The Impossible

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE IMPOSSIBLE

Matt 19:23-24

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 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 God." 

NIV

Jesus and his disciples are going to have a conversation about what he said here, but for now, we think we should have some conversation with ourselves. There has been some speculation that this eye of a needle Jesus mentioned was a typical gate in a certain city’s wall. This was described as the large gate which was open all day long for the trade traffic, which included camels burdened with loads of goods. It was surmised the gate would be closed at night except for a small door, just large enough for one man to pass through at a time, this was supposed to be the eye of the gate or the eye of a needle. But there is no proof is the truth, but rather this phrase was a proverb in the old Jewish Talmud which indicated something that was impossible. This will bear out in the following conversation between Jesus and his disciples when he finished their talk by making the statement that with God nothing is impossible. However, we should consider this metaphor as to how Jesus meant it. The point Jesus was making is that when a man has wealth, and we first should ponder what he meant by a rich man, or someone with wealth, that is not poor. This is a relative word, especially in our time and culture. There is no question we have many poor among us. We merely need to take a drive through the city to see the homeless, some begging for money along the road. However, even among us who have homes, some are wealthier than others. We would certainly say those like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Tiger woods, or any professional sportsperson have far beyond more wealth than us, in fact in comparison, we would be the poor people. However, to that homeless man or woman begging by the road or sleeping in a cardboard shack, we who have a home, two or more cars, a job, or some form of retirement income, are indeed the wealthy. But what Jesus was talking about has no bearing on the amount or the lack of wealth a person has. His point is that when we put our trust in what we have, no matter how much that is, it does speak to those who do have, not those who have nothing. When we pay so much attention to the making and storing up of wealth for ourselves, putting our trust in our ability to provide for today and the many tomorrows to come, it is difficult to truly put our trust in the Lord to provide our daily bread, in fact, Jesus says it is impossible. Once again, this daily bread is not actually bread, but Jesus who is the bread of life. Wealth can inhibit our faith in Jesus. It is not to say a person of wealth cannot enter the kingdom of God, for everything is possible with God. Jesus is simply making the point that wealth can be an idol and that restricts faith in Jesus, or it causes a divided heart as in, trying to serve two masters, and that is impossible.