October 13, 2024
Dear Parishioners,
In order for us to feel the impact of the gospel story today, we must understand the shock that overcomes the disciples. Mark says, “They were completely overwhelmed at this and exclaimed to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’” What overwhelms them is Jesus’ statement, “It is easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
The outlandish metaphor of a humongous desert creature passing through the eye of a needle has led many to ask whether Jesus means a real camel or a heavy rope. Remember the New Testament was written in Greek, but Jesus and his disciples spoke Aramaic. In Greek, the word meaning “camel” is spelled kamelon, and the word meaning “a heavy rope or a nautical cable” is spelled kamilon. Also, the Aramaic word gamla can mean either a camel or a rope. So, many think that Jesus really meant a rope and not a camel because a rope would go well with the needle’s eye. On the other hand, the image of some large beast passing through a needle’s eye, as a piquant figure for something impossible, is found in other ancient Near Eastern sources, and the vast textual evidence still favors the contortionist dromedary over the elastic hawser.
Another invention is that the “Needle’s Eye” was a particularly low gate in the walls of Jerusalem, through which a laden camel could not pass without being unburdened or even crawling through on its knees. There was no such gate, and camels are not that nimble. This silly fantasy had not appeared until the ninth century. As of now, most serious exegetes dismiss these two interpretations as a fantastical watering down of the words of Jesus.
So the truth is that Jesus does mean the real camel. And just as it’s absolutely impossible for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye, it’s also truly impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Without the grace of God, that is. What shocks the disciples is that in the Jewish mind, prosperity is a sign of the blessing of God. If a person is rich, God must have honored and blessed them. Wealth is proof of excellence of character and of favor with God. The Psalmist sums it up, “I have been young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread” (Ps 37:25). But Jesus declares wealth an impediment, not a blessing! No wonder they are profoundly shaken.
Throughout the history of the Church, the teaching of Jesus about riches in this pericope takes several paths. For the earliest Christians, a literal interpretation was prevalent. They believed that the end time was near and Jesus’s second coming would soon arrive. Thus, in the Acts of the Apostles they did sell everything and put the money at the feet of the apostles. For the early Christians, Jesus’ command to sell all meant literally so.
But as the return of the Lord was no longer imminent, life went on and had to be sustained. Out of practical necessity, only a small portion of Christianity could aspire to this total renunciation. And from them emerged the monastic movement and later many religious orders with the vows of poverty. According to this ascetic reading, a life of radical renunciation of wealth and total dependence on the providence of God applies only to certain individual Christians, such as monks and religious men and women.
As for the rest of the flock, a symbolic reading makes more sense. This interpretation says that Jesus’ demand of the rich young man to sell and give all his wealth to others applies only to this particular man, because for him wealth is his particular impediment to following Jesus. And for all others, the lesson is to root out whatever hinders our following Jesus, be it pride, greed, lust, envy, anger, sloth, or gluttony.
Each of these three interpretations has its own strength and relevance. But Jesus’ demand must remain the same. Yes, if we want to be true disciples of Jesus, he demands us to go, sell, and give all we possess, then come and follow him. That is exactly the invitation and the challenge. We just have to face it as it is. No tinkering around with it is allowed. We must be as shocked as the disciples were. And we will be as sad as the rich young man was, if we turn down Jesus’ challenge.
Of course, many will protest, “If I go, sell, and give all to others, what would happen to my family, my small children, my mortgage, my retirement, etc.?” The real issue here is not whether I should go, sell, give, come, and follow, but when I should do so. To everyone’s best knowledge, there has been no one who has ever been able not to go, sell, and give all to others. If they don’t do so, all they own will be taken from them, willy-nilly. Because no one can take anything with them when they die. Either they give all they have to others by choice, or others simply take all from them. That is the bottom line.
Everyone must go, sell, and give all. No exception. The only question is when.
In the Most Holy Trinity and in solidarity with you all,
Fr. Duc
