It is crucial to note here what Jesus did not say. He did not say that the rich cannot enter the kingdom. In fact he said they could—with God’s help, which is the only way anyone can do it. Nor did he say that the poor have, on the whole, any advantage over the rich so far as “being saved” is concerned. By using the case at hand, he simply upset the prevailing general assumption about God and riches. For how could God favor a person, however rich, who loves him less than wealth? So being rich does not mean that one is in God’s favor—which further suggests that being poor does not automatically
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