An adult male dromedary camel can weigh as much as 700 kilos and reach a height of three metres. By contrast, the eye of a sewing needle is less than one millimetre wide. It was the largest animal and the smallest hole known to the Jews at the time. What did Jesus mean by using such an absurdly impossible example?

The Master knew how to take advantage of the opportunity offered by this rich young man to teach his disciples about the dangers incurred by wealth. The young man came to Jesus to ask him which merits he still needed to acquire to obtain eternal life. He was probably convinced that he already had all he needed, but he wanted this very special rabbi to confirm this. Apparently he had kept all the requirements of the Law since his youth, and he wanted the Master’s corroboration that he was already saved on account of his good works: something akin to a certificate of good behaviour so that the doors of eternal life would be swung open for him.

As soon as the young man left, the Lord addressed his disciples with the following words, “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24). Immediately his hearers understood that that was impossible and that, if Jesus was right, no one who was rich would ever be able to be saved. “Who then can be saved?”, they asked (Matthew 19:25). And not only the rich, but also everyone else trying to be saved by their own means.

Finally, the Master answered them, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). No human being can achieve eternal life by their own merit. This is impossible, as eternal life can only be obtained through the saving grace of God, embodied in Jesus Christ. The Master is not saying that God is capable of doing impossible things like getting camels to pass through needle-eyes. What he means is that it is not our good works that will save us. It would be the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross at Golgotha.

The danger of wealth, from Jesus’s perspective, is that it can make people believe they are self-sufficient and need to receive nothing from anyone, not even from God; they might also engage in social relationships and material compromises with the world that will separate them from the Christian faith; it also risks making them egotistical and self-serving. Thus, having many possessions can be a very serious obstacle for a believer.  

Note

[1] Luz, U., 2003, El Evangelio según San Mateo (Vol. III), Sígueme, Salamanca, p. 175.