Passing through the eye of a needle

I’ve always thought that the reference to passing through the needle’s eye referred to a small passageway through the main gate of the City of Jerusalem which was left open at night so that travelers might have access to the City, but not access so open that it might be exploited by invading armies seeking to sack the City while the residents slept.  Modern scholarship disputes this interpretation as being false—such a gate did not exist in the time that the Gospels were written.

Which is fortunate for the sake of this teaching, because the response of the rich young man was he became sad and he was not willing to do what Jesus asked of him, because he had wealth and was unwilling to give it up.

We often think that our objectives can be achieved by “doing something”:  say more prayers, care for the poor, take up your cross, or sell your possessions. These are some of the go-to responses to Jesus.  But then we are left with, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The truth of the matter is simply this, we cannot earn our inheritance, and we cannot earn God’s grace.  Both are gifts which we can only accept or reject. In fact, an inheritance can only be received when someone dies. And our status as children of God became real with the death of Jesus on the cross. God’s grace freely given—but the cost is not cheap.

Peace,
Father Mark+