Hard for rich people (Mt 19:23-19:23)

“Jesus said

To his disciples.

‘Truly!

I say to you!

It will be hard

For a rich person

To enter

The kingdom of heaven.”

 

Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πλούσιος δυσκόλως εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.

 

This saying about the difficulty of rich people trying to get into the kingdom of heaven can be found in Mark, chapter 10:24, and Luke, chapter 18:16, almost word for word.  Jesus turned to his disciples (Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ) with a strong harsh solemn proclamation (Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν).  It would be hard or difficult for a wealthy rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven (ὅτι πλούσιος δυσκόλως εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν).  Wealth would clearly be an obstacle to those who wanted to enter the kingdom of heaven.