Matthew 19:23-30 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I say to 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.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27 Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” 28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. 30 “But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.
I detect a hint of selfishness when reading verse 27. The remark has undertones of “what’s in it for me,” as if there must be some reward for giving up worldly pleasures to follow Jesus Christ. Frankly, I find it surprising that Jesus Christ did not react with harsh rebuke for the comment as he did in other instances (Matthew 16:18, Mark 9:19). Instead, He takes this opportunity to provide a discourse on rewards.
In the business and financial world, no one takes a risk unless there is commensurate reward. More significant risk demands greater rewards, and the reverse is also true that the greater the reward promised, the higher the risk. Unfortunately, there are times when high rewards are so captivating (read: instant gratification) that the underlying risk is ignored, to the detriment of the investor (such as in a Ponzi scheme).
Here, Jesus Christ points out that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven. There has been considerable debate over what the “eye of the needle” means, but this is beside the point (meaning we should not get caught up in such useless discussions). This is obviously intended as a sarcastic metaphor because it is impossible for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle at all, so to even say it is easier for a camel to accomplish this feat is hilarious and a slam against the rich man.
We have a similar expression today when we say a person’s head is too big to pass through the doorway. Obviously, if a person’s head is too big, then the body which is much bigger is too big as well. The intent is to point out the extent to which a person’s pride is puffed up, and is quite similar to the expression Jesus Christ used. Although beyond the scope of this article, we can see here one of the requirements to gain admittance into heaven, which is to place our focus and trust in Jesus Christ and not the earthly wealth.
Although Jesus here leaves it unspoken, earthly wealth is the only reward the rich man has. Jesus Christ then asserts quite boldly that the disciples, for the sacrifices they are making, will receive one hundred times what they gave up. This is actually not the first time such an expression was made in the Bible (Job 42:10-13).
The irony of the situation is that the disciples were seeking a reward for their selfless sacrifices made in following Jesus Christ, and this irony is the reason I started this article by saying there is a hint of selfishness in the question. If we give up something for the benefit of someone else, we commonly do so without expecting a reward in return. To expect a reward is to draw attention to our own works, is it not? See Matthew 6:1-2 and 5, where the Pharisees prayed out loud and gave alms in public. Jesus Christ pointed out that the attention they sought for themselves was their reward.
What this must mean, then, is that there is no heavenly reward awaiting them because the reward has already been given — for the rich man, his reward is his wealth and pride, and for the Pharisee, his reward is the status he seeks in society. Jesus even says so in Matthew 6:1. For the disciple, no reward is to be sought, yet a reward is promised, even though the reward is not the motivation for being a disciple.
Besides, the promise of a reward of one hundred times that which was given up to be a disciple cannot be interpreted literally if heaven exists entirely in the spirit world and to have a reward of tangible goods would be tantamount to idolatry. The reward must then be measured in terms of true wealth, which is not wealth as the world measures it. Instead, Jesus Christ defines wealth as the number of souls we have won for Him.
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