“The camel and the needle”
Opening Prayer
Gospel Mark 10: 17-30
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ” Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “Why do you call good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.”
He said to Jesus, ” Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus looked at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”When the man heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ” How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ” Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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.”
They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ” then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said ” For humans it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
Peter began to say to him, “look , we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, ” Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age–houses , brothers, sisters , mothers and children and fields –but with persecutions –and in the age to come, eternal life.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Discussion
The man in the story wanted Jesus to tell him what to do to make sure he would go to heaven when he died.
First Jesus told the man that he must obey God’s commandments ( 10 commandments are found in Exodus 34:28). These rules were given to us by God to help us choose between right and wrong. Jesus then told the man he must give away all his possessions(money and everything he owned). THe man went away feeling sad, because,though he was a good man, he didn’t want to give away all his riches. Everything he owned meant more to him than the message of Jesus.
Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Have you ever seen a camel? Have you ever seen a needle? How big is the eye of the needle?
At the time Jesus lived, there was a narrow gate leading into the city of Jerusalem known as “the needle”. A camel could not pass through this small gate very easily. By using this image of his time, Jesus helped his followers see his message.
Jesus wanted man to understand that it is more important to have riches in heaven than riches on earth. Money can often makes people greedy and selfish and forgetful about the needs of others. God measures our wealth by our goodness and by whether or not we are generous and loving.
Closing Prayer
Activity
PDF Embedder requires a url attribute