“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
My Notes
What Does Matthew 19:23 Mean?
"A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." Jesus makes a statement that shocked His disciples (verse 25: "who then can be saved?") because it inverted their assumptions. In first-century Judaism, wealth was generally seen as a sign of God's blessing. If the blessed can't enter the kingdom, who can?
The word "hardly" (dyskolos) means with difficulty, painfully, reluctantly. It doesn't say impossibly — it says hardly. The next verse's camel-through-needle imagery amplifies the difficulty to the point of apparent impossibility, which Jesus then resolves: "with God all things are possible" (verse 26).
The difficulty isn't that God excludes the rich. It's that riches create a specific obstacle: self-sufficiency. The rich person has everything they need and finds it structurally difficult to need God. Their wealth becomes the wall between them and the kingdom — not because wealth is evil, but because wealth is sufficient. And sufficiency is the enemy of dependence.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What form of wealth is creating a self-sufficiency that distances you from needing God?
- 2.Why does Jesus say 'hardly' rather than 'never' for the rich entering the kingdom?
- 3.How does 'with God all things are possible' address the impossibility without removing the difficulty?
- 4.What would it look like to need God despite having resources that suggest you don't?
Devotional
A rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven. Not because God bars the door. Because wealth builds its own door — and it opens in the wrong direction.
The difficulty isn't moral but structural. Rich people aren't morally worse than poor people. But they have a specific, built-in obstacle that poor people don't: they don't need God for daily bread. Their needs are met. Their security is funded. Their problems are solvable with money. And the kingdom of heaven is entered through a door marked "need" — a door the self-sufficient walk right past.
The disciples' shock ("who then can be saved?") reveals their theology: if the blessed rich can't make it, nobody can. Jesus corrects them: with God all things are possible. The rich can enter — but not through their own resources. They enter the same way everyone does: through dependence on a God who does what money can't.
The camel-through-needle imagery isn't about a small gate in Jerusalem (that interpretation is a later invention). It's about impossibility. A camel through a needle's eye is impossible by any natural means. That's the point: entering the kingdom with wealth as your operating system is impossible. Only God can make it possible — by transforming the wealthy person's heart from self-sufficiency to God-dependence.
What wealth — financial, relational, intellectual, emotional — is making you feel sufficient without God?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples..... When the young man was gone; taking this opportunity to make some proper…
This account is found also in Mar 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-39. Mat 19:16 One came - This was a young man, Mat 19:20. He was…
Of Riches, and the Kingdom of God
Mar 10:23-27; Luk 18:24-27.
These reflections follow naturally on the last incident.
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture