...for he had great possessions

Photo courtesy of Martin Beek

Everybody has heard this story of the Camel and the Eye of the Needle...

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 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." When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:16-26; ESV)

But what is remarkable to me is the disciples' response, "Who then can be saved?"  It seems that it was evident to them that this was not a singular case of one rich guy that was going to hell.  They recognized that we are all like the rich man because we all have our earthly idols, money or whatever, that should keep us on this side of the eye of the needle.

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And Jesus' response: "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."