Can a camel go through the eye of a needle?

October 13, 2024

Jesus’ teaching on how difficult it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven is an extremely difficult teaching for most of us who are middle-class and above, despite the fact that many of us might not consider ourselves ‘rich’.   

The term ‘rich’ is essentially a comparative term - it is in a particular context that a person is considered rich.  I am poor compared to the Ambani family in India who reportedly spent around a 120 million British Pounds on just the wedding celebrations of their younger son  in 2024 - an amount, as somebody calculated, was for them the equivalent of someone like me buying an I-phone, or going on a ten-day cruise.   On the other hand, I am informed that  in India, anyone who has more than  Rs. 1.5 crores (approx. USD 175,000) in total assets, belongs to the top 1% of the Indian population.  This figure does not seem too much when we realise that the cost of a two-bedroom flat in any part of Mumbai, India (where I live) would begin at about that amount, - and since a very large percentage of middle-class families in Mumbai (like myself) do own a two-bedroom flat in Mumbai, we are ‘rich’.

So let us explore what Jesus meant by the poor. The Greek language (which is the language in which the Gospels were written)  has two terms for the ‘poor’: penes refers to a person who does manual labour, and ptochoi refers to a person reduced to begging, i.e. someone who is destitute of all resources, influence, or social standing. And it would seem that the Greek writers of the Gospel  used the second Greek term to interpret and convey what Jesus meant in Aramaic, when he gave this teaching.

One thing we do know is that neither Jesus, nor his disciples  were ptochoi in the sense  that they were destitute of all resources, influence or social standing.  Jesus himself had immense social standing and power - which is really why he was seen as a huge threat to the religious establishment of his time. Yet, Jesus himself calls his disciples poor (Blessed are you poor, Luke 6:20), and they too were not like beggars. Furthermore, in today’s understanding of poverty, we have begun to understand that the ptochoi type of poverty is essentially  the ‘lack of power’ to choose, - for a ‘sadhu’ (holy mendicant) who chooses to be poor and perhaps lives in the same pitiful physical conditions as a beggar, even sometimes without clothes (as the Digambar sect of Jain sadhus do), is not poor in the ptochoi sense of poverty, because s/he chooses to be economically poor.

So then what does Jesus mean when he says, Blessed are the poor? Perhaps an answer can be found in Mark’s Gospel version of the story of the rich young man that we heard today. As I have remarked in the past, since Mark’s is the earliest Gospel, it is likely that the teachings of Jesus would have been less embellished or altered, than those found in the Gospels that were written later, - for as we know, when a story is handed down over time, and in each re-telling,  some things change.  In any case, it is instructive to note that the disciples are quite taken aback by the teaching that it is very difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven, because in the Jewish mind (despite the Book of Job), poverty was a curse or punishment from God, and so they ask Jesus ‘who then can be saved’. And Jesus responds with: “How hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!”.  At this point, for the sake of transparency, it must be noted that since we do not have the original manuscripts of the respective Gospels,  we are depending on subsequent copies made, and this phrase, ‘trust in riches’ comes only in some of the  earliest manuscripts, but not in all.

Whatever be the original, we can ask ourselves, that since Jesus and his disciples were not exactly ptochoi in the sense described earlier, was Jesus referring to the ptochoi as examples of those who do not have any riches (resources, or security or social standing) on which they could place their trust?   If that is the case, then it would be similar to how Jesus himself lived his life because Jesus certainly did not give great importance to the adulation or following he received even from the adoring crowds, and so we read in John’s Gospel that though many believed in him because of all the miracles that he did, “Jesus would not trust himself to them” (John 2:23-24).  Jesus even doesn’t trust his disciples’ faithfulness to him, for he tells them: “You will all fall away, for it is written: “ ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’  (Mark 14:27-29).  So Jesus clearly did not ‘trust’ in his influence over the people, or his social standing, or his power, always believing that they would be taken away from him, even as they finally were taken away, when he was arrested and then crucified.

And, if that is what Jesus meant by the poor, then we can understand why he would choose Mathew,  a tax collector, to be his disciple, and praise Zacchaeus, another tax collector, (both of whom had much wealth), because perhaps he could see that at the moment of their ‘conversion’ they had reached a stage when their riches did not mean much to them.  Mathew, after all,  left all he had to follow Jesus, and Zacchaeus was willing to return four-fold what he may have unjustly taken from others.   Such an interpretation would also perhaps help us harmonise the differences in the Beatitudes as articulated by Luke (Blessed are the poor, Luke 6:20)), and Mathew (Blessed are the poor in spirit Mathew 5:3), which may have troubled those who have noticed, and reflected on, the difference in the wording of this Beatitude.  Incidentally, this interpretation would also suggest that Jesus is NOT saying that all who are poor are ‘good’ just by virtue of being economically poor - as most of the economically poor have the same attitude to whatever 'riches' (resources) they have as we do - the only difference being that they have less on which to trust.  However, it is also true that it becomes increasingly more difficult as we grow 'richer' (like the rich young man in today's Gospel) to give up our trust in our 'riches' than those who have far fewer 'riches'  to trust or depend upon in the first place. 

This interpretation also resonates with the teachings of other religions such as Buddhism. In fact, Buddhism goes one step further and suggests that it is only this detachment, not just from resources and power, but also from our desires and our own egos, that can truly set us free.

If this interpretation resonates with us, we would need to reflect on our own attitude to the ‘riches’ (resources, security, power etc.) that each of us enjoys. Perhaps we may also need to ask ourselves, whether the wealth or influence or social standing that each of us has, are things we are so ‘’attached” to,  that our very egos or self-worth are somehow dependent on all of these ‘riches’ that we have.  And also perhaps, ask ourselves whether these ‘riches’ have unknowingly tended to make us close our hearts and minds to others who have less, even perhaps leading us to unknowingly look down on them - even concluding falsely that our ‘riches’ are ours because God rewards us for our goodness.  I say 'falsely', because surely that is a notion that the  story of all the prophets and Jesus himself ought to disabuse us of. Again, for many of us, perhaps we give so much importance to our ‘riches that we get sucked into the rat race of acquiring more and more of these ‘riches’ , and into the competition to do better than others. These are only some of the many ways in which our ‘riches’ control us, and reflecting on things like these might help us see for ourselves whether we are those who ‘trust in riches’.

And let me admit that It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for us to live our lives without ‘trusting’ or being ‘attached’ to our own ‘riches’.  It requires much ‘spiritual evolution’ to reach such a stage - but as Jesus taught, with God’s help what is normally impossible can become possible.

1st Reading – Wisdom 7:7-11
 
I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to sceptre and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire. Beyond health and comeliness I loved her, and I chose to have her rather than the light, because the splendor of her never yields to sleep. Yet all good things together came to me in her company, and countless riches at her hands.
 
2nd Reading – Hebrews 4:12-13
 
Brothers and sisters: Indeed the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.
 
Gospel – Mark 10:17-30
 
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.” He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. 

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” Peter began to say to him, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”