Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!”
Parallel Translations
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Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!”
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And Iesus loked rounde aboute and sayde vnto his disciples: what an harde thinge is it for them that have riches to entre into the kyngdome of God.
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And Iesus looked round about, and sayd vnto his disciples, Howe hardly doe they that haue riches, enter into the kingdome of God!
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Mark 10:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Corinthians 1:26 For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble;
- Mark 3:5 When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other.
- Luke 18:24 Jesus, seeing that he became very sad, said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!
- James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
- Matthew 18:3 and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
- Matthew 19:23-26 Jesus said to his disciples, “Most certainly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.” When the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Mark 10:15 Most certainly I tell you, whoever will not receive God’s Kingdom like a little child, he will in no way enter into it.”
- John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom.
- James 4:4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
- 2 Peter 1:11 For thus you will be richly supplied with the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
- Mark 5:32 He looked around to see her who had done this thing.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto…
23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
Ver. 23. That have riches] Or rather, are had of riches. Have them we may, love them we may not, 1Jn 2:15.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain See Poole on "Mat 10:23", and following verses to…
See Poole on "Mat 10:23", and following verses to Mat 10:26, where the same history occurred, and all the additions to it here are opened.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain From this discourse of our holy Lord’s concerning the…
From this discourse of our holy Lord’s concerning the danger of riches, and the difficulty that attends rich men in their way to heaven, we may collect and gather,
First, That rich men do certainly meet with more difficulties in their way to heaven than other men. It is difficult to withdraw their affections from riches, to place their supreme love upon God in the midst of their abundance. It is difficult to depend entirely upon God in a rich condition; for the rich man’s wealth is his strong tower.
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Secondly, That yet the fault lies not in riches, but in rich men: who by placing their trust, and reposing their confidence in riches do render themselves incapable of the kingdom of God.
Observe, 3. The proverbial speech which our Saviour makes use of to set forth the difficulty of a rich man’s salvation: It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye. This was a proverb among the Jews, signifying a thing of great difficulty, next to an impossibility; and it implies thus much, that it is not only a very great difficulty, but an utter impossibility, for such as abound in worldly wealth, and place their confidence therein, to be saved, without an extraordinary grace and assistance from God. It is hard for God to make a rich man happy, because he thinks himself happy without God.
Observe, 4. The disciples are affected with wonder and admiration at this doctrine of our Saviour’s, and cry out, Who then can be saved?
Learn thence, That such are the special and peculiar difficulties which lie in the rich man’s way to salvation, that their getting to heaven is matter of wonder and admiration to the disciples of Christ.
Observe, 5. How our Saviour resolves this doubt, by telling his disciples, that what was impossible with men, was possible with God; implying, that is is impossible for any man, rich or poor by his own natural strength to get to heaven.
And, 2. That when we are discouraged with the sense of our own impotency, we should consider the power of God, and fix our faith upon it: With God all things are possible.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the disciples were astonished at his words,.... For…
And the disciples were astonished at his words,.... For they expected, in a little while, that the kingdom of the Messiah would be set up in great worldly pomp and grandeur; and that all the rich men of the nation would come into it, become his subjects, and join to support the glory and splendour of it:
but Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, children: it was common with the Jews to call the disciples, or scholars of the wise men, "children"; hence that saying of theirs (f), , "the disciples are called children", which they prove from Kg2 2:3 Isa 8:18.
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How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! This he said partly to confirm what he had before said, at which his disciples were astonished; and partly to explain it, as that he was to be understood of such that trusted in their riches, set their hearts upon them, and placed their hope and happiness in them: and the great difficulty, or rather impossibility of such, at least continuing so, entering into the kingdom of God, is still more strongly expressed in the following words.
(f) Maimon. Hilch. Talmud Tora, c. 1. sect. 2. Moses Kotsensis Mitzvot Tora, pr. affirm. 12. Vid. T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 19. 2. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 42. fol. 36. 4. & Vajikra Rabba, sect. 11. fol. 154. 4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mar 10:23-27. Jesus looked round about — On all…
Mar 10:23-27. Jesus looked round about — On all that were about him; and saith to his disciples, How hardly, Πως δυσκολως, with how great difficulty, shall they that have riches — Not only that love them, but that possess them; enter into the kingdom of God — Respecting this difficulty, see note on Mat 19:23-24. And the disciples were astonished at his words — For they were ready to imagine that ere long all the rich and great people of the country would appear for their Master, and fix him on the throne of Israel. But Jesus answereth again — To that surprise which he saw in their countenances; Children, &c. — See how he softens the harsh truth, by the manner of delivering it! And yet without retracting or abating one tittle: How hard is it for them that trust in riches — Either for defence, or happiness, or deliverance from the thousand dangers that life is continually exposed to. That these cannot enter into God’s glorious kingdom, is clear and undeniable; but it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a man to have riches, and not trust in them. Therefore, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And they were astonished out of measure — Περισσως εξεπλησσοντο, they were more abundantly struck with astonishment, more even than before; having now heard Christ’s repetition and illustration of what he had said before; saying, Who then can be saved? — Who that are rich can ever get to heaven? and what a discouragement will it be to others, to see the rich and the great neglecting salvation, and turning the means of their happiness and usefulness into the instruments of their destruction? And Jesus looking upon them, &c. — See on Mat 19:25-26.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 23. looked round about] “Sæpe describitur vultus Christi, affectui…
23. looked round about] “Sæpe describitur vultus Christi, affectui conveniens, et affectibus auditorum attemperatus.” Bengel. Comp. Mar_3:5; Mar_3:34; Mar_8:34; Luk_6:10; Luk_22:61.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (23) And Jesus looked round.—The glance and gesture are…
(23) And Jesus looked round.—The glance and gesture are mentioned by St. Mark only.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his…
And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples (kai peribleqamenov o Ihsouv legei). St. Mark frequently uses this word periblepw . Our Lord turned from the young man, who was now going away, and looked round about, no doubt with a sad and disappointed look, and said to his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! Why is this? Partly because the love of riches tempts men to heap them up, whether lawfully or unlawfully. Partly because the love of riches binds the soul to earth, so that it is less likely to think of Partly because riches are an incentive to pride and luxury and other sins. The heathen poet Ovid could speak of riches "irritamenta malorum." Poverty and contempt of riches often open that heaven which wealth and covetousness close.
Vers. 23-31. Christ must be all.
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Sometimes our Lord gave utterance to paradox. Certainly it was so on this occasion. Any ordinary observer would have pronounced the rich young ruler blessed, and would have pitied the poor fishermen who neglected their petty craft and followed the homeless and penniless Rabbi of Nazareth. But God"s ways are not our ways. Jesus looked below the surface. To him the case of the favored of fortune and the admired of society was a sad case, and the choice of the twelve was the choice of the good part, which none can take away.
I THE SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGES AND PERILS OF WEALTH. This is not a popular or acceptable lesson; and most people would be willing to accept, without a murmur, the position of danger and temptation occupied by the affluent. However, the warnings of the Master are fully borne out by the experience of those who have watched the working of human nature under the influence of riches.
1. To have wealth is to be in danger of trusting in wealth.
2. To trust in wealth is not conducive to humility, penitence, and faith the dispositions peculiarly suitable to those who would be saved.
3. To lack these dispositions is to be disqualified for the kingdom of God.
4. Yet the grace of God, with whom all things are possible, is able to overcome difficulties and temptations great as these.
II THE BLESSEDNESS OF GIVING UP ALL FOR CHRIST.
1. Really and truly the Christian surrenders all he has to his Lord. That Lord may give him back, as it were, of what was his own, but even when used for himself, it is consecrated, and is still the Lord"s.
(1) Christians may be called upon to give up earthly possessions. This the rich young ruler should have done, but did not; this Peter and the rest of the twelve actually did. It has often been remarked that the apostles did not give up much in order to become disciples of Jesus. But the answer is fair What they had they gave up; it was their all. When plainly called upon to part with property, as, e.g. in times of persecution, or for the sake of charity, Christ"s people willingly make the sacrifice required. Property so lost is truly gained.
