The Rich Young Ruler

The words

1. Camel

   Jesus compares a rich person’s entry into the kingdom with a camel passing through a needle’s eye. Mark follows the disciples’ astonishment with Jesus’s distinction between human impossibility and what is possible with God.

   Mark 10:25–27 (opens a new tab)

2. Certain Ruler

   Luke introduces the questioner as a ruler and later says he is very rich. Matthew calls him a young man; those details from the two accounts explain the familiar title of this puzzle.

   Luke 18:18, 23 (opens a new tab) · Matthew 19:20 (opens a new tab)

3. Defraud

   Mark includes the command not to defraud among the commandments Jesus names. The man replies that he has observed them from his youth, before Jesus calls him to sell, give to the poor and follow.

   Mark 10:19–21 (opens a new tab)

4. Eternal Life

   The man approaches Jesus asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Mark returns to that phrase in Jesus’s answer to Peter, placing it in the world to come after speaking of following him.

   Mark 10:17, 28–30 (opens a new tab)

5. Good Master

   Good teacher.

   The questioner addresses Jesus as Good Master before asking about eternal life. In Mark, Jesus responds by asking why he calls him good, then directs him to the commandments he already knows.

   Mark 10:17–19 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 10:17–31 (opens a new tab)

6. Hardly

   With difficulty.

   After the man leaves grieving, Jesus tells his disciples how difficult entry into the kingdom is for those with riches. Hardly carries that sense of difficulty, matching the gloss on the printed page.

   Mark 10:22–23 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 10:17–31 (opens a new tab)

7. Kneeled

   In Mark, the questioner runs up and kneels before Jesus as he asks about inheriting eternal life. That eager approach precedes the exchange about commandments, possessions and the call to follow.

   Mark 10:17–22 (opens a new tab)

8. Lackest

   Are missing or still need.

   Jesus says the man still lacks one thing after hearing his claim to have kept the commandments. In Mark, the response joins selling his possessions and giving to the poor with an invitation to follow.

   Mark 10:20–21 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 10:17–31 (opens a new tab)

9. Needle

   The needle’s small eye is paired with the camel in Jesus’s comparison about wealth and entering the kingdom. The NET’s study note identifies it as a sewing needle, keeping the image at an everyday scale.

   Did you know?

   The illustrated copper-alloy needle from Oxyrhynchus in Egypt is 3 9/16 inches (9.1 cm) long, according to the Met. It provides a Roman-period example of the small object in the comparison.

   Mark 10:25 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Mark 10:17–31 (opens a new tab) · The Met: Roman-period needle (opens a new tab)

10. Persecutions

    Mark includes persecutions alongside the hundredfold promised to those who leave home, family or lands for Jesus and the gospel. The word keeps hardship within the saying about present blessings and eternal life.

    Mark 10:29–30 (opens a new tab)

11. Possessions

    Mark explains the man’s grief after Jesus’s call by saying he has great possessions. The property he is asked to sell connects his departure with the warning about riches that Jesus gives the disciples.

    Mark 10:21–23 (opens a new tab)

12. Riches

    After the wealthy man leaves, Jesus speaks to his disciples about the difficulty riches present in entering the kingdom. The camel-and-needle comparison follows, prompting their question about who can be saved.

    Mark 10:22–26 (opens a new tab)

13. Running

    Mark introduces the questioner by describing him running to Jesus and kneeling before him. His urgent arrival opens the conversation about eternal life, before the later sadness at the call to give and follow.

    Mark 10:17, 21–22 (opens a new tab)

14. Sorrowful

    Matthew says the young man goes away sorrowful after hearing the call to sell, give to the poor and follow Jesus. Luke likewise describes his sorrow and relates it to his great wealth.

    Matthew 19:21–22 (opens a new tab) · Luke 18:22–23 (opens a new tab)

15. Youth

    The man tells Jesus he has observed the named commandments from his youth. Mark presents this as his answer, then describes Jesus looking at him with love before naming what he still lacks.

    Mark 10:19–21 (opens a new tab)