In this passage, Jesus emphasized twice how difficult it is to enter the kingdom. Twice the disciples were astonished. He first zeroed in on the difficulty for rich people to enter the kingdom then he broadened it to include everyone. What is even more amazing is he used hyperbole – exaggeration – to tell just how difficult it is. He said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved (Mark 10:25). Jesus was not referring to a small gate in Jerusalem called the “eye of the needle” because there was no such gate and there never has been one though some believe one was built in medieval times.[1]He was talking about a sewing needle. It is obvious from the disciples reaction that Jesus was saying it was completely and totally impossible for a rich man or anyone else to be saved because they asked who could be saved.
The answer to this was with the rich man who asked the question in the first place. He said he had done everything the Law required from his youth. But Jesus exposed his heart by pointing him to his attachment to his wealth, which was greater than his desire for eternal life. It is impossible to enter the kingdom of God when we are depending on anything of our own to get us in. It is impossible to work our way into the kingdom. It is impossible for us to even have the correct motivation or desire to enter because we are all sinful and with any sin we are like dead people (Eph 2:1-3). Spiritually, we are dead and dead people can’t do anything to make themselves alive. Jesus clearly tells us that it is impossible for us (Mark 10:27). Do not take his pronouncement lightly.
But Jesus gives us hope because he clearly tells us that it is possible with God (Mark 10:27). In other words, as Paul tells us starting in Ephesians 2:4, God makes us alive in Christ. God loves us and it is by his mercy, a work of grace in us to give us a gift of faith and our salvation – entry into the kingdom of God – is not by our own efforts but by faith.
Jesus then told his disciples how it was going to happen – he was going to go to Jerusalem, be rejected by the Jewish leaders, killed by the Gentiles, and he would be raised from the dead in three days (Mark 10:32-34). They still didn’t understand because they then started arguing about who would be greatest in the kingdom. This kind of sacrifice was the only way to have entrance into the kingdom of God and it is impossible for us but not for God.
Are you in the kingdom of God? If so, remember it wasn’t your doing but God’s. If you aren’t, ask him for the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. He doesn’t reject those who seek him when they know about Jesus and trust him instead of themselves (Ps 9:10).
[1]Craig S. Keener, IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, (InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mark 10:25
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