(2) Christians may have to renounce earthly aims and prospects. How Often does this happen still! The convert feels constrained to break away from old associations, which might well be the stepping-stone to honor, station, emolument; and in sacrificing what the world would give, he reaps a rich reward in the approval of his conscience, the progress he makes in the Divine life, the increased opportunities of usefulness he enjoys. Such are foremost in inviting their fellow-men to the better path"Come, learn, your follies quitting, That this world"s gain is loss; To his mild rule submitting Who bare for you! the cross.
(3) They renounce the pleasures and the applause of the world. The pleasures of sin it is their aim to relinquish; the praise of men they regard with indifference; for they "have left all.
(4) All this renunciation is spiritually valuable just so far as, it expresses the renunciation of self-will, and the acceptance of the will of Christ. I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord.
2. In so doing the Christian reaps a rich reward. This is twofold.
(1) There is recompense in this life. To follow Jesus is in itself an honor and happiness. Who that loves him would not willingly share his lot? Surrender all you have to Christ, and Christ will bestow all he has on you. He not only confers upon his people the favor of his heart, he gives them to enjoy the approbation of a good conscience. And Jesus points out the provision made by God"s goodness for many of his faithful followers. It happened, as he foretold, that many of the persecuted disciples experienced marvellous interpositions and unexpected relief; that their confession of Christ was the occasion of the attachment and affection, the ministrations and gifts, of those who witnessed and admired their fidelity.
(2) There is a yet richer recompense hereafter. Simply and grandly does Jesus assure his people that they shall have "in the world to come eternal life." It was an assurance which was repeated by Christ"s inspired apostles, which was addressed from the throne of his glory by the triumphant Redeemer to his struggling soldiers upon earth. "Be thou faithful unto death, and! will give thee a crown of life." Many a faithful witness and warrior has been animated by the glorious prospect, and has learned joyfully to toil and patiently to endure, with the blessed hope of the future before his eyes. The light afflictions are light, because they introduce the exceeding and eternal weight of glory. "When the shore is won at last, Who will count the billows past?
Vers. 23-27. Riches a spiritual drawback.
Valuable to the moral as to the scientific or artistic teacher to have a real instance a study from the life. Yet it is not given to many to seize the salient points and analyze the character as Christ did. He did it, too, in a manner the most natural.
I THE SAYING OF CHRIST. "How hardly shah they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!" It is no proverb culled, from the pages of the past. but evidently his own instinctive, penetrating moral from what the had just seen was self-evident to him "how hardly," i.e. with what difficulty, such a thing could take place. He knew by personal experience the price that was to be paid for the realization of that kingdom, and what its nature would be when realized; but he alone. As fruit of his own inward experience it was a distinct discovery in morals. The disciples, not so conversant with the inner nature of the kingdom, were amazed. It was the exact opposite of their own idea. They thought that it would be absolutely necessary to gain such disciples if the kingdom was ever to be realized. It was impossible for them to conceive of spiritual power apart from material means and influence. They could not get rid, moreover, of the dream that a political shape would sooner or later habit of thought of the ancient world. The well-to-do had not only the material advantage of their riches, but a certain rejected honor as enjoying the theocratic blessing upon the keeping of the commandments. And in the case of the ruler this moral excellence was not only an ancestral trait but a personal characteristic. The Greek who styled the rich and powerful of his nation oi agayoi , or kaloi , and the poor oi kakoi , was representative of his age; cf. the Latin optimates, the Saxon good men (opposed to lewd people, base hinds). the French prudhommes. And the modern mind has not yet got rid of the twist. There is a superficial gentleness of manners, refinement, and honor, identified, by long association, with the "better classes," that is easily mistaken for a deeper moral principle. Nor can we ignore the "minor moralities," the conventional proprieties and respectabilities which wealth generally brings in its train. It is only when the emphasis is laid on character that these are estimated at their proper worth. Therefore the necessity for
II THE JUSTIFICATION OF THE SAYING. It is done in a spirit of tender, condescending sympathy
1. The general difficulty attending entrance into the kingdom is declared (the clause, "for them that trust in riches," being probably not genuine). The reason for this difficulty is not, however, stated. It ought to have been remembered. "Taking up his cross" was the condition imposed upon every would-be "disciple.
2. A figure of speech is employed in relation to the rich. The tradition identifying the "needle"s eye" with a certain gate of Jerusalem is hardly well enough supported to be reliable. It was probably but an impromptu hyperbole that flashed from the mind of Christ. But it would recall the teaching of the "strait gate." Kamilov , a rope, may, however, be the true reading. Everything that exaggerates and pampers "self" hinders from the better life. The disciples had learnt that lesson in part (Ver. 28). but its absolute import and spiritual realization they were not to arrive at until their Master had gone away. Their astonishment is not, therefore, lessened, but rather increased, by the repeated statement; and they said, "Then who can be saved?" A question which seemed to imply, "If the rich cannot be saved without difficulty, the poor will have still less chance." The temptations of poverty were probably prominent in their minds. From the human point of view this would seem to be a just observation; therefore he qualified his statement, and under certain conditions declared
III THE SAYING SUPERSEDED. With men it is impossible, but not with God: for all things are possible with God. " There is here a double hint, viz. as to the objective work which he himself was to do for men, and the spiritual aid which would be experienced in men by the advent of the Holy Ghost. The difficulty is wholly on the human side. Salvation is thus vindicated as a supernatural achievement a Divine grace, and not a human virtue. M.
Vers. 23-31. The entry of the rich into the kingdom of heaven.
So impressive a scene as that which had just been witnessed needed some explanation, and was well suited to be the basis of important teaching. With much meaning, therefore, "Jesus looked round about," and, arresting the attention of his disciples, taught them further concerning the entry of the rich into the kingdom of God.
I IT IS DIFFICULT. It is difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom! But that difficulty lies, not as the disciples thought, simply in the possession of riches, but in the proneness of men to love riches. And how short is the step from having riches to loving them! Only by exertion, only by the painfulness of self-denial, by giving up trust in riches and fondness for them, can the rich enter the kingdom of heaven. How hard is this to them who have abundance! How easy it seems to them who possess little! So difficult did this appear to him who knew all men, that the parabolic illustration has no extravagance, though to the disciples it shut out all hope, and rightly so from their point of view, as was confirmed by the Master"s word, made the more impressive by his tender look men it is impossible." Happily, however, there are springs of hope for men other than those which rise from among themselves. "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." So it comes to pass that, concerning the entry of rich men into the kingdom of heaven, it may be proclaimed
II IT IS POSSIBLE. Yes, it is "possible with God," without whom, indeed, nothing is possible. The human inability to effect salvation stands in direct contrast to the efficiency of Divine grace. Many things hinder the salvation of men; but few have more power than "the deceitfulness of riches," which lure to self-security and self-indulgence, which lead men to think they are better than other men, and are not in the same danger or need. The voice of riches is a syren voice; the hold of riches on the heart is firm as a death-grip. Riches prevent the lowliness, the childlike feeling of utter nothingness, of trustful timidity, of tractable weakness. They inspire a false sense of strength, and security, and abundance, and superiority. Often are they the devil"s counters with which he buys men"s souls. But "with God" the mighty may be made to feel themselves feeble, the wealthy to be truly poor. Great is the trust reposed; great the difficulty of fidelity. But "with God" even this may be done. And in our days, as has been happily in all the days of Christ"s Church, men have learned to forsake all even when that all was much to follow Christ in lowly humility, in the poverty of self-abasement. Let the poor know that if they lack the hindrance which riches throw in the way, they also need the help of God; if they will rise and accept it, that help shall be freely given. And let the rich know that help awaits them; if they will stoop lowly and ask, it shall not be withheld from them. Then shall "the brother of low degree glory in his high estate: and the rich in that he is made low." All of us are poor before God; all by him, and by him alone, may be made rich. In proportion as the rich become poor shall they be truly enriched; and it shall be proved that they who press through difficulties hard as the passing of a camel through a needle"s eye, are not left unrequited. Of the entry of the rich into the kingdom of heaven it may further be said
III IT IS REWARDED. How gently did the Lord of all warn his disciples of days of poverty and loss which were coming upon them apace, when both voluntarily, in the fullness of their love, they would sell "their possessions and goods, and part them to all according as any had need," and when with ruthless hands all would be tern from them; when "houses" and "lands" would be confiscated; when from the fellowship of brethren and sisters, of mother and father, and even from their own children, they would be separated "for the gospel"s sake"! But how graciously did he assure them of the "hundredfold" which should be repaid them "now in this time," though "with persecutions;" and the great reward which should be theirs in the hereafter the world to come eternal life." Who of the many disciples of those early times of suffering and persecutions was not rich in "house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands"? And who that "left" these for his "sake and for the gospel"s sake" did not does not and will not ever find, in the undying love and fellowship of the great spiritual community, and in the eternal riches of the heavenly inheritance, more than the "hundredfold"? Yet shall there be no pre-eminence, but a true equality; for the "first shall be last, and the last first. G.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain How hardly shall they that have riches enter into…
Mar_10:23-27
How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
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Wealth a fearful snare to the soul
The Scriptures represent wealth, when used aright, as a distinguished blessing.
