ACC ~ Matthew 19 v23 - 24

THE INCARNATE WORD AS NEEDLE

INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW: The needle is the Word of God, which is the Son of God himself. The tip of the needle is sharp and subtle: subtle according to his divinity and sharp as to his incarnation. The needle is straight and without curve, that is, without scruple. Through the wound of his Passion the Gentiles now have entered eternal life. Only this needle, the cross, can stitch wounds together. He sewed together once again the tunic of immortality, which had been torn by Adam. It is the needle that sewed the flesh to the spirit. This needle joined together the Jewish people and that of the Gentiles; the apostle says of it, “For he is our peace who has made us both one.” [1] This is the needle that joined the broken friendship of angels and human beings. This is the needle that pierces and passes through but does not wound. HOMILY 33. [2]

[1] Eph 2:14.

[2] PG 56:812.

THE METAPHOR OF THE CAMEL

HILARY OF POITIERS: The arrogant young man, when told to make good his failure to obey the law, is downcast and sad. To the people of which he is a prototype, [1] the cross and Passion are a stumbling block. There is no salvation for this young man there. But he glories in the law, despises the Gentiles and refuses to cross into the freedom of the gospel; therefore it will be difficult for him to enter the kingdom of heaven. For few of them—and compared with the multitude of the Gentiles they are very rare—were those Jews who would believe. It was difficult for them to bend their will, long hardened under the law, to the gospel’s preaching of humility. But more easily will the camel pass through the eye of a needle. A camel cannot fit into the eye of a needle, nor can the bulk of the huge beast be received by the narrow mouth of the tiny hole. In the beginning of this book in discussing John’s clothing I pointed out that the camel signifies the Gentiles. For this beast obeys the word, is restrained by fear, is tolerant of fasting and kneels to take on its burden with a kind of ordered discipline. In this comparison the wildness of the Gentiles has been tamed by obedience to God’s commandments. These then enter the very narrow path of the heavenly kingdom, that is, the needle, which is the preaching of the gospel word. By it the wounds of the body are stitched together, the torn clothing is rewoven, and death itself is pricked. Therefore this is the route of this new preaching. Into it the weakness of the Gentiles will enter with less difficulty than the opulence of the rich man, that is, of the one taking pride in the law. ON MATTHEW 19.10-11. [2]

[1] The leaders of the Jews.

[2] SC 258:98-100.

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA:

By “camel” here he means not the living thing, the beast of burden, but the thick rope [1] to which sailors tie their anchors. He shows this comparison to be not entirely pointless (as a camel would be), but he makes it an exceedingly difficult matter; in fact, next to impossible. FRAGMENT 219. [2]

[1] This interpretation—“rope” (kamilo) and not “camel” (kamēlos)—rests on the homonymic character of the two words in Greek and has been variously followed even by modern exegetes. It is, however, unacceptable (cf. TDNT 3:593-94).

[2] MKGK 226.