Today's Gospel in Art - It's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God

Camels in the Eye of a Needle, Nikolai Aldunin 2012, Gold microscopic sculpture © Christian Art

Gospel of 18th August 2020 - Matthew 19:23-30

Jesus said to his disciples, 'I tell you solemnly, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.' When the disciples heard this they were astonished. 'Who can be saved, then?' they said. Jesus gazed at them. 'For men' he told them 'this is impossible; for God everything is possible.'

Then Peter spoke. 'What about us?' he said to him 'We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?' Jesus said to him, 'I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life.

'Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.'

Reflection on the Microscopic Sculptural Work

The Gospel reading of today follows on from yesterday's reading about the encounter between Jesus and the rich young man. From the reaction of the disciples we can see that they didn't quite grasp what Jesus meant in His encounter with the young man. We read they were astonished. So Jesus explains that when wealth or the desire for riches is the main concern in one's heart, then one does not understand the true meaning of life. To be fair on the disciples, they had left everything to follow Jesus. But their question exposed a mentality that Jesus wanted to address. The disciples believed that they abandoned everything 'in order to get something in exchange'. Jesus made the point that God calls for full generosity and service. Our relationship with God isn't transactional (i.e. if I do this for You, then You do this for me)…

Our artwork of today isn't photoshopped. These are actual tiny, sculptures that fit in the eye of a needle! Russian artist, Nikolai Aldunin, keeps his hands perfectly still in order to build these extraordinarily microscopic artworks. His work is inspired by a Russian tale about Levsha - a left-handed craftsman so talented he was able to put horseshoes on a flea… Aldunin uses syringes, toothpicks and superglue in order to make his works.

Jesus uses the image of the camel not being able to pass through the eye of a needle to illustrate the point that it is impossible for any of us to earn eternal life just by our own power. Jesus was using a hyperbole, a figure of speech that maximises emphasis; our artist on the other hand is using his art minimising sculpture to the smallest possible size.

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/517

Christian Art - www.christian.art