It may, and ought to, lead men nearer to God, instead of driving them far from Him.
I. The pride of life. The Scriptures speak of this as one of the most operative causes of human destruction. An inordinate and unreasonable self-esteem excludes God from the heart.
II. A strong impression of their personal independence. Though men are absolutely dependent on God, and to a great extent on one another, there is in all a natural feeling of independence. Nor will it be denied that wealth is very apt to foster this unseemly self-reliance, and this haughty contempt of God.
III. Their attachment to this world. There is no room in the heart for God where it is preoccupied by the world.
IV. Their cares and perplexities. Wherever you fired the greatest amount of secular care and solicitude, there, rest assured, is the greatest danger of losing the soul.
V. The best means of grace are rarely used with the rich and affluent. God has formed no purpose to save any man irrespective of the appointed means. From these views several reflections may naturally arise.
1. What melancholy evidence does this subject furnish of the strange depravity of the human heart.
2. Do not envy the rich.
3. Our subject then admonishes us to take care how we heap up riches.
4. Our subject affectionately addresses itself to the rich. Of all those who have hope towards God, the rich are most in danger of losing the savour and usefulness of piety, and of being scarcely saved. And that your riches may prove a blessing, mud not a curse, set not your hearts upon them, be not conformed to this world, use this world as not abusing it, for the fashion of this world passeth away. You are Gods stewards, and must give an account of your stewardship. And to the rich who are not pious, let me say, is there not fearful reason to apprehend that you will never enter the kingdom of God? Everything is leagued against you.
5. Let me say to all, while you envy not the affluent study to do them good. (Gardiner Spring, D. D.)
Use and abuse of riches
Riches neither further nor hinder salvation in themselves, but as they are used: as a cipher by itself is nothing, but a figure being set before it, it increaseth the sum. Wealth, if well used, is an ornament, an encouragement to duty, and an instrument of much good. All the danger lies in loving these things. Have them we may, and use them too, as a traveller doth his staff, to help him the sooner to his journeys end; but when we pass away our hearts to them, they become a mischief … Let not, therefore, the bramble be king: let not earthly things bear rule over thy affections. fire will arise out of them, that will consume thy cedars, and emasculate all the powers of thy soul, as they did Solomons, whose wealth did him more hurt than his wisdom good. How many have we nowadays who, when poor, could read, pray, etc., but who, now they have grown rich, resemble the moon, which, grown full, gets farthest off from the sun, never suffers eclipse but then, and that by earths interposition! Let rich men therefore take heed how they handle their thorns: let them gird up the loins of their minds, lest their long garments hinder them in the way to heaven; let them see to it, that they be not tied to their abundance, as little Lentulus was said to have been to his long sword; that they be not held prisoners in those golden fetters, as the king of Armenia was by Anthony, and so sent by him as a present to Cleopatra; lest at length they send their mammon of unrighteousness, as Croesus did his fetters, for a present to the devil, who had deluded him with false hopes of victory. (John Trapp.)
Wealth not always desirable
How many can form any estimate as to whether it is best for them to be prosperous or not? If I should consult the wheat growing in spring in the field as to what was best for it, the wheat would say, Let me alone. Let the rain feed me. Let the winds gently strengthen me. Let me grow to my full height and size. But ah! the land on which that wheat is sown is over-rich; and if the wheat grows to its full height and size, it will be so fag and heavy that it will break, and fall down, and be lost. So the farmer turns in his cattle, and they browse the wheat. They eat it down to the ground. And by and by, later, when it is allowed to grow, it has been so weakened by this cruel pasturage that it will not become so rank as to break down, but will stand erect, and carry its head up, and ripen its grain. Many men will bear browsing. They get too fat, and cannot carry themselves upright and firm, and they break and fall down; and the best of them lies in the dirt; and all that stands up is straw and stubble … Who knows what is best for him? Some men can endure prosperity, and some cannot; but who can discriminate between them? (H. W. Beecher.)
Wealth genders pride
Who almost is there whose heart does not swell with his bags? and whose thoughts do not follow the proportions of his condition? What difference has been seen in the same man poor and preferred? his mind, like a mushroom, has shot up in a night; his business is first to forget himself, and then his friends. When the sun shines, then the peacock displays his train. (R. South, D. D.)
The rich should grow more humble
When flowers are full of heaven-descended dews, they always hang their heads; but men hold theirs the higher, the more they receive-getting proud as they get full. (H. W. Beecher.)
Riches often debase the character
See yonder lake! The bigger the stream that runs into it-lying so beautiful and peaceful in the bosom of the shaggy mountain-the bigger the stream it discharges to water the plains, and, like the path of a Christian, wend its bright and blissful way on to its parent sea. But, in sad contrast with that, the more money some men gain, the less they give; in proportion as their wealth increases, their charities diminish. Have we not met it, mourned over it, and seen how a man, setting his heart on gold, and hasting to be rich, came to resemble a vessel with a narrow, contracted neck, out of which water flows less freely when it is full than when it is nearly empty? As there is a law in physics to explain that fact, there is a law in morals to explain this. So long as a man has no hope of becoming rich; so long as he has enough of bread to eat, of raiment to put on, of health and strength to do his work and fight his honest way on in the world, he has all man really needs-having that, he does not set his heart on riches; he is a noble, unselfish, generous, large-hearted, and, for his circumstances, an open-handed man. But by success in business or otherwise, let a fortune come within his reach, and he clutches at it-grasps it. Then what a change! His eye, and ear, and hand close; his sympathies grow dull and blunt; his heart contracts and petrifies. Strange to say, plenty in such cases feeds not poverty but penuriousness; and the ambition of riches opens a door to the meanest avarice. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
Uncertainty of riches
How often have I thought of riches, when, intruding on their lone domain, I have seen a covey of wild fowl, from the reeds of the lake or the heather of the hillside, rise clamorous on the wing and fly away! Has not many a man who hasted to be rich, and made gold his god, lived to become a bankrupt and die a beggar!-buried among the ruins of his ambitious schemes. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)
Wealth involves danger
It was as much as we could do to keep our feet upon the splendid mosaic floor of the Palace Giovanelli, at Venice; we found no such difficulty in the cottage of the poor glass blower in the rear. Is it one of the advantages of wealth to have ones abode polished till all comfort vanishes, and the very floor is as smooth and dangerous as a sheet of ice, or is this merely an accidental circumstance typical of the dangers of abundance? Observation shows us that there is a fascination in wealth which renders it extremely difficult for the possessors of it to maintain their equilibrium; and this is more especially the case where money is suddenly acquired; then, unless grace prevents, pride, affectation, and other mean vices stupify the brain with their sickening fumes, and he who was respectable in poverty, becomes despicable in prosperity. Pride may lurk under a threadbare cloak, but it prefers the comely broadcloth of the merchants coat: moths will eat any of our garments, but they seem to fly first to the costly furs. It is so much the easier for men to fall when walking on wealths sea of glass, because all men aid them to, do so. Flatterers haunt not cottages: the poor may hear an honest word from his neighbour, but etiquette forbids that the rich man should enjoy the like privilege; for is it not a maxim in Babylon, that rich men have no faults, or only such as their money, like charity, covereth with a mantle? What man can help slipping when everybody is intent upon greasing his ways, so that the smallest chance of standing may be denied him? The worlds proverb is, God help the poor, for the rich can help themselves; but to our mind, it is just the rich who have most need of heavens help. Dives in scarlet is worse off than Lazarus in rags, unless Divine love shall uphold him. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Riches are perilous to the soul
Christ does not speak of an impossibility, but of the difficulty of it and the rareness of it. Job unfolded the riddle, and got through the needles eye with three thousand camels. But it is hard to be wealthy, and not wanton: too often are riches, like bird lime, hindering the soul in its flight towards heaven. (G. Swinnock.)
