Qoheleth's teaching, with its note of pessimism, seems quite at variance with the New Testament. On reflection, however, we may find that some of Qoheleth's ideas are used by New Testament writers, even by Jesus Himself, though transposed to a different level. Qoheleth says, "What profit has man from all the labour which he toils at under the sun?" In a challenging rather than a pessimistic tone, Jesus says to us, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?" (Mk. 8:36).

"The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear filled with hearing." This dissatisfaction need not be debilitating. It can rather be a call to open our minds and hearts to greater things, things beyond what the eye can see and hear "Many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see and never saw it; to hear what you hear and never heard it" (Mt. 13:17). We are blessed because we have seen and heard these things in Christ. Yet our hearts still draw us further, towards "the things that no eye has seen and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor. 2:9).