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abamforth wrote:

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"But as Jesus says, with God, it is possible, though difficult, for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

...because...you CAN actually get a camel through the eye of a needle?

The hyperbole seems to flicker back and forth in Matt 19.
I'm not sure exactly what Jesus meant by 'rich.' But he certainly doesn't mean 'difficult.' Look at the reactions of his followers. They take 'impossible' to mean 'impossible.' But they also take 'rich man' to mean a huge amount of the population.

Imagine Jesus today saying that it is impossible (or difficult or hard) for a Fortune 500 CEO to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. His apostles were less than poor. I'd expect them to say 'sod the buggers.'

But after Jesus' statement about "rich" men, these men were rather upset. OMG, like, who CAN be saved then, Dude? I'd think there were lots of people in the occupied lands that they wouldn't think of as "rich."

And they pointed out that they had gotten rid of most of what they owned to follow Jesus, and were still taking Jesus' statements personally.
That doesn't make sense.
I have to wonder if 'wealth' only makes sense if you consider it 'any material possessions at all.'

Then Jesus is saying that it is easier to shove a camel through a needle than for a materialist to get into heaven.
And the internerent apostles gasp. Because even though they've given up much, they still have sandals, clothes, a sword or two. And everyone they know has a least a little bit of materialism. So no one, no one at all, can be considered able to enter heaven.
Jesus says it's impossible for mere men to overcome this difficulty. But God will make it so.