The snares of affluence
I. The snares of affluence.
1. It begets on inordinate love of pleasure.
2. It banishes from the memory all considerations of God and religion.
3. It produces an insensibility to the attractions of the gospel.
II. The practical reflections that are suggested by the snares of affluence.
1. Affluence is not a proof of a state of grace.
2. The loss of wealth may be a spiritual gain.
3. Both religion and happiness abound most in the middle region, between extreme wealth and extreme poverty.
4. The hope of heaven should reconcile us to present hardship. (Plans of Sermons.)
Ruined by riches
Do not be over-anxious about riches. Get as much of true wisdom and goodness as you can, but be satisfied with a very moderate portion of this worlds good. Riches may prove a curse as well as a blessing. I was walking through an orchard, looking about me, when I saw a low tree laden more heavily with fruit than the rest. On a nearer examination, it appeared that the tree had been dragged to the very earth, and broken by the weight of its treasures. Oh! said I, gazing on the tree, here lies one who has been ruined by his riches. In another part of my walk I came up with a shepherd, who was lamenting the loss of a sheep that lay mangled and dead at his feet. On inquiry about the matter, he told me that a strange dog had attacked the flock; that the rest of the sheep had got away through a hole in the hedge, but that the ram now dead had more wool on his back than the rest, and the thorns of the hedge held him fast till the dog had worried him. Here is another, said I, ruined by his riches. At the close of my ramble I met a man hobbling along on two wooden legs, leaning on two sticks. Tell me, said I, my poor fellow, how you came to lose your legs? Why, sir, said he, in my younger days I was a soldier. With a few comrades I attacked a party of the enemy, and overcame them, and we began to load ourselves with spoil. My comrades were satisfied with little, but I burdened myself with as much as I could carry. We were pursued; my companions escaped, but I was overtaken and so cruelly wounded that I only saved my life afterwards by losing my legs. It was a bad affair, sir; but it is too late to repent it now. Ah, friend, thought I, like the fruit tree and the mangled sheep, you may date your downfall to your possessions. It was your riches that ruined you. When I see so many rich people, as I do, caring so much for their bodies and so little for their souls, I pity them from the bottom of my heart, and sometimes think there are as many ruined by riches as by poverty. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition (1Ti_6:9). The prayer will suit you, perhaps, as well as it does me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny Thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain (Pro_30:8-9). (Old Humphrey.)
A man of the world
The Interpreter takes them apart again, and has them first in a room where was a man that could lock no way but downwards, with a muck rake in his hand. There stood also One over his head, with a celestial crown in His hand, and proffered to give him that crown for his muck rake; but the man did neither look up nor regard, but raked to himself the straws, the small sticks, and the dust of the floor. Then said Christiana, I persuade myself that I know somewhat the meaning of this; for this is a figure of a man of this world; is it not, good sir? Thou hast said the right, said the Interpreter; and his muck rake doth show his carnal mind. And whereas thou seest him rather give heed to rake up straws and sticks, and the dust of the floor, than to what He says that calls to him from above, with the celestial crown in His hand, it is to show that heaven is but as a fable to some, and that things here are counted the only things substantial. Now, whereas it was also showed thee that the man could look no way but downwards, it is to let thee know that earthly things, when they are with power upon mens mind, quite carry their hearts away from God. Then said Christiana, Oh, deliver me from this muck rake! That prayer, said the Interpreter, has lain by till it is almost rusty. Give me not riches (Pro_30:8) is scarce the prayer of one of ten thousand. Straws and sticks and dust, with most, are the great things now looked after. (John Bunyan.)
A man in danger through riches
As a Christian man was passing out of church he met an old acquaintance whom he had not seen for several years. In the brief interview he seriously said to him, I understand that you are in great danger. The remark was heard with surprise. The friend addressed was not aware of any danger, and eagerly inquired what was meant. The answer was, I have been informed that you are getting rich. Men of this class are not accustomed to suspect danger from such a cause. They see none, and they see no reason why others should. And yet they are in peril; they are in great peril. They are in danger of making a god of mammon instead of the living God. They are in danger of seeking to lay up their treasures on the earth instead of in heaven, as the Saviour exhorts them to do. To His disciples He said, Verily, I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of God. And Paul thus wrote: They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
Engrossed in worldly cares
We keep ourselves in such a continual hurry and crowd of cares, thoughts, and employments about the things of the body, that we can find little time to be alone, communing with our own hearts about our great concernments in eternity. It is with many of us as it was with Archimedes, who was so intent upon drawing his mathematical schemes, that though all the city was in alarm, the enemy had taken it by storm, the streets filled with dead bodies, the soldiers come into his particular house, nay, entered his very study, and plucked him by the sleeve, before he took any notice of it. Even so, many mens hearts are so profoundly immersed and drowned in earthly cares, thoughts, projects, or pleasures, that death must come to their very houses, yea, and pull them by the sleeve, and tell them its errand, before they will begin to awake, and come to a serious consideration of things more important. (Flavel.)
Sanctified wealth is a blessing, not a hindrance, to its possessor
Two men have recently passed away, whose history, as one turns from their graves to sum it up, is at once a poem and a benediction. They were both men of large wealth and of inherited culture. They were both men with an intense love of life, and most human enjoyment of its pleasures. There have not lived in our generation two men who were more thoroughly alive, to their very finger ends, or who were more conspicuously exposed to the manifold dangers of the possession of great wealth. And yet who, in thinking of them, ever thought of their money? And when they died the other day, bereaving the two chief cities of our land with a sense of personal loss, who asked concerning either of them so beggarly a question as, What did he leave? What did they leave? They left each of them the fragrance of a good name, which is as ointment poured out. They left their image stamped in the hearts of thousands of men, women, and children, whose lives they had brightened and ennobled and blessed. Above all, they left a lesson to you and me of what men can be and do who say to wealth and the world, You are my servant, not my master! I will not be slothful in business; I will be fervent in spirit, but it shall be always serving the Lord. They have taught two great communities that it is possible to be rich and not selfish, to have wealth and not be enslaved by it, to use the world as not abusing it. And today, William Welsh, in the Indian wigwam in Niobrara, among the boys of Girard College with whom he spent a part of every Sunday of his life, in the homes of the working men of Frankford whom he taught to love him as brother man;-and Theodore Roosevelt in the newsboys lodging house, in the cripples hospital, in the heart of the little Italian flower girl who brought her offering of grateful love to his door the day he died, have left behind them monuments the like of which mere wealth could never rear, and the proudest achievements of human genius never hope to win. They will be remembered when the men of great fortune who have filled the brief hour with the fame of their millions shall have vanished into merited oblivion. They may have been poorer than these, but the world is richer because they were in it, and the influence of their large-hearted and unselfish lives will be owned and honoured when the mere hoarders of the day have ceased to have any slightest interest or influence among men, save as subjects of the somewhat curious and somewhat contemptuous study of the moral anatomist. (Bishop H. C. Potter.)
