RICHES AND THE KINGDOM
By ROBERT
GOVETT.*
[* Edited.]
THE NEEDLE’S EYE
Was the ‘eye of a needle’
the name given to an opening in the city wall through which a camel could enter
with great difficulty? “Used literally in the parable of Jesus concerning the camel
(Mark 10: 25 and
parables),” It has been said that, “there is no
basis for interpreting the ‘needle’s eye’ as a small pedestrian gate of a broad
city portal. But some think so.”
-------
“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
The
eye of a needle is the smallest of holes made by human art, with the design of
passing something through them. The
camel is the tallest and largest of the beasts common in the Saviour’s
country. His tall body and long neck
render such a creature a thousand times too large to pass through so narrow an
aperture. But the entrance to the
kingdom answers to the minute needle’s eye.
God has made the opening so narrow of set purpose. It is rigid too, like steel, admitting of no
enlargement by elasticity. The rich man
answers to the camel. He is too great
every way; even if he be not tall in pride, and bulky in self indulgence.
The
gate of entrance to the kingdom being then so small, and so rigid in its
material, the only way of traversing it must be by the diminution of the
animal.* It is to this point that our Lord’s words
tend. By stripping himself of his
greatness the young man (verse 22) would
have so diminished himself, as to be capable of entering at the narrow gate.**
And had he followed Jesus as the way, he would hereafter have entered the
kingdom and obtained the riches of it beside.
Thus Jesus’ command proceeded really from his goodness towards himself,
as well as towards the poor whom the ruler’s riches would benefit. It was the benevolent counsel of a friend;
not the judical process of a judge desiring to convict him of sin. The force of the Saviour’s observation upon
his turning away is – “This young man will retain his riches. But the entrance into the kingdom is too
small for such. It is for the poor.”
[* “The
delight
in riches,” says our Lord to His disciples, “choke the word [the ‘message’ of the kingdom],
and it proves unfruitful” (Matt. 13: 22, R.S.V.): that is, riches capture the
heart’s affection and prevent disciples from being “accounted
worthy to attain to that age and to the
resurrection [out] from the dead” (Luke 20:
35). “It will
be hard
for a rich man to enter the kingdom” (Matt. 19: 23), when called by Christ to give up
his riches: and the salvation which He mentioned (in this context), is not
the eternal salvation received by grace through faith in Him, (Eph. 2: 8) as Saviour, but “the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet. 1: 9).
The disciple of Christ, content to build beneath the sky and luxuriate
in riches during this evil age, builds too low and risks losing his earthly
inheritance in the coming millennial kingdom of Christ! (1 Cor. 4: 8-13; 10: 1-12. Cf. Num. 14: 22, 23.)
Compare
the rich Young Ruler’s attitude to that
of Zachaueus who said: “Behold, Lord, the
half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of
anything, I restore it fourfold”: and what was the Lord’s
reaction: “…he also is a son of Abraham”: that
is, an inheritor with Abraham in the “age” to come, Luke 18:
8, 9; Heb. 11: 8; Acts 7: 2-5.]
]
[**
To the same effect Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, speaks of the smallness of
the gate, and the narrowness of the way.
But there the Saviour describes the gate as the entrance into “life”. The one
great subject of the Sermon on the Mount is “the
kingdom”, or the millennial reign.
And “life” is an expression used of the
kingdom also. Mark
9: 43, 47. In verses 43 and 45 that
is predicted of “life”, which in verse 47 is spoken of the “
Let
us now consider the principles of exclusion, in which the just judgment of God
would apply to the rich believer.
1. The kingdom is the time of “consolation”;
of compensation for annoyances, sufferings, losses, sustained for Christ’s
sake. Hence the Saviour lifts up a woe
to the rich, as excluded by the operation of this rule. Addressing disciples, he says; “Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the
2. To retain riches [when called by Christ to surrender them] is a hindrance, as the young man found, to present following
of Christ.* Attention to his property
could keep his feet and heart elsewhere. And he who would preserve his wealth now, must more or less take the attitude of
justice and law, rather than the goodness and of the Gospel. “Where your treasure
is, there will your heart be also.”
