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A rich young man approached Jesus and asked what he must do to receive eternal life. Jesus instructs him to follow 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.

The young man had followed all these commandments since he was a child. Mark notes that Jesus looked at him with love and said he must do one more thing:

“Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, then come, follow me.

The man was very rich and was unwilling to give up all of his possessions, so he “went away sad”.

Jesus takes the opportunity to teach about wealth and the Kingdom of God. People at the time of Jesus thought that the rich were in favour with God – their money was a reward for good behaviour. But here Jesus is telling them the opposite. This must have been very confusing for the young man and the followers of Jesus.

Jesus declared, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” He then states that 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.

The eye of the needle could have referred to a small door in Jerusalem’s city wall. A camel would not have been able to fit through it if there were many items hanging off its sides. The possessions would have to be discarded for it to fit.

Jesus does not mean that all rich people cannot enter the Kingdom of God, it is just those who are obsessed with their wealth and riches and who do not use them for the good of others.