6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
To
begin, I AM NOT AN ADVOCATE OF SELF-MUTILATION. Even with that being the case,
though, this command from Jesus still brings me to wonder, did He really mean
that?
This is
actually the second time in Matthew that these instructions come. The first is in
the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and follows teaching on murder/anger and
adultery/lust. Considering the penalties in the Law about murder and adultery,
removing of body parts was actually a calmer judgment. Exodus 21:12 says,
“Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death,” and
Leviticus 20:10 says “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with
the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to
death.” For those of us who have ever been angry with or lusted after someone,
we wouldn’t be here anymore, which means the human race would no longer exist.
What about
the beginning of the passage, when Jesus talks about causing a little child
(which is standing right beside him, by the way) to sin? Are we really supposed
to have a large millstone hung around our necks and be drowned in the depths of
the sea? Luckily, Jesus says, “it would be better for them to…” which lets us
know that, on the positive side, He’s being metaphorical. On the negative side,
though, the millstone is “better”, which is kind of unsettling. Causing a young
believer to sin seems far worse than simply sinning yourself.
“Woe
to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things
must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!” Things that cause us
to stumble
must be here so God can forgive us. If we didn’t sin, we wouldn’t need grace or
forgiveness. Jesus says that sin must exist, and in the following verses, He
shows how hard we have to fight.
I’m
blessed to say that it’s been a very long time since I’ve visited a friend or
family member in the hospital or hospice care as they were nearing the end.
However, one of my friends (Jill), along with her mom and grandmother, stayed
right beside her great-grandmother (D) as she went into Heaven from hospice
care. Jill and her family would swap stories and share memories along with her
great-grandmother until the last few days. D had stopped eating and drinking
and would anger quickly. She was ready for Heaven, but still wanted to be
around her family. Periodically she would say a few words, at which point
everyone would huddle around, listening intently. If she continued talking, it
was slow and laborious, fighting to get words out.
On
the last day, Jill’s grandmother sat right by the bed of her mother talking,
sharing, hoping for a response. Jill was holding D’s hand and checking her
pulse. When she lost the pulse, she checked a few more places, with no success.
Her grandmother kept talking. D had fought hard to the very end, but went to Heaven
in peace.
She
was fighting for her life. She wanted to stay and talk with her family,
especially with so many of them being there. She fought to speak, to open her
eyes, to stay present.
We,
too, must fight for our spiritual lives every day. That is what Jesus means by
these words. Have the will to do everything possible to avoid and remove sin,
which leads to death. Do all that we can, and trust God to do everything we
can’t. We must remove distractions, barriers, stumbling blocks, temptations in
our life to be open to God’s commands.
And
there is hope. Jesus talks about grace and forgiveness of debt later in Matthew
18, verses 23-27. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted
to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement a man who owed
him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the
master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be
sold to repay the debt. At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be
patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s
master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.”
To put
this in perspective, take a quick guess at your annual salary (minimum wage is
$15,080) and put 5 zeroes behind it. Now double that. Congratulations, you just
multiplied your salary by 200,000. That’s close to the personal equivalent of
what this servant owed. Minimum wage, that’s $3.016 trillion, all demanded at
once by the king, which is why he was going to take the servant, his wife and
children, and all he had. The servant, recognizing his debt, begged for time
and patience so that he could work enough to pay back everything. Suddenly, the
king took pity on him, and cancelled 200,000 years worth of labor debt.
How in the
world did the servant rack up that much debt? What did he need all of that
money for? And how generous was the king in letting him have all of that?
Well, when
we look at it in the broader context, this is part of a parable Jesus uses to
explain how many times we should forgive. Jesus talks about money, even though
that wasn’t the original question. Peter asked how many times he should forgive
a brother or sister who sins against him. That really puts a new meaning on the
servant’s debt.
How many
times do we sin against God, the King? Short answer: more times than we can
count. Any anger, any greed, any lust, any time we put ourselves before God, is
sin. We have a huge debt of sin, but God is gracious to forgive us when we
believe in His sacrifice and model our lives around His life.
The
servant in the parable doesn’t remember the king’s grace. Instead he demands repayment
from a fellow servant. When the other servant makes the exact same plea, the
one who is owed throws him in prison because he can’t repay the debt. The king
finds out about this, and has the servant tortured until he can repay his huge
debt, which is never.
The
servant didn’t learn. He didn’t keep forgiveness in mind when he approached his
fellow servant. He didn’t fight with all he had to prevent sinning again and
rebuilding his debt. The part of him causing the sin, his pride, wasn’t
removed.
We have to
fight every day, removing what causes sin, whether a metaphorical hand or eye,
or literal pride. Is removing an eye going to keep someone from lusting? Not
necessarily, because the other eye will still work. Removing both? Again, not
necessarily, because we have really good picture memory. What about greed, the
lust of things? Same answers.
What Jesus
is targeting is the heart. “Out of the heart the mouth speaks,” Luke 6:45. Our
inner being, our id, is what needs to change. We fight to change who we really
and truly are. Through the fight, we see the power of grace. We can remove all
the barriers, obstacles, etc., but we’re still going to sin. Grace covers every
sin, yes, but we can’t be passively acceptant of it. It leads to action.
Please
join me prayer.
God, as we
recognize our sin and the extent and magnitude of it, please help us to fight.
Clothe us in Your armor that we find in Ephesians 6. Please be our sword and
shield in every battle. Every time we don’t fight, please help us to be mindful
of grace and to see Your kingdom growing in spite of our loss. I pray that it
would not be something we take lightly, but hold firmly to. Help us to have a
full realization of the demand You place on our lives. Lead us as we become
more like You. Bring Your kingdom. Come, Lord Jesus.
Amen
