The point is it doesn't make sense. "It's easier for a rich man to enter heaven than to park their Range Rover in a smallish garage".
So... slightly tricky but perfectly doable? It's not an interesting enough thing to record/claim Jesus to have said.
And why then are the disciples said to be so shocked and confused by the metaphor? "Woah there Jesus, you're saying it'll take a rich man a good 5 minutes of manoeuvring to get into heaven? Say it ain't so, son of Joe!"
The way I heard the "needle gate" interpretation is:
1. A camel normally is tall, covered in a tarp / saddle, and loads of baggage.
2. To get through the Needle Gate, a camel needs to take off all his baggage, saddle, and tarp, and then crawl through on his knees
3. So with a rich man: To get into heaven, he must take off all his worldly baggage (i.e., stop loving his wealth) and humble himself by crawling in on his knees.
So at a certain level it does make sense; there is a sense in which that's exactly what Jesus asked the Rich Young Ruler to do.
Methinks they don’t want the rich man to have to give away his wealth, just to “love God more than the money”.
So many in these comments (presumably wealthy or aspiring wealthy) seem desperate to assure themselves that wealth-hoarding is not inherently evil by His standards
If you had a lot of money but loved the god described in the New Testament more, then wouldn't you give it all away to the poor and needy as Jesus says?
So... slightly tricky but perfectly doable? It's not an interesting enough thing to record/claim Jesus to have said.
And why then are the disciples said to be so shocked and confused by the metaphor? "Woah there Jesus, you're saying it'll take a rich man a good 5 minutes of manoeuvring to get into heaven? Say it ain't so, son of Joe!"