Right use of wealth
Wealth is dangerous; and the worshipper of mammon, whether he dwell in a palace or a hovel, will find it equally hard to secure an entrance into the kingdom of God. But wealth, like other dangerous powers, may be subjected to a wise discipline and a resolute control. Lightning is dangerous, but men have mastered it and made it do their bidding. Master your meaner lust for gain, and then make it do your bidding in the service of your heavenly Master. It is not how many bonds you have in a bank vault, or how much plate on your sideboard, that God looks to see, but how many lives have been brightened and how many sorrows have been healed by the gifts of your love. The cause of Christ, the cause of truth, the cause of humanity, need your gifts. But none of them need them half as much as you yourself need the blessed and ennobling education of being permitted to give them. (Bishop H. C. Potter.)
Christians laden with wealth
Crossing the Col DObbia, the mule laden with our luggage sank in the snow, nor could it be recovered, until its load was removed; then, but not till then, it scrambled out of the hole it had made, and pursued its journey. It reminded us of mariners casting out the lading into the sea to save the vessel, and we were led to meditate on the dangers of Christians heavily laden with earthly possessions, and the wise way in which the gracious Father unloads them by their losses, that they may be enabled to pursue their journey to heaven, and no longer sink in the snow of carnal mindedness. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
In an interesting article in the Expositor (1st series, 3.375), Canon Farrar mentions that some modem travellers in the East state that houses are sometimes provided with smaller gates in or by the side of larger ones, and that the former are called Es summ el kayut, the hole, or eye, of the needle. He also gives the following extract from the letter of a correspondent:-In the summer of 1835, when travelling in the western part of Africa (Morocco), I took up my abode for a time in the house of a Jew named Bendelak. The house was built quadrangular, having an open court, in which beautiful plants were flourishing, and where the family sat in the heat of the day beneath a large awning. High double gates faced the streets, not unlike our coach house doors, in one of which was a smaller door which served as an entrance to the court. Being seated one day in a balcony of the upper chamber, I suddenly heard the exclamation, Shut the needles eye; shut the eye. Looking down, I saw a stray camel trying to push through the little open doorway. Shortly afterwards I questioned the master of the house (a man whom I can never recall to mind without feelings of the utmost respect), and learnt from him that the double doors were always called the needle, and the little door the needles eye, which explanation, of course, reminded me forcibly of the well-known passage in St. Matthew. Bendelak assured me that no camel would push through the eye unless driven by stick or hunger and always without any back load. If the allusion of Christ be to this, it forcibly teaches the lesson that a rich man must strive and humble himself, must be willing to leave behind the load of his riches, must hunger for the bread of heaven, or he can never pass through the narrow way that leadeth unto life eternal.
The danger of riches
1. In the first place comes, very naturally, the idea of the young, that riches, in and of themselves, create happiness. A mans happiness depends upon what he is. If his feelings are right, and he is capable of being happy, riches will make him happy; but if these conditions do not exist, then riches will not make him happy.
2. Then comes the idea that riches are a substitute for character in the eyes of men. There is an impression, if a man is only rich, he can do what he has a mind to, and that the world will accept his riches in lieu of excellence.
3. Passing to another great peril, riches and the pursuit of them are apt to absorb the life and time of men to a degree that shall harness them to mere external things, so that they have very little leisure and less disposition for self-culture.
4. Riches are apt to lift a man away from sympathy with common humanity; and that is always a sign of, and a step toward, deterioration.
5. Then there is a great tendency in riches to pamper a mans pride. (H. W. Beecher.)
Riches do not of themselves create happiness
New, it is very true that riches are a power which, if rightly applied or used, may create happiness; but it is not true that riches, in and of themselves, ever do make men happy; and this indiscriminate notion, as an ideal on which they base their life, will be fatal to their happiness. If a man is prepared for happiness riches can make him happy. A man is an organ. I do not care if Beethoven is put before an organ that has not a pipe, and whose bellows is split, I do not care who plays on such an instrument as that, you will not get any music. And if the organ were perfect, and there was nobody that knew how to play, you would not get any music either. Where you get music you must have two things: a good instrument and a good performer on it. Now happiness, conducted on a great scale in life, requires that there should be a performer-and riches are the performer; but what does it play on? An empty case, a wind bag, a leathern pocket, an old iron chest, a rusty old miser. Do riches bring out anything in the way of happiness? Of themselves, no, they do not. The rich are not the happy folks in the world, as a rule. A great many of them are the most happy people on the globe; a man who has riches, and is otherwise rightly attuned, certainly can command as much happiness as any other man on the face of the earth; nobody can be any happier than he has the capacity of being. A man is happy according as he can generate sensibility of brain and nerve. Some men generate only five pounds, some generate fifteen pounds, and some generate twenty-five pounds. So some men can be happy a little bit, while others can be happy a great deal. Some men are not bigger than a daisy, and they can have only so much sunlight as can get into their disc. A man cannot be happy in one spot and miserable everywhere else, any more than he can have the toothache and feel well everywhere else but in his tooth. Happiness must have harmony in it. Where there is not harmony there is no happiness. If two-thirds of a mans nature is morbid and wrong, the other third is not going to rule them down, and compel happiness. I think that when a man has good manners, and is a gentleman, good clothes are very becoming and comfortable to him, and pleasant to everybody else; but good clothes do not make a gentleman, any more than riches make a man happy. (H. W. Beecher.)
Man more than money
I do not object to a mans having a good deal of property; I do not object to his having beautiful grounds, and making them shine like a garden of Eden, if he can; I do not object to his building himself a magnificent mansion, and storing it with whatever art can give; I admire the grounds, I admire the house, I admire the furniture, and I justify them. But now let me see the man. When a man has risen in wealth so that he can have fine grounds, a fine house and fine furniture, he ought to have something even grander in himself; and yet how many men are there that are like a monkey in an oriental palace, men that are ignorant, empty, narrow, conceited, poverty-stricken inside, but that outside glow like a rainbow! How many men there are that make the power of money in their hands simply picturesque, grotesque! (H. W. Beecher.)
Who then can be saved?-
The disciples wondering at the difficulties of salvation
Salvation! What so desirable and necessary? Why so difficult to obtain.
I. You know what salvation is. Deliverance from condemnation, and placing us, pure and happy, in Gods kingdom. We must take care that we do not mistake as to where the difficulty lies. It is not in God, not in Christ; milling and able to save to the uttermost.
1. There is the difficulty arising out of the pride of our hearts-the difficulty of falling in with Gods way of saving us. Salvation of grace troubles us.
2. There is the difficulty of complying with Gods terms of salvation. We trace this to unbelief. The tidings of the gospel seem too good to be credited.
3. The difficulty of our seeking, or even accepting, such a salvation as God offers. It is a deliverance from the love and power of sin. We are by nature unholy, salvation crucifies all that nature delights in; hence difficulty.
II. What the disciples felt at the prospect of these difficulties.
1. Wonder. They were astonished out of measure. There was a time when we considered salvation easy; God was regarded as merciful. No sooner did the Holy Spirit make us alive to our spiritual welfare, than wonder came as described in the text. They wondered at the patience of God, at His amazing grace, and the mountain of difficulties which lies between them and heaven.
2. The other feeling we discover in these men is despair-Who then can be saved? We must learn to look beyond our spiritual difficulties, if ever we would be carried over them.
III. Our Lords judgment concerning this matter. You are right, He says, up to a certain point; beyond that you are altogether wrong.
1. They were partially right. It is difficult for a man to overcome the difficulties between him and heaven. He is weak as well as sinful; must despair of his own power to attain salvation. Self-sufficiency, like self-righteousness, insurmountable obstacle in our journey heavenwards.
2. But these disciples were also wrong. He tells them that salvation was never intended to be mans work; but Gods. What omnipotence undertakes can be carried through.
3. How compassionately He says this-You have felt My power, difficulties have vanished.
Apply:
1. Some of you know nothing at all of the difficulties of salvation.
2. Others of you, like those disciples, have just begun to see the difficulties that lie before you.
3. A few of you have been long accustomed to spiritual difficulties. (C. Bradley.)
The difficulties of salvation
I. Let us notice mole particularly some of the difficulties in the way of salvation.
1. The truths to be believed are some of them very mysterious.
2. The sacrifices to be made are also in some degree painful.
3. The dispositions to be exercised are such as are contrary to the natural bias of our depraved hearts.
4. The duties to be performed.
5. The trouble and danger to which religion exposes its professors.
II. Attempt to answer the inquiry-Who then can be saved? Certainly not those who neglect the means of salvation; nor those who prefer other things before it; nor those who think to attain it in any other way than God has appointed.
