All Things Are Possible For God
2021년 10월 10일All Things Are Possible For God
<Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time>
For hundreds, if not thousands of years, Christians have struggled with this teaching of Jesus: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Some Christians went to great lengths to explain how this could be possible. They insisted there was a gate called “The Needle’s Eye” which was so low a person could only pass through on their knees. A camel would first have to be unloaded, then the camel had to be forced to kneel and slowly walk on its knees through the gate, and then all the merchandise had to be carried one by one to reload the camel on the other side. In this way, the task would be very difficult but at least it was physically possible.
Nice story, but it turns out it wasn’t true. There was no gate in Jerusalem or anywhere in the Holy Land called “The Needle’s Eye.” In recent years, scripture scholars pointed out that “gamal” in Arabic (the language of Jesus) does indeed mean “camel”, but it can also mean “rope”! Now the image makes sense! No one can pass a rope through the eye of a needle. It’s impossible. And that’s the point Jesus was making. Wealth cannot save us. Fame or popularity cannot save us. Guns, and military power and political influence cannot save us. Only God can save us. And that is the good news. For with God, all things are possible.