But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were profitable for him that a great millstone had been hanged upon his neck and he be sunk in the depths of the sea.
Matthew 18 opens with a question about rank: who is the greatest? The Lord answers by setting a child in front of the disciples, then warns them sharply about how they treat the smallest and weakest believer.
The phrase is not just decoration. One writer looks at the word behind it and points to a specific group.
The word used here for "little ones" is "mikroon," one who has not yet grown up and is not necessarily a child. It is the same word used of Zacchaeus — he was small, "mikroon," not grown in height. In verse 6, where the word first appears, the Lord says of these, "who believe in Me." He means those who had believed in the Lord but had not grown much in the truth — what we may call new converts. We believe the Lord's word to Peter in John 21:15, "Feed my lambs," is close to this passage.
Older translations read "offend," which can be misread as hurt feelings. One commentator draws a line between wounding someone's pride and damaging their faith.
There may be the very opposite of this — "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin." What does this mean? It means anything likely to shake their confidence in Christ, anything that puts a stumbling block in their way. It does not mean anything said in faithful love to their soul. People may be hurt by that, but that is not what the Lord means here. It is what tends to shake the confidence of the little one in God Himself.
The severity of the punishment makes sense only if the Lord counts Himself involved.
The great thought set before us here is that the Lord identifies Himself with every little one — with everyone who has become a little child, that is, born again. He is their Father and their Lord, closely identified with them. It reminds us of that beautiful word "Whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye" (Zech. 2:8)… And so honour done to one of the little ones is done to Him, injury done to one of them is injury done to Him. What glory of the believer this reveals! This fact should teach us how to behave toward one another, and not to look down on anyone who belongs to Christ. How quick we are to do that! We say one person knows so little of the Word, and another is so ungracious. With all our criticism we forget that he is, after all, one of Christ's own.
Notice the heat in the language. One writer hears a protective love in it, not cold legal measurement.
So this love wraps itself around the ones it loves, like a mother with a baby. It grows, you might say, fierce in condemning anyone who would hurt them. "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." That is how God cares for the weakest of His own!
A stumbling block is rarely deliberate cruelty. More often it is simply the way we live. One commentator applies the verse to that kind of inconsistency, writing about Gehazi — the servant of the prophet Elisha, who chased money from Naaman, an army commander God had just healed.
Gehazi chose the lure of riches over the eternal well-being of a soul. He is one of those who cause one of these little ones to sin — the people of whom it is said that it would be better for them to have a great millstone fastened around the neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Do we think enough about how the worldliness of our life may do lasting harm to these little ones in the faith? How this thought should cause us to give heed to all our conduct!
A common defence is that the offended person was oversensitive. That excuse is turned around here.
Take care you are not a stumbling-block. You may say that a person must be very weak to feel such a thing, but that is the very reason he should be cared for. May the Lord keep us from ever hindering the weak, and make us help them!
The verses that follow tell the disciple to cut off hand or foot. Together the two halves set a double standard — one for others, one for oneself.
As for the disciples, if the thing they valued most became a trap to them, they had to pluck it out and cut it off. They were to take the greatest care, in grace, not to become a trap to a little one who believes in Christ. And they were to be utterly severe with themselves about anything that might trap them.
- Little. The "little ones" are believers who have not grown much yet — new converts, the lambs Christ told Peter to feed.
- Linked. Christ identifies Himself with each of them, so injury done to one of them is injury done to Him.
- Loved. The warning has the heat of a mother guarding a baby; God cares for the weakest of His own.
- Lethal. To cause a little one to stumble is to shake a weak believer's confidence in Christ — and a worldly life is the usual way it happens.
- Lowly. The remedy runs two ways: full grace toward others, unrelenting severity toward whatever ensnares us.
Woe to the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; yet woe to that man by whom the offence comes!
Jesus has just set a child in front of His disciples. He warned that anyone who trips up one of these little ones would be better off drowned. Verse 7 widens the view to the whole world. It also raises a hard question: if these stumbling blocks must come, why is the man who brings them still guilty?
Older translations render the word here as "offences," and it comes from the world of trapping. One reference work traces the same term across Scripture:
The same word is used for the snare that Balaam taught Balak to lay for the Israelites (Revelation 2:14). It is also the word used for the "offences," or snares, that must, by the nature of things, exist in the world for the feet of the saints — Matthew 18:7; Luke 17:1. It is used again in the striking case where the Lord said to Peter, "You are an offence to Me" (Matthew 16:23).
So the picture is not hurt feelings. William Kelly draws a line between honest words that sting and something far worse:
What is meant by this? Anything likely to shake their confidence in Christ, to put a stumbling block in their way. It does not mean anything said in faithful love to their soul. People may take offence at this; but it is not what is spoken of here. It is what tends to shake the confidence of the little one in God Himself.
The verse holds two things together. These offences must come — and yet the Lord condemns the man who brings them. T. B. Baines presses the point:
Here Jesus declares plainly that offences must come. But does He therefore approve or excuse the offence? He knew what was in man, and predicts the sad result, only to pronounce judgment against the one who brings it about.