Hence, with the treasure upon earth, the heart will tend towards it.
3. The [millennial]* kingdom is for the self-denying: riches tend strongly to
self-indulgence. They can gratify the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. And seldom is temptation, so perpetually
alluring the heart, steadily resisted.
Hence, the expenditure of wealth [on
ones self] will, in most cases, shut out of the
kingdom.
[* Christ has two kingdoms. His millennial kingdom is being offered
to disciples as a REWARD for their
obedience, work (1 Cor. 15: 58), and high
standards of personal righteousness (Matt. 5: 20):
“When the thousand years are ended” (Rev. 20: 7), He will reign throughout eternity in
“a new heaven and a new earth,” (Rev. 21: 1).
The failure of Anti-millennialists to distinguish one kingdom from the
other; and, on the other hand, the promises of Bible teachers, who believe and
instruct the redeemed that all is inherited on the basis of bare
faith alone, has caused confusion amongst multitudes of Christians
within the Church of God. ]
4. It tends to foster pride, and the desire to be ministered unto by
others: whereas the way into the kingdom is by lowliness and patient service.
5. Wealth is an enemy to faith in God.
The Saviour (in the parallel place in Mark) teaches, that having riches,
and trusting in them, are almost always found in union. “The rich man’s
wealth is his strong city; and as a high wall in his own conceit,” Prov. 18: 11.
6. Riches are noted as a great means of preventing the spiritual effects
of the good news of the kingdom. “The care of theis world [age] and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he
becometh unfruitful,” Matt. 13: 22.
The
mere possession of riches, then, is a strong and all but insuperable barrier to
entrance into the millennial glory. And
it is quite a perverting of our Lord’s words, and destruction of their
practical bearing, to make them turn upon a positively sinful state of heart in
the possessor of them. He who can enter
into the kingdom only with great difficulty than the camel shall thread the
needle’s eye, is simply the rich person. Hence Barnes’s
comment is unfounded. He says – “‘A rich man.’ This means rather one who loves his riches, and
makes an idol of them, or one who supremely desires to be
rich.”
No; the difficulty [and ever present
danger for the rich] stated by the Saviour
attaches to the simple possession of riches. As rich and not covetous, the entrance
was difficult;
as covetous,
whether rich or not, it was impossible.
There
is then a choice of two paths proposed to the rich believer, who desires to
obtain [an entrance into] the
1. He may give up all; distributing to the poor: as is here recommended,
or commanded.
2. He may retain all; determining to make the best of his way through the
difficulty. This, as the Saviour knew,
would be the ordinary choice; even where the difficulty which riches rise
against the future entrance into millennial glory is perceived. The less hazardous path would indeed be to
surrendered wealth, and to receive instead the promised treasure in
heaven. Thus glory would be brought to
Christ, and faith’s testimony to the men of the world be the strongest.
But
ordinarily, as the Lord knew, this would not be done. Therefore, to meet the common case if the
[regenerate] believer’s retaining his riches, the [Holy] Spirit by Paul gives
the following directions. “Charge them that are rich in this age, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in the
uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who affordeth us all things
to enjoy:* that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
willing to communicate, treasuring up for themselves a good foundation for the
future, that they may lay hold of that
which is really life,”** 1 Tim. 6: 17. Here five different expressions are used to
express the readiness which the rich believer should exhibit, in giving away of
his abundance. If he will not give away
the principal [i.e., ‘money on which interest is paid’],
he should give away his income liberally.
[*
I suppose this to mean that the things of the world are given to be used
in opposition to the Gnostic sentiment, combated in this epistle, that some
creatures are evil, and not to be touched by the intelligent and holy, 1 Tim. 4: 1.
**So
read the critical editions.]
-------