Matthew 18:6-9 Jesus Warns of Offenses
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!
“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”
When I was in Sunday School, we learned a song that said, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” Jesus has just advised the disciples that they must have the same kind of faith little children have, trusting completely in God the Father, and that they must be as humble as little children. Now Jesus is continuing to speak about children.
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!” This is a day when children are abused by the very people who should care for them. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that over 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and 1 in 4 men (28.5%) in the US have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime. Childhood abuse is common. The National Institute of Health reports that Nonclinical samples of adults in the United States and internationally show self-reported childhood physical abuse prevalence rates of 10% to 31% in men and 6% to 40% in women,46,48 and childhood sexual abuse of 3% to 29% in men8,48,49 and 7% to 36% in women. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1494926/#:~:text=Childhood%20abuse%20is%20common.,%25%20to%2036%25%20in%20women.
Worldwide, 27% of trafficking victims are children. Labor trafficking involves the use of fraud, coercion, or force in order to get a victim to provide labor or services. https://www.worldschildren.org/child-trafficking-statistics
While we think these statistics are daunting, also consider those who are negatively influencing children through pornographic music and videos on YouTube and TikTok. When we deliberately expose children to sexually explicit videos and songs with filthy lyrics, we are stealing their childhoods. When we allow children to dress like perverted little adults, we are stealing their chlldhoods. If we allow children unlimited access to the internet, we are leaving them vulnerable to kidnappers and sexual traffickers.
Face it, folks, adults should be protecting the innocence of children; instead, they are exploiting it, distorting it, and stealing it. Considering Jesus’ teaching, this means that lots of people will receive worse punishment than someone who has a heavy stone hung around his neck and is drowned in the sea.
“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”
What’s going on here? Is Jesus advising self-mutilation as a means of holiness? But we already know that nothing we do is good enough for us to earn our way into heaven. That’s why Jesus had to come die as the Perfect Sacrifice for our sins. No, what Jesus is advocating is for us to put away any habit or practice that is as dear to us as a hand or a foot or an eye. Oswald Chambers has observed that many of us are holy in spots, and if you look at those spots, we are specimens of holiness. But we have other areas that are anything but holy; unfortunately, many times, these are treasured habits that we just don’t want to give up. We are more than ready to criticize others for these same faults; however, we really would like the Lord to just overlook the same faults in us.
One of the challenges of discipleship is the need for us to become increasingly holy the further we go along. Obviously, we cannot do anything by ourselves; assuming that we can make ourselves holy is as ridiculous as thinking that we can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Disciples are to open themselves to the Lord and allow Him to change them, and that is precisely where the rubber meets the road. As God increasingly reveals more sin in our lives, we want to cling to those sins that we have been enjoying.
While there are flagrant sins such as viewing online pornography, there are also much more subtle ones like gossiping about others in the name of intercessory prayer, charitable giving as a form of self-aggrandizement, avoiding reading God’s Word because we are too tired or too stressed. Many of us may be compulsive over eaters or gamble or shop for things we don’t need as a form of recreation or even over-work. Because these sins may be “cleaner” than online pornography, we might feel superior; however, God does not grade on a curve. To a holy God, all sins are unholy.
I love to read, but one of the things I have learned to beware of is those “cozy” novels or videos that suddenly lurch into graphic sex scenes. The rest of the story may have appealing characters doing fascinating things in a vivid setting; however sometimes, it’s almost as if the editor has ordered the author to have “X” number sex scenes per novel, so the author has chosen to insert one in this chapter. Not even skipping over the sex scenes helps. I have eliminated entire series of novels on this basis. If I must describe a book as “well the plot is great and the characters are well drawn but….”, it’s time to forget that book completely.
God wants His disciples to be completely holy, and He will never stop working on us until we join Him in eternity. Why should we desire holiness? The more we learn of God, the more we want to be close to Him. Unholiness makes closeness to God impossible, for the Holy God cannot tolerate unholiness. Let us protect children so that they may learn about God at an early age and start on the path to holiness. Let us protect adults so that they can shuck off unholy practices and learn to please God. And let us as disciples give God complete access to our hearts, minds, souls, and lives, so that He can change us into His likeness.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to be open to Your Holy Spirit so that You can change us into Your likeness. Help us to protect children and teach them about You so that they never have to wander away from You. Help us to guide teens and adults into Your way of truth. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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