Is It Wrong to Be Rich?

Matthew 19 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich 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 someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

This is one of those passages that can be greatly misunderstood if not interpreted correctly.  Some have gone to great lengths to try and figure out how a camel could possibly go through the eye of a needle.  Jesus often uses "hyperbole" when he teaches, and he is doing this in this passage.  He message is that as it is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, so it is impossible for a "rich" man to enter heaven.  The key interpretive question becomes what does Jesus mean by the phrase, "rich man"?  Is it anybody who is rich?  Or is it someone whose riches have become their god?    

The context is the story of the rich, young ruler who asked Jesus what he could do to inherit heaven.  He was used to paying a price for everything and therefore thought he could pay Jesus off like everyone else.  Knowing the man's heart, Jesus challenges his obedience to the Ten Commandments.  Naively the rich young ruler assumes he has kept all of them since he was young. Jesus checks his sincerity by asking him to sell everything and follow him. The man goes away sad.  Why?  Because his true god was His riches. He was like the camel trying to go through the eye of the needle.  He could not serve both God and money.  

The disciples are equally confused.  They say to Jesus, "Who then can be saved?"  Jesus says that they are right, it is impossible for someone to keep the the commandments.  He elucidated the true "Spirit of the Law" earlier in the Sermon of the Mount, which made it even more impossible.  The punchline comes when he says, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."    

The story of the camel not being able to get through the eye of a needle is analagous to a person who tries to perfectly obey the Law.  Just like a camel can't go through the eye of a needle, we can't measure up to the true Spirit of the Law.  But Jesus offers a better way, which is through him.  So what does this require of us?

We need to realize we are that camel and we can't get through the eye of the needle no matter how hard we try.  We need to admit we need help.  We need to realize what is impossible for us was made possible by God's sending His only Son to save us from our sin.  Jesus perfectly fulfilled the Law. We are made righteous through faith in him.