In response to my tongue-in-cheek post: “He who believes that it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a needle to go through the eye of a camel, doesn't know his Bible,” Lindsay York said, "The eye of a needle was a gate in Jerusalem, it was the one they used at night, it was much smaller and camels could only pass if they had their baggage removed. Some people think it's a sewing needle LOL."
Here's a thought worth thinking about. When you read how the disciples reacted to what Jesus said, the Jerusalem night-gate explanation may not fit. It does sound reasonable, however, take a moment to study the reaction of the disciples. They didn't say, "Oh yeah, I get it. It is difficult to enter Jerusalem at night, because you have to remove the baggage." No, they were “exceedingly amazed” (see Matthew 19:24) and “astonished out of measure” (see Mark 10:26) at what He said. Jesus didn't say it was “difficult” for a rich man to enter Heaven. He said it was "impossible." So it may have been a literal needle. That’s in line with His other analogies, such as telling the Pharisees that they strained at gnats and swallowed camels. Then again, a “camel” in this case may have been a brand of cigarettes at the time of Christ.
P.s. Within an hour of writing this post and then inserting the camel cigarette graphic, I rode my bike to work and found a camel cigarette packet wrapper, precariously sitting on the ground, where I park my bike at the ministry. I think it’s the first time I have ever seen a camel wrapper on the ground. No one here smokes cigarettes, so I see this as some sort of a “sign.” Either it is an encouragement that I’m on the right track, or that I should sell my bike and get a camel.
Here's a thought worth thinking about. When you read how the disciples reacted to what Jesus said, the Jerusalem night-gate explanation may not fit. It does sound reasonable, however, take a moment to study the reaction of the disciples. They didn't say, "Oh yeah, I get it. It is difficult to enter Jerusalem at night, because you have to remove the baggage." No, they were “exceedingly amazed” (see Matthew 19:24) and “astonished out of measure” (see Mark 10:26) at what He said. Jesus didn't say it was “difficult” for a rich man to enter Heaven. He said it was "impossible." So it may have been a literal needle. That’s in line with His other analogies, such as telling the Pharisees that they strained at gnats and swallowed camels. Then again, a “camel” in this case may have been a brand of cigarettes at the time of Christ.
P.s. Within an hour of writing this post and then inserting the camel cigarette graphic, I rode my bike to work and found a camel cigarette packet wrapper, precariously sitting on the ground, where I park my bike at the ministry. I think it’s the first time I have ever seen a camel wrapper on the ground. No one here smokes cigarettes, so I see this as some sort of a “sign.” Either it is an encouragement that I’m on the right track, or that I should sell my bike and get a camel.
