Protect yourself (from yourself)

Jesus is serious about protecting His own. We see the heart of The Father in Him as Jesus is likely still holding a little child in this moment (verse 36). He also refers to His disciples as ‘one of these little ones’. As we dive into this sever passage, we must hear it as a father is warning his children of dangers.

This passage starts off saying that the punishment awaiting those who mislead His disciples is worse than being drug to the ocean floor, tied to a giant rock (millstone). He does not mince words as He clearly warns not to cause His ‘little ones’ to stumble. The word ‘to stumble’ means to entice to sin, or make an offense.

Yet, the threats to His disciples are not just from outsiders leading them to sin, but they are from their own members. Jesus talks about our own members: eyes, hands, and feet, being a cause to stumble. And just like it would be better for a person to be removed to avoid causing stumbling, same goes for our own members. Why would Jesus, who heals the blind, the lame, and restores withered hands, tell us then to cut them off? Because Jesus care far more about eternal comfort than current comfort and convenience. He knows that the result of stumbling is a place of eternal fire and torment—Hell.

No one discusses hell more than Jesus. And it would be ridiculous for him to bring it up if you were not a real place. Jesus declares that Hell is so bad, it is beyond the pain of any physical suffering or tragedy in this life, even loosing our eyes, feet, and hand. Sometimes people will use the phrase “I’m going through hell right now” or “I’ve been through hell”. This sort of thinking contradicts what Jesus is teaching in this passage. Suffering in this life, even losing one's own hand or foot or eye or nothing compared to the suffering in hell.

This is one of the most extreme instructions of Jesus, it also seems the most violent and gory. However, just recently we read about a more gory and more extreme instruction from Jesus that was to take up our cross to follow him. And, just like that passage was not a literal call to be nailed to a cross, this passage follows suit.

Jesus desires that we know that sin is very severe. Eternally severe. That there must be something done about sin. That if there’s any way that we could avoid, that would be worth it.

Jesus deeply cares for these little ones, His disciples and wants them to see the severity of sin. Some interpret the instruction to “have salt yourselves” as a call to live in a way of denying sinful behaviors. Loving ourselves, and others eternally, may look like denying sinful desires so that we can “have peace with one another”.