Another writer puts the same balance in one line: these are sad certainties in such a sad world, but that does not make them less serious or easier to overlook.
Occasions of stumbling will indeed come: these are sad certainties in so sad a world; but that does not make them less grave, or easier to be passed over.
The verse says "woe" twice. One writer notes that the word does not always carry the same weight:
The word "woe," though often a pronouncement of judgment, as in the last clause, is not always so. It can also express pity, as in Matthew 24:19, Mark 13:17, Luke 21:23, Revelation 8:13 and Revelation 12:12.
Commentators differ on where the offences come from. The same writer leans to Christ's own people rather than the world outside:
I lean to the conclusion that the "offences" here are offences in the professing church. I also take the opening "woe!" of the verse to be a long, drawn-out sigh from the Lord's loving heart over the confusion He foresaw among His own... the scandals the world has seen among professing Christians have hindered so much blessing!
Being tripped is one thing; choosing to stay down is another. Leslie Grant refuses to let the person who stumbles off the hook entirely:
It is inevitable that offences will come, and souls are tested by such causes of stumbling. Of course, if someone stumbles, it is his own fault if he stays lying on the ground. It is foolish to put his confidence in one who stumbles him. But the man who is guilty of this offence comes under a sentence of a solemn woe.
Kelly reads the Lord's next words about the hand and the foot as the answer to verse 7. Guarding others begins at home:
What is to be done? The Lord shows in two ways how to guard against these stumbling blocks. The first is this — I must begin with myself. That is the most important means of not stumbling another... It may be in one's service, or in one's walk. But if hand or foot becomes the occasion of stumbling — something in which the enemy takes advantage against God — deal with the evil thing firmly and at once.
Compare the second "woe" with the Lord's words about His betrayer:
He pronounces a "woe" against His own betrayer in almost the same language as the "woe" on anyone who causes His little ones to stumble. Of the one He says, "Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed." Of the other, "Woe to that man by whom the offence comes." So we should take constant care never to do anything — even unintentionally — to stumble or discourage the feeblest of His own.
- Snare — The word pictures a snare set for the feet. An offence is not a wounded ego but whatever shakes a believer's confidence in God Himself.
- Certain — Stumbling blocks will come; the world guarantees it. Certainty is a forecast, not a permission slip.
- Guilty — The Lord predicts the offence only to pronounce judgment on the man who supplies it. The woe on that man matches the woe on the betrayer.
- Scandal — Offences among Christ's own people do the deepest damage. The scandals the world has seen among professing Christians have hindered much blessing.
- Remedy — Guarding others begins with yourself. Deal at once with whatever in your service or your walk trips you, and you will not become the thing that trips someone else.
And if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut it off and cast [it] from thee; it is good for thee to enter into life lame or maimed, [rather] than having two hands or two feet to be cast into eternal fire.
In Matthew 18 the Lord sets a child among the arguing disciples and warns against anything that trips up one of these little ones. Verse 8 turns the warning inward: deal first with what makes you stumble, because the stakes are eternal.
The Lord's first remedy for stumbling-blocks is not to police other people.
What is to be done? The Lord shows two ways to guard against these stumbling-blocks. The first is this — I must begin with myself. That is the most important way of not making another person stumble... It may be in my service, or in my daily walk. But if a hand or a foot becomes the cause of stumbling — something the enemy uses against God — then deal with the evil thing firmly and at once.
The Lord asks for a real cutting off, but not one done with a knife.
Clearly the physical act is only a picture, used to describe in strong terms a spiritual cutting off and throwing away. Nothing that is a trap is to be spared, even if it seemed as close and as necessary as a hand, a foot, or an eye. Eternity is at stake, and a judgment no one can escape, which spares nothing that is against God. I do not think this means that in the day of glory those who have put the flesh to death will carry marks of shame. Rather, such people will be there — and how much better that, than to leave the flesh unjudged, allowing the desires of the body and the mind, and be thrown into hell-fire!
The offence in view here is one my own conscience feels.
If a person's hand or foot makes him stumble, let him cut off the part that causes it. This is swift, immediate judgment. The question here is not offending God or someone else. It is my own conscience offended by my own actions or my walk. Unsparing self-judgment is the only way to deal with this — not a literal cutting off, of course, but a spiritual refusal of the evil in myself. An unbeliever never honestly judges himself, so he will be thrown into everlasting fire with all his parts.
The verse asks the reader to weigh one loss against another.
Hand and foot and eye are very valuable parts of our bodies, and we do not give them up lightly. But life in the coming age is beyond all price, and hell-fire is a terrible reality.
Commenting on this chapter directly, the same writer reduces the whole calculation to a sentence: to offend one of the little ones brings the severest judgment, and this leads the Lord to set His disciples in the light of eternal things — "There is such a thing as 'everlasting fire,' and any sacrifice is better than incurring that."
Some read this fire as one that burns people up and then ends. One writer tests that reading against the Lord's own words.