1. Such shall be saved as are appointed to it.
2. Those shall be saved who are truly desirous of it.
3. Those who come to Christ for salvation shall be sure to obtain it.
4. Such as endure to the end shall be saved. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain CHAPTER 10:23-31 (Mar_10:23-31)
CHAPTER 10:23-31 (Mar_10:23-31)
WHO THEN CAN BE SAVED?
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"And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto His disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished exceedingly, saying unto Him, Then who can be saved? Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for all things are possible with God. Peter began to say unto Him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed Thee. Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands, for My sake, and for the gospel's sake, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first." Mar_10:23-31 (R.V.)
AS the rich man turned away with the arrow in his breast, Jesus looked round about on His disciples. The Gospels, and especially St. Mark, often mention the gaze of Jesus, and all who know the power of an intense and pure nature silently searching others, the piercing intuition, the calm judgment which sometimes looks out of holy eyes, can well understand the reason. Disappointed love was in His look, and that compassionate protest against harsh judgments which presently went on to admit that the necessary demand was hard. Some, perhaps, who had begun to scorn the ruler in his defeat, were reminded of frailties of their own, and had to ask, Shall I next be judged? And one was among them, pilfering from the bag what was intended for the poor, to whom that look of Christ must have been very terrible. Unless we remember Judas, we shall not comprehend all the fitness of the repeated and earnest warnings of Jesus against covetousness. Never was secret sin dealt with so faithfully as his.
And now Jesus, as He looks around, says, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God." But the disciples were amazed. To the ancient Jew, from Abraham to Solomon, riches appeared to be a sign of the Divine favor, and if the pathetic figure of Job reminded him how much sorrow might befall the just, yet the story showed even him at the end more prosperous than at the beginning. In the time of Jesus, the chiefs of their religion were greedily using their position as a means of amassing enormous fortunes. To be told that wealth was a positive hindrance on the way to God was wonderful indeed.
When Jesus modified His utterance, it was not to correct Himself, like one who had heedlessly gone beyond His meaning. His third speech reiterated the first, declaring that a manifest and proverbial physical impossibility was not so hard as for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, here or hereafter. But He interposed a saying which both explained the first one and enlarged its scope. "Children" He begins, like one who pitied their inexperience and dealt gently with their perplexities, "Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God." And therefore is it hard for all the rich, since they must wrestle against this temptation to trust in their possessions. It is exactly in this spirit that St. James, who quoted Jesus more than any of the later writers of Scripture, charges the rich that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God. Immediately before, Jesus had told them how alone the kingdom might be entered, even by becoming as little children; lowly, dependent, willing to receive all at the hands of a superior. Would riches help them to do this? Is it easier to pray for daily bread when one has much goods laid up for many years? Is it easier to feel that God alone can make us drink of true pleasures as of a river, when a hundred luxuries and indulgences lull us in sloth or allure us into excess? Hereupon the disciples perceived what was more alarming still, that not alone do rich men trust in riches, but all who confound possessions with satisfaction, all who dream that to have much is to be blessed, as if property were character. They were right. We may follow the guidance of Mammon beckoning from afar, with a trust as idolatrous as if we held his hand. But who could abide a principle so exacting? It was the revelation of a new danger, and they were astonished exceedingly, saying, Then who can be saved? Again Jesus looked upon them, with solemn but reassuring gaze. They had learned the secret of the new life, the natural impossibility throwing us back in helpless appeal to the powers of the world to come. "With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God."
Peter, not easily nor long to be discouraged, now saw ground for hope. If the same danger existed for rich and poor, then either might be encouraged by having surmounted it, and the apostles had done what the rich man failed to do -- they had left all and followed Jesus. The claim has provoked undue censure, as if too much were made out of a very trifling sacrifice, a couple of boats and a paltry trade. But the objectors have missed the point; the apostles really broke away from the service of the world when they left their nets and followed Jesus. Their world was perhaps a narrow one, but He Who reckoned two mites a greater offering that the total of the gifts of many rich casting in much, was unlikely to despise a fisherman or a publican who laid all his living upon the altar. The fault, if fault there were, lay rather in the satisfaction with which Peter contemplates their decision as now irrevocable and secure, so that nothing remained except to claim the reward, which St. Matthew tells us he very distinctly did. The young man should have had treasure in heaven: what then should they have?
But in truth, their hardest battles with worldliness lay still before them, and he who thought he stood might well take heed lest he fell. They would presently unite in censuring a woman's costly gift to Him, for Whom they professed to have surrendered all. Peter himself would shrink from his Master's side. And what a satire upon this confident claim would it have been, could the heart of Judas then and there have been revealed to them.
The answer of our Lord is sufficiently remarkable. St. Matthew tells how frankly and fully He acknowledged their collective services, and what a large reward He promised, when they should sit with Him on thrones, judging their nation. So far was that generous heart from weighing their losses in a worldly scale, or criticizing the form of a demand which was not all unreasonable.
But St. Mark lays exclusive stress upon other and sobering considerations, which also St. Matthew has recorded.
There is a certain tone of egoism in the words, "Lo, we . . . what shall we have?" And Jesus corrects this in the gentlest way, by laying down such a general rule as implies that many others will do the same, "there is no man" whose self sacrifice shall go without its reward.
Secondary and lower motives begin to mingle with the generous ardor of self-sacrifice as soon as it is careful to record its losses, and inquire about its wages. Such motives are not absolutely forbidden, but they must never push into the foremost place. The crown of glory animated and sustained St. Paul, but it was for Christ, and not for this that he suffered the loss of all things.
Jesus accordingly demands purity of motive. The sacrifice must not be for ambition, even with aspirations prolonged across the frontiers of eternity: it must be altogether "for My sake and for the gospel's sake." And here we observe once more the portentous demand of Christ's person upon His followers. They are servants of no ethical or theological system, however lofty. Christ does not regard Himself and them, as alike devoted to some cause above and external to them all. To Him they are to be consecrated, and to the gospel, which, as we have seen, is the story of His Life, Death and Resurrection. For Him they are to break the dearest and strongest of earthly ties. He had just proclaimed how indissoluble was the marriage bond. No man should sever those whom God had joined. But St. Luke informs us that to forsake even a wife for Christ's sake, was a deed worthy of being rewarded an hundredfold. Nor does He mention any higher being in whose name the sacrifice is demanded. Now this is at least implicitly the view of His own personality, which some profess to find only in St. John.
Again, there was perhaps an undertone of complaint in Peter's question, as if no compensation for all their sacrifices were hitherto bestowed. What should their compensation be? But Christ declares that losses endured for Him are abundantly repaid here on earth, in this present time, and even amid the fires of persecution. Houses and lands are replaced by the consciousness of inviolable shelter and inexhaustible provision. "Whither wilt thou betake thyself to find covert?" asks the menacing cardinal; but Luther answers, "Under the heaven of God." And if dearest friends be estranged, or of necessity abandoned, then, in such times of high attainment and strong spiritual insight, membership in the Divine family is felt to be no more unreal tie, and earthly relationships are well recovered in the vast fraternity of souls. Brethren, and sisters, and mothers, are thus restored an hundredfold; but although a father is also lost, we do not hear that a hundred fathers shall be given back, for in the spiritual family that place is reserved for One.
Lastly, Jesus reminded them that the race was not yet over; that many first shall be last and the last first. We know how Judas by transgression fell, and how the persecuting Saul became not a whit behind the very chiefest apostle. But this word remains for the warning and incitement of all Christians, even unto the end of the world. There are "many" such.
Next after this warning, comes yet another prediction of His own suffering, with the added circumstances of horror. Would they who were now first remain faithful? or should another take their bishopric?
