Woe to that one through whom the stumbling block comes!

Matthew 18:1-20 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; ⁶ but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

⁷ “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

⁸ “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. ⁹ If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. ¹¹ For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

¹² “What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? ¹³ If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. ¹⁴ So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

¹⁵ “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

James 3:1 says:  Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.   In today’s text Jesus says:  “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”  Jesus is clear that there are consequences for those who lead believers astray. There is a strict judgment for those who cause believers to stumble. In Matthew 5:19-20 Jesus says:  “Whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”   It would seem that there are many today, both within and outside of the Christian church, who are putting themselves in a place of incurring stricter judgment and the consequences of causing believers to stumble by relaxing the commandments of God. The very false doctrines and relaxed commandments they teach become the millstone around their own neck. Of course Jesus was also critical of the religious leaders of His day for putting more regulations on people than God’s commandments. That too can cause believers to stumble. In John 14:6 Jesus says:  "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  Those who teach then need to point to Christ; to both His grace and His righteousness; nothing more and nothing less. Jesus says:  “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”

In today’s text Jesus also says:   “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”   First, before we go any farther, it is important to understand that Jesus says: If your brother sins…   So, He is talking about the sin of a fellow believer, not the sin of the world. We need to recognize, like the psalmist, who sin is really against. In Psalm 51:4 David says:  Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.   There were other people affected by David’s actions. He committed adultery with Bathsheba. He was responsible for killing her husband Uriah and the child born of the adultery died. Yet, the truth is, as he says, sin is against God. So, for us this is not about those who may have hurt or offended us. The process is different and much simpler for those who have hurt or offended us, we are simply to forgive them. Regarding sin against God, we also need to remember what Jesus says we should do before we go to them. In Matthew 7:1-5 Jesus says:  “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”   Before we go to someone else to point out and correct their sin, we need to be certain that we have repented of the sin in our own lives, so that we can see clearly. We are supposed to win our fellow believers and help them to see clearly. But it is not that we try to win them to our way of thinking. It is only that they would see clearly to repent of sin against God. We need to understand that false judgment and condemnation, confronting and pointing out the things which offend us, hurt us or that we simply disagree with, can also be a stumbling block in the life of another believer. “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”  Jesus says:  “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”   Our words have power. We need to be certain that our words are in alignment with the word of God. We need to loose grace, righteousness and truth.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit; today and every day, may I recognize the power and the responsibility of what I say. May my words and my life always point to You; to Your love, compassion and grace; and also to Your righteousness and to Your commandments. May I be a stepping stone to Your love and righteousness and never a stumbling block in the path of Your little ones.  Amen.