and not a gate at all.

Bible readers do well to beware of legendary, pseudo-archaelogical interpretations, which can be quite missleading and even distort or undermine the true meaning of a Biblical text.

Answer 3

The illustration of the camel going through the eye of a needle was perfect for those He was speaking to. The eye of a needle means the eye of a needle. Jesus' explanation that what is impossible for men is possible with God shows that rich men can be saved and enter Heaven. But only if they put their faith in Christ rather than in their riches.

Answer 4

Funny you should ask that. If you wouldhave continued reading, the next line says that the deciples were perplexed as well and asked the same question. Jesus said, "For man it is imposible but with God all things are possible." indcating that through his own sacrifice, and not the law, all men would be saved.
There is this info, which I have no sources for.
In the wall surounding Jerusalem there was a gate which was so small, the camels would have to get down on their knees to get through. It was called the eye of a needle.
Don't know if it's true. Don't remember where I heard it.

no spell check (nsc)
Gypsy Priest

Answer 5

I think Jesus was referring to those rich people who loved wealth more than anything else, rich people can be sources of great charitable help and benefit to others if they choose to and many do so anonymously.
The eye of the needle was a traders gate in Jerusalem that merchants used and if the camel was too heavily packed with goods it was hard to get it through the opening.

Answer 6

When I was in the US army, I watched an ablative missile being tested on an armored personnel carrier. The missile left a hole roughly the size of a silver dollar in both sides of the carrier, and a goat inside the carrier was pulled through the second hole by the vacuum formed from the missile leaving the carrier. Can you imaging if the hole was the size of a needles eye and it was a camel? Is that what we are to believe the "pearly gates" do to people who have wealth?

Answer 7

wealthy people have trouble having faith, because they rely soley on their wealth to save them. Read the saddest story ever when the wealthy man couldn't get rid of his riches to follow Jesus.

But not impossible: as a embyo you could fit alot of camels through an eye of the needle.

Answer 8

Atheist here who attended theology school. "The Needle" was a narrow passageway in Jerusalem's roads and alleys. My instructor, a doctor of divinity, explained that camels had to be smaller or carrying smaller loads to be able to pass through The Needle. It's another stretch by the KJV.

Answer 9

Camels are quite large, aren't they? I think it means you can't take it with you. Give it away with an open heart, do good with what you have. Don't expect to get in with all your worldly goods, because they have no value in heaven. I don't think Jesus was against rich people. He was just making a point about greed and selfishness---I think.

Answer 10

Einsteins special theory of relativity tells us that if we accelerate the needle--it becomes larger. Get close enough to light speed and the camel will fit, and since time slows to a crawl--you'll have a near eternity to get the job done lol.

Answer 11

Well, for a start, you reference the wrong sort of needle.

Second, Jesus' world had, for the most part, no middle class; so you were either terribly rich or at subsistence level. Hence, the text's warnings about the centrality of money and possessions in one's life. In such a society could one easily give up money? Jesus thought not.

HTH

Charles