“And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother: and Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

“The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” -Matthew 19:16-26.

On his journey our Lord was accosted by one who said, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” He had the right idea, namely, that eternal life is the grand need, the grand hope of all hopes before the human family. We are glad of the question, for it brought forth the inspired answer, in which everybody is interested. What is the value of the present life, except as it leads us up the passageway to eternal life? How utterly lost we should feel if assured that at death we would be blotted out forever! How little in this life would be worth consideration-how little it could do toward filling the longing of our hearts, which yearn for eternal life!

Our Lord parried the question, in order to draw out the young man and make him commit himself, “Why do you call me good?” Why do you acknowledge me as a good teacher? I am either the Messiah, as I claim, or else an imposter and far from good. Do you accept my Messiahship? If you do not, how can you call me good or acknowledge that anything could be good that does not proceed from God, the Fountain of all goodness? Answering your question, if you would enter into eternal life, keep the commandments. The young man replied, Which? The Master answered, “Thou shalt do no murder, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor bear false witness, but honor thy father and thy mother and love thy neighbor as thyself.” The young man replied, “All these things have I observed from my youth. What lack I yet?”

He was a model young man and Jesus loved him. Evidently he was keeping the Jewish law to the extent of his knowledge and ability. He thought that he was loving his neighbor as himself, but this was a mistake which Jesus disclosed to him by the following suggestion: “If thou wouldst be perfect, go sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven” instead of on earth; sacrifice also your earthly reputation and become my follower.

Ah, how the Lord knew to put his finger on the sore spot! The young man had come to him very boastful, very sure that if anyone in the world was seeking to be in harmony with the divine arrangement he was that one. He came for the Master’s approval, that he might hear him say, “You are the one exception to the rule.” The Lord did not say, “If you love your neighbor as you love yourself you will at least put forth an effort to make that neighbor as comfortable as you desire to be comfortable.” He was content to be very rich, while some of his neighbors whom he thought he loved as he loved himself were very poor-abjectly, sorrowfully so. When Jesus discovered to him the difficulty of his situation, he grasped it at once. He saw himself as never before. It became a new test with him. Thus it is with all. A previous lesson showed us the kingdom as a great prize, a pearl of great value, a treasure, which to possess, will cost all that we have; and this lesson points out the same fact.

Let us not make the mistake made by some, and suppose that the young man, who lived so honorable a life and failed to gain heaven, would be thrust down into eternal torment because he did not sacrifice his all to become the Lord’s disciple. His loss of the kingdom was a sufficient penalty without suffering eternal torment in the future. Such members of the human family, under the blessed conditions of the Millennial Kingdom, will doubtless make very rapid progress and will obtain eternal life on the plane of human perfection, though not worthy of the kingdom honors which belong only to the elect. The elect are those only who are gladly sacrificing their lives and their all to gain the great prize.

Passing through the Needle’s Eye

Our Lord commented upon the matter to his disciples and added that the rich must have great difficulty in connection with their endeavor to enter into the kingdom. He said sympathetically, rather than in a denouncing manner, “It is easier for a camel to go through the needle’s eye than for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” This astonished the disciples very greatly, for they knew that the majority of the religionists of their day belonged to the wealthy class, the Scribes and the Pharisees. They replied, “Who then, can get into the kingdom, if these cannot?” Our Lord’s reply was, “With men this is impossible, but not with God.” Men would be inclined to say that God would find no one for the kingdom at all if he rejected the rich.

In a word, no rich man can get into the kingdom. He must give up everything to the Lord or else be barred from a place in the kingdom. The terms of acceptance are the same to the rich as to the poor. He that would have the “pearl of great price” must sell all that he has in order that he may obtain it. The rich must give up all to the Lord, and then as stewards of their riches will be held responsible for their stewardship.

The following little poem describes the needle’s eye, or small gate beside the larger gate, through which the camels might pass into the walled city after sundown and without any of their burden. So the rich by unloading and becoming poor may get into the kingdom:

Through the Needle’s Eve

Tall was my camel and laden high,
And small the gate as a needle’s eye.
The city within was very fair,
And I and my camel would enter there.

“You must lower your load,” the porter cried,
“You must throw away that bundle of pride.”
This I did, but the load was great,
Far too wide for the narrow gate.

“Now,” said the porter, “to make it less,
Discard that hamper of selfishness.”
I obeyed, though with much ado,
Yet still nor camel nor I got through.

“Ah,” said the porter, “your load must hold
Some little package of trust-in-gold.”
The merest handful was all I had,
Yet, “Throw it away,” the porter bade.

Then lo, a marvel! The camel tall
Shrank to the size of the portal small,
And all my riches, a vast estate,
Easily passed through the narrow gate!
R 4658 (1910)