With a darkening heart Judas heard, and made his choice.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 23–31. How hardly shall they that have riches. For…
23–31. How hardly shall they that have riches. For notes on the Lord's words concerning riches, see Matt. 19:23–30. Compare Luke 18:24–30. Mark adds one sentence that furnishes the key to the interpretation of the whole discourse: “How hard it is for them that trust in riches,” etc.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Mar_10:24. See R.V. text and margin.
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Mar_10:24. See R.V. text and margin.
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Mar_10:25. It is easier for a camel.—This is (as Dr. J. Morison aptly remarks) a fine, bold, hieroglyphic, hyperbolical way of speaking, that need impose on no one with a spark of poetry in his soul. The key to its import is hung at the girdle of common sense. Southey caught its spirit:—
“I would ride the camel,
Yea, leap him flying, through the needle’s eye,
As easily as such a pampered soul
Could pass the narrow gate.”
“The text,” he says, “is gospel-wisdom.” The Saviour intended to represent vividly and memorably the extraordinary difficulty of discharging the responsibilities and overcoming the temptations of riches.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mar_10:23-27
(PARALLELS: Mat_19:23-26; Luk_18:24-27.)
Mundane trust a barrier.—Men are ever astonished when taken out of their own little grooves. Enlarge a man’s world and wonderment is the result. Jesus never wondered at His own sayings: it is impossible that He should have so done; and when, as here, He uses the word “impossible,” He simply accommodates Himself to the finite capacity of His auditory. There is no such word as “impossible” in heaven’s vocabulary. The interpretation often given to this passage is too limited in its application; because—
I. Sometimes it is regarded as a reflexion by Jesus Christ upon worldly wealth.—The rich, the poor, the high, the low, the old, the young, were all alike to Him. He looked not to condition, but to character. Jesus is not here talking against wealth, but against trust in riches, a thing altogether different.
II. Jesus is often regarded as referring here only to very rich men.—This is one reason why all men pass the text on to their more wealthy neighbours, as being more applicable to them than to themselves. They forget that wealth is relative—forget that it is as possible to be purse-proud of five pounds as of fifty, and of fifty as of fifty thousand. Trustfulness in riches is a question of disposition and not of length of purse.
III. Jesus Christ is sometimes thought to be referring here only to the realm of the objective.—No doubt the text was suggested to the mind of our Lord by His conversation with the rich young man, the weak point in whose character was love of money. But we should be careful not to mistake parts for wholes—careful lest we conclude that the sayings of Jesus contain no more than what lies upon their surface. So that between the lines we may thus read: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, How hardly shall they that have learning, or physical strength, or intellectual power, or are socially high, or outwardly circumspect, enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for those who place their chief trust in these things to enter into the kingdom of God.”—J. S. Swan.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Mar_10:23-25. Money.—The subject of “money” is largely dealt with in the Bible—as much so in the New Testament as in the Old; and no unprejudiced mind will easily escape from the following conclusions about it:
1. That all moneys belong to God, as their Creator and Proprietor (Hag_2:8; Psa_50:10; 1Co_10:26; 1Co_10:28).
2. That He has consequently the right to every penny we may think our own, and considers Himself robbed if we do not honour Him with our substance (Mal_3:8).
3. That we are in danger of putting money in God’s place, and thereby becoming idolatrous (Exo_32:31). We are all prone to the same sin.
4. That, as a counteractive, God commands us to give it away to Him; or, what is equivalent, to good and charitable objects. Thus the Jews were from the very beginning habituated to pay tithes; and Christians are under similar orders to give liberally of their means for the support and extension of the gospel (2Co_8:7; 2Co_9:7).
5. That covetousness is a great evil, and leads to many others (1Ti_6:10; Pro_11:28).
6. That to be rich is to be in great spiritual difficulties. The young man became sad when Christ bade him sell off and give to the poor.
7. That, in this view of it, it is surely better to be poor.
8. That under the Christian dispensation the amount to be given is left to conscience. It is a duty, however, that those to whom God has given most should give Him most.
9. That to give liberally to God entails no loss—not even loss in kind. Given from proper motives, many a subscription of one pound sterling has filled a man’s barns or brought him a hundred per cent. It does not follow that you have really saved your money though you have withheld it (2Co_9:6; Pro_11:24).
10. That the miser may live and die in poverty. Judas hanged himself. Many a rich but illiberal man has died a pauper; and many a poor but liberal man has lived to be opulent and a blessing. I admired the reply that I once got from a liberal lady to a remark that she was too generous with her means. “No, no,” she said; “I am generous only to myself. I wish to keep my money; therefore I clip its wings, lest it fly away; for you know it is written, ‘Riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.’ ”
11. That to be rich in grace is far better than to be rich in gold. Devils shall knock in vain at heaven’s gate, but Lazarus enters.
12. That the Lord Jesus Christ is the only one to whom money can be safely entrusted. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive riches.”—John Macfarlane, LL.D.
Mar_10:23. Riches a hindrance.—Christ plainly says—because the world needed to be plainly told—that they who have riches (literally, “things they can make use of”) with difficulty enter into the kingdom of God. He says not a syllable about “excess” of riches. He says nothing about “the life to come.” There is nothing said about its being impossible for the man with riches to enter, but there is the definite statement that those who have affairs, businesses, and the results which come from such, shall find it hard to enter. This applies quite as much to the poor as to the well-to-do, and it is concerned with the life that now is. “The kingdom of God” means those over whom God reigns with undivided rule, where His laws are His subjects’ law, His will their will, His ways their ways. With all of us—whatever our riches may be, whether the weekly wage which just provides the things honest, or the wealth of some merchant prince—it is “with difficulty” that we keep ourselves from being “of the world”; it is “hardly” that we enter into the kingdom of God; it is with difficulty that we subserve its advance.—J. W. Owen.
Mar_10:24. Disentangled from possessions.—The poor are sooner astonished at these words than the rich are so much as moved by them: the reason is, because men see the danger of others better than their own. It is much easier for a man to be contented without those things which he has not than to disengage himself from those which he possesses and not to trust in them. The poor may find a sufficient ground of trust and confidence in their poverty, since the kingdom of God is theirs; but the rich have reason to tremble in the midst of their riches. Whoever finds in them his rest, his joy, and his happiness, never thinks of seeking for these things in God. And there lies the greatest misery.—P. Quesnel.
Mar_10:25. Camel and needle’s eye.—The illustration is drawn from one of the common, popular stories in the East, which would be recognised by all. There were far-spread tales and legends of some enchanted city, with a gate of entrance which was a needle’s eye. Among the applicants for admission was a rich merchant, riding on a camel, with its long neck and humped back, packed with precious wares. The rich man, who trusts in riches, fares like the merchant of the story. He cannot pass through the magic gate into the radiant city without the Divine spell which makes him free of the land of the spirit.—Bishop Wm. Alexander.
Mar_10:27. Salvation in the hands of God.—It is the comfort of the humble that their salvation is in the hands of God; and it is the blindness of the proud that they would have theirs in their own. A true Christian is not at all alarmed to find here that without grace his salvation is impossible, because he knows that God can do everything for him, and that he himself can do all things in God through Jesus Christ.—P. Quesnel.
“With God all things are possible.”—Thus God saved Zaccheus, and in this our day some rich and noble men seem to abound in every Christian grace; but though it be possible with God, we may be sure that the Lord did not intend by these words to cancel the warnings He had just uttered. Does the Lord here mean that all things are equally easy to God? By no means. All things may be equally easy to Him as looked at from the side of mere power—mere physical force; but God does not deal with intelligent creatures in the way of overwhelming power. So far as their will is concerned He deals with them, then, after such sort that they should co-operate with Him and yield willingly to Him; and the Lord, if He teaches us anything by the whole matter, teaches us this, that it requires more spiritual effort on God’s part to deliver a man from the love of the world when the man’s wealth enables him to enjoy all that the world has to offer.—M. F. Sadler.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 10
Mar_10:23-27. The peril of property.—No wonder that Anthony, the father of monasticism in Egypt, went out from the church in Thebes where this passage had been read, to give away his ancestral estates, to put his sister into the fellowship and care of pious virgins, and to go himself poor and alone into the solitude of the cliffs! No wonder that in the early centuries the vow of poverty became the threshold article of every Christian life, and, with its twin principle of celibacy, became the foundation of the great monastic orders in the Church! But surely a rich man can be a Christian, and a poor man may be a sinner! For a ragged coat and a diamond ring have no moral quality or spiritual character in themselves. Ah, no! It is not money, but the love of it, that keeps men out of the Father’s house. And so, as we strike the bell or fire the gun to arouse the sleeping village, or dash cold water in the face of the fainting, the Son of God would bestir men to the possibilities of peril which lurk in the possession of property.
