You try fittin' through that eye!

You know, to state the obvious, there are great things gained from reading the Bible! For my New Testament class we pretty much have to read the New Testament, naturally. Though many don’t, sadly, I am going to try the best that I can!! Anyway, we have made our way into the Gospel of Luke now and I have come across a story that appears in the other two synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), the story of The Rich Ruler (Luke 18:18-30) as Luke calls it. The story is of a wealthy man who asked Jesus by saying “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (vs. 18) An honest question I would say, but Jesus answers by asking the man a question, “Why do you call me good?”(vs.19) Now, the only thing I gotta wonder is why would Jesus ask that? Most likely says the explanations at the bottom of the page in my self-study Bible is that Jesus is getting the man to acknowledge who Jesus is, as the Savior, and that his only hope was to completely rely on God for eternal life, the only One who grants it. That’s why Jesus goes on to say, “No one is good—except God alone.”(vs. 19) How true is that, amen. But I’m not finished yet. Jesus had said to keep the commandments yes, and the guy was like pshh..no problem, I have all my life, and Jesus says yeah ok, but you’re missing one thing, sell all that you got, everything, give it to the poor and follow me. Now the guy's become sad and leaves, but wouldn’t you though if some man told you to give everything up to follow him? (vs. 20-23)I’da thought twice! But that’s the problem, we don’t have to think twice to rely on God, we don’t have to second guess the reliance we can always place on God! Jesus then goes on to say some very famous words, “Indeed, 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.” (vs. 25) Now there’s something you need to know, back in the day in Palestine, the camel was pretty much the largest animal known to the people, they had most likely never seen an elephant of a blue whale, Jesus most likely would have used those animals instead if they had, but what He is saying is that the large animal passing through almost the smallest opening was to show how impossible things are for us as humans without God. ‘Tis why after the disciples say, Ok then who the heck can be saved!? Jesus just simple says, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (vs. 26-27) That just goes to show you that salvation is a gift of God alone, we do not gain that ourselves. That man’s wealth was keeping him from trusting in Jesus for his salvation, that is why Jesus was trying to get the man to give it up, because he would then have “treasure in heaven,” (vs. 22) which means nothing else besides eternal life! But even more so, any attempt to enter into the kingdom of heaven by means of anything but faith and trust in Jesus, is worthless. Entrance is not based on what car you drive, how big your bank account is, or for me and every student…what grades you get in school. (The greatest thing that anyone has told to me during my first 5 weeks of college is “Grades don’t determine salvation.” Thanks be to God.) So know what is important in your life, the one thing that no other thing, person, animal or anything else even compares to, is Jesus and your relationship with Him. In my GS class, we have learned that Christianity is not just a religion; it is a relationship, of course with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

In Christ,
Adam