“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Lk 18:25).
Microminiature sculptor Nikolai Syadristy has actually placed three gold camels inside the eye of a needle! Of course, the masterpiece misses the point. When Matthew and Mark tell the story, they use the common word rhaphis for a needle. But in Dr. Luke’s account, it is belone, which both Vincent and A.T. Robertson point out is the word for a surgeon’s needle.
Clearly they didn’t think Jesus was talking about a little gate, as some suggest. No, He was saying that a man held by his riches would find entry to the kingdom more difficult than a camel fitting itself through the eyelet of a needle.
But that’s not the end of the story. When the disciples asked, “Who then can be saved?” He replied, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Do you know someone shackled by riches today? Pray to the Chain-Breaker for them! He can set them free!