Covetous to the last.—We read not long ago the experience of an English clergyman called to the death-bed of a wealthy parishioner. As he kneeled at his bedside, his pastor twice requested him to take his hand as he prayed for his upholding in that solemn hour; but the dying man declined to give it. After the end had come, and they had turned down the coverlet, his rigid hands were found holding the safe-key in their death-grip. No hand of fellowship for his minister, because he could not loose his hold upon the key to the safe-vault! The power of hands which hold in their palms such possibilities of help and service is beyond our arithmetic to compute. The peril, here and hereafter, which waits upon the misuse of such a power is infinite.
Impedimenta.—Lord Bacon, who was a prince of modern worldly philosophers, and who never spoke merely from a spiritual plane in his treatment of practical themes of thought, says emphatically: “I cannot call riches better than the baggage of virtue. The Roman word is better, impedimenta; for as the baggage is to an army, so is riches to virtue: it cannot be spared, nor left behind, but it hindereth the march; yea, and the care of it sometimes loseth or disturbeth the victory.” Then, in commenting on the suggestion that riches will enable men to purchase themselves successes, Bacon adds that “certainly great riches have sold more men than they have bought out.”
The weight of riches.—An opulent merchant having received a sum of money, was putting the ducats one by one into a pair of scales, in order to ascertain that they were not too light. “For my part,” said Gotthold, who was present, “I should be more afraid of their being too heavy.” “How so?” inquired the merchant. “Do you not think,” rejoined Gotthold, “that money is too heavy when bedewed with the blood of the poor, the sweat of the laborious, and the tears of the widow and the orphan, or when loaded with the curses of those who, by fraud or violence, have been robbed of it. I will hope, however, that there are no pieces of this description in that heap of yours, or rather I will not fear that there are any. Suffer me, however, without offence, to express the wish that you will always make your conscience your scales, and weigh in it your dollars and ducats to ascertain that they are of proper weight, and have been honestly acquired. Many a man never learns, until he is struggling with death, how difficult, or rather impossible, it is to force a soul burdened with unrighteous gain through the strait gate which leadeth unto life. Take heed, then, that no such gain ever burdens yours. The more he carries, the more the pilgrim sweats and pants as he climbs the steep; and the more the conscience is oppressed with dishonesty and fraud, the harder will the struggle of a death-bed be.”
Mar_10:23. The giver of wealth forgotten.—Among the legends of Hindostan is one that illustrates these words of our Saviour. One Rawana, a Brahmin, was offered by his god anything that he might name. Rawana prayed his god to bestow upon him the government of the world. His god immediately granted his wish. Then he prayed for ten heads, with which to see and rule the world. After Rawana had well fortified himself, and was surrounded by riches, honours, and praise, he forgot his god Ixora, and bade all the people worship him, an act which greatly angered the god Ixora, and he destroyed Rawana. How true to human nature was the course of Rawana! And how many we find to-day that have forgotten the God that gave them all they possess!
Mar_10:24. Peril of riches.—When Alexander the Great sent a rich present to Phocian the Athenian, the latter asked why he had been the object of so splendid a gift. On hearing that it was because the king considered him the most virtuous man in Athens, he replied, “If he wishes me to preserve my virtue, let him keep his riches,” and forthwith sent back the present to Alexander.
Hard to leave.—When Garrick shewed Dr. Johnson his fine house, gardens, statues, pictures, etc., at Hampton Court, what ideas did they awaken in the mind of that great man? Instead of a flattering compliment, which was expected, “Ah! David, David,” said the doctor, “these are the things which make a death-bed terrible!”
Mar_10:25. Rich men like camels.—It were no bad comparison to liken mere rich men to camels and mules; for they often pursue their devious way over hills and mountains, laden with Indian purple, with gems, aromas, and generous wines upon their backs, attended, too, by a long line of servants as a safeguard on their way. Soon, however, they come to their evening halting-place, and forthwith their precious burdens are taken from their backs; and they, now wearied and stripped of their lading and their retinue of slaves, shew nothing but livid marks of stripes. So, also, those who glitter in gold and purple raiment, when the evening of life comes rushing on them, have naught to shew but marks and wounds of sin impressed upon them by their evil use of riches.—St. Augustine.
Mar_10:27. All things possible to God.—I was pacing to and fro, awaiting a train within a railway station. There were others in the great room, and it was singular none of them had observed it before—a sparrow imprisoned within the sliding window sashes. He had thought he saw a way, but it was a glass wall. He had beaten his wings to tatters, and his fair plumage into rags. The glass was opaque with the stains of his denuded cuticle, and streaked with blood. He may have been in this crystal dungeon for hours, and fighting till he sank into quiet from exhaustion, from which reviving again to fight as when I first heard him. Could I be denied it, as I sprang to that heavy frame and sent it with a bang to the ceiling, letting the oppressed go free? Does not Christ, the Sent to open prison doors, feel a grander propulsion to liberate unhappy men, who thought they saw a way, but found themselves in dreadful bonds of poverty, or pain, or dishonour, or conscious sin? Suppose the sparrow had piped out to me, in shrill treble, that he wanted no mercy, but justice; that he could conduct his own life; that he scorned to be beholden unto any one. It is an analogue of many human souls, who are whipping their wings to shreds against the impossible, while to God all things are possible, even their setting free.—E. J. Haynes.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The lesson of riches:
The lesson of riches:
v. 23. And Jesus looked round about and saith unto His disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
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v. 24. And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answereth again and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
v. 25. 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.
Jesus looked round in the circle of the disciples to see what kind of an impression the incident had made on them. Then He said, very impressively, that those possessing riches would only with difficulty enter into the kingdom of God, come to faith, and finally get to heaven. And as the disciples wondered concerning these words, He repeated the saying, making it a little plainer for their benefit. Trusting in this world’s goods makes it impossible for a person to enter into the kingdom of God. For under Him the rule holds good that a person may have this world’s goods by God’s blessing, for God distributes them as He sees fit. But, incidentally, those, that are rich and are Christians at the same time, hold these goods as though they possessed them not. They consider. themselves only the stewards of God, whom God has entrusted with more than others, and therefore will hold responsible in a greater measure. They are therefore not really rich in the sense which the children of this world attach to the term. Jesus brings out the gravity of the situation still more emphatically by stating, in the form of an Oriental proverb, that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. This is in no way an exaggeration, for even as it is possible for anyone to come to faith and remain faithful to the end only by the power of the Holy Ghost, so it is true especially in the case of such as have a special hobby on earth which they love, to which they cling. Such conduct, whether it concerns riches, or goods, or lusts, or wife, or children, hinders the work of the Spirit.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 How difficult it is
How difficult it is
"It is very difficult"
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Jesus said to them again
"Jesus said to his disciples again"
Children, how
"My children, how." Jesus is teaching them as a father would teach his children. AT: "My friends, how" (See: Metaphor)
how hard it is
"it is very hard"
It is easier ... kingdom of God
Jesus uses an exaggeration to emphasize how very difficult it is for rich people to get into the kingdom of God. (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
It is easier for a camel
This speaks of an impossible situation. If you cannot state this in this way in your language, it can be written as a hypothetical situation. AT: "It would be easier for a camel" (See: Hypothetical Situations)
the eye of a needle
"the hole of a needle." This refers to the small hole in the end of a sewing needle that thread passes through.
translationWords
Jesus
disciple
kingdom of God
amazed
word
children
camel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:23-27 Jesus astounded the disciples by reversing the idea,…
10:23-27 Jesus astounded the disciples by reversing the idea, popular at that time, that riches were a sign of God’s favor.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.