Why everlasting? Do you really believe the Lord meant to alarm us with this word, if the word meant nothing? What does it matter that the fire is everlasting, if we are burned up in an instant? Everlasting fire... has no real meaning if I stopped existing; it might as well go out... And why would it be better for a man to be thrown into the sea with a millstone round his neck? On that reading he might as well live on.
In the kingdom, real faith and empty profession stand side by side. The Lord warns both without separating them.
He does not pass sentence on them, for some may be truly born of God and others not. He puts it to them plainly: people who are indifferent about sin are not of God. No soul can be born again and go on being careless about what grieves the Holy Spirit... It may cost a great deal, but God is not a hard Master; no one is so tender and loving.
One last thing shapes how these words land: who is saying them.
It is the Saviour of men — the One who died in His love to redeem them — who always gives the most earnest and forceful warning of where sin must bring those who hold on to it.
- Start — Begin with yourself. The surest way not to trip anyone else is to deal at once with what trips you.
- Cut — "Cut it off" pictures a spiritual refusal of evil, not a knife. The test is what your own conscience says about your actions and your walk.
- Cost — A hand and a foot are worth keeping. That is the point: life in the coming age is worth more than anything you give up now.
- Everlasting — The word means what it says. Empty it out, and the Lord's warning is no warning at all.
- Love — The sharpest words about the fire come from the One who died to save people from it. He is no hard Master.
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast [it] from thee; it is good for thee to enter into life one-eyed, [rather] than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.
Just before this, the Lord warned about being a snare to others; now He turns the warning inward. The eye is the last of three examples, and His question is blunt: what is sight worth if keeping it costs everything?
Two duties stand side by side in this chapter. One writer names them:
Two things go together here: care not to offend these little ones, and the strictest severity toward self. To be a stumbling block, or a snare, to one of the little ones that believed in Christ was to ensure terrible judgment. Tender care for the weakest, and severe self-judgment, was to be the rule of the kingdom. If this existed, no stumbling block would offend the least, and no snare entangle the disciple.
The Lord is not asking for surgery on the body. One writer gives the reason:
The Lord is not calling for self-mutilation or asceticism in these words. The Creator will never demand that His creature mutilate the body he has received from Himself. Even if someone plucked out both his eyes, the lust would still remain in his heart. Instead, the Lord is extending His teaching here to the matter of self-judgment.
The language is a picture. Another writer shows how much it demands:
Clearly the physical act is only a picture. It describes, in strong terms, a spiritual cutting off and casting out. Spare nothing that is a snare, even if it seemed as near and as necessary as the hand, the foot, or the eye. Eternity is in question, and so is a judgment that no one can escape — a judgment that spares nothing contrary to God. I do not think it means that in the day of glory those who have put the flesh to death will carry marks to their shame. It means rather that such people will be there. And how much better that, than to leave the flesh unchecked, giving way to the desires of flesh and mind, and be thrown into hell fire!
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Hand and foot cover what we do and where we go. The eye goes quieter still: what we look at, and what conscience says about it:
We must judge not only what the hand does or where the foot walks, but also what the eye looks at. Men know it when they see something that bothers their own conscience. Ignoring conscience is dangerous. It can sear the conscience until a person hardly feels its protests. And if someone never judges the evil his eye sees, he is not a believer. He will be thrown into the hell of fire with two eyes.
The word translated "hell" here is Gehenna. It named a real place outside Jerusalem that every hearer could picture:
Gehenna is the Greek form of two Hebrew words meaning "valley of Hinnom." It was the place near Jerusalem where the Jews made their children pass through fire to pagan gods. Later the place was defiled. A fire burned there without stopping, which made it a fitting picture of the place of eternal punishment.
That is a location, not a state of mind, and the verse says so by what it does with the body:
Gehenna is a place. "Whole body … cast into hell" (Matthew 5:29). "Two eyes … cast into hell fire" (Matthew 18:9).
The kingdom holds real faith and false profession side by side. So the Lord speaks in a way that tests every hearer:
No soul can be born of God and stay careless about what grieves the Holy Spirit. So He sets before them the certainty that such people will be cast into everlasting fire. That could be said of no one born of God. But the kingdom of heaven can hold a false profession as well as a true one. So the believer must watch that he allows no sin in any part of himself… It may cost a great deal, but God is not a hard Master. No one is so tender and loving.
The warning is stern. Notice who gives it:
Better to cut off a hand or a foot. Better to pluck out an eye, if it made you stumble, than to keep them and be thrown into the hell of fire. This is the Saviour of men speaking. He died in His love to redeem them, and He is the One who always gives the most earnest and emphatic warning of where sin must bring those who cling to it.
- Snare — the eye stands for what we look at. The trap lies in the desire behind the eye, not in the eye itself.
- Knife — the cutting is spiritual, not physical. Blind yourself and the desire still sits in the heart.
- Cost — nothing is exempt, however near or necessary it feels. Eternity is what hangs on it.
- Conscience — ignore its warnings and it grows hard. Never judge what your eye sees, and you are no believer at all.
- Love — the warning of Gehenna's fire comes from the Saviour who died to redeem, and He is no hard Master.