Luke 17: 1 – 4
Deep Sea Diving
Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. 3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
As we begin our study we should take note that both Matthew and Mark referenced this same teaching of our Lord, so let us take a look at what they wrote.
Mark 9: 42 – 50,”42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 44 where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 46 where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— 48 where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”
Matthew 18:6-9 6 “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. 7 Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! 8 “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. 9 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.”
We conclude that they pretty much are similar yet some additional information is added.
Having spoken of what acting in His Name regularly involved, our Lord Jesus now gives a warning to those who act against His Name.
Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
The act of causing a child, or any young believer, who believes in Christ to stumble is in deliberate contrast to the one who gives the cup of water to a follower of the Messiah. The one is a small act with great results in heaven, the other again seemingly a small act but with devastating results for the perpetrator.
Again the emphasis is on the importance of ‘little’ things. These young children who believed in The Lord Jesus were of such great importance to God that to cause them to stumble spiritually was to commit the greatest of sins. Wars and politics could go on and God would stand by and let men destroy themselves. But let them touch but one of these children who believed in Him and God would notice immediately. How careful we must be when around such little children.
There is something more here in this verse. The word ‘mikros’ may mean ‘humble ones’ rather than ‘little ones. In this case the one who gave the cup of water may be specifically in mind and the thought may be of the value of the lowest and least important of Christ’s followers. For those who think themselves important to behave or speak in such a way that they cause humble believers to stumble, proving that they themselves were salt which had lost its savor, would be a scandal indeed and would result in the worst of fates, for it is the humble who are the important ones to God.
Now, many times we read things and just accept them without fully understanding. Take for example the words, ‘Cause to stumble.’ Are you sure you know what this entails? It means by some act, word or behavior that affected their faith in God lead them into sin and error.
How about the words, ‘A great millstone.?’ This is speaking of the huge stones that ground the corn in the village mill, far too huge to hang around a man’s neck. No one could have even lifted them. But God could. It was of course deliberate humor and exaggeration. But it would certainly have made sure that the man sank rapidly to the deepest depths. And this is preferable to what would happen to the one who causes others to stumble.
We note in Mark’s Gospel our Lord’s additional comment, “43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 44 where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— 46 where ‘Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— 48 where ‘Their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
The idea of causing others to stumble leads on to the idea of what causes men themselves to stumble. We must take special note here first that there is no suggestion that this decapitation should be done by others as a punishment. The mutilations carried out in the name of Allah have no connection with the ideas of Jesus of the Father. They result from cruel and heartless men misusing the word of God. And yet they think themselves righteous in doing it. How evil men are. How blind to the truth about God. Jesus was simply here talking of extreme actions which men themselves should in theory apply to themselves if there was no alternative. He was really saying vividly, ‘you must go to any lengths to prevent sin’.
The man whose hands are uncontrollable, whether through petty stealing or through groping a woman who does not want the attention, or in any other sinful purpose, has hands that cause him to stumble. But our Lord Jesus did not really expect such a man to cut his hand off. He knew well enough that that would not solve the problem. What He was saying was that that man should be willing to take any drastic action that would enable him to control his behavior. Although indeed, if there were no other alternative losing the hand would certainly be better than having to enter Gehenna. But The Lord Jesus knew well enough that cutting the hand off would not be the answer, for He had already declared that evil came from the heart of man. The man would be just as evil without his hand. To deal with sin he would have to cut his heart out. The same applied also with respect to both foot and eye, and the sins that relate to both. - The wandering feet that take men into sinful places; The wandering eye that tempts to indulging in sin; All are to be dealt with severely.
We learn here that our Precious Lord Jesus wants us to be decisive with sin. He does not want us to play with it but treat it for what it is, destructive and harmful and to be got rid of at all costs lest it finally result in judgment. Our Lord Jesus had no time for a faith that did not result in a changed life and a changed attitude to sin.
The statement ‘To enter into life’ is the opposite of going to Gehenna. It is to enjoy that eternal life that our Savior and King Jesus offered to us all. Thus our Master and Supreme Ruler Adoni Jesus was here warning men to consider their end, pictured in terms of the undying maggots and the unquenched fire which would be the guarantee of the certainty of man’s final judgment. The idea is not of conscious suffering but of being totally shamed. This is the word used by Daniel meaning ‘contempt’ - Daniel 12:2,”2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Mark goes on to list these words of our Lord, 49 “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.
There are a number of questions to be asked about this small, rather enigmatic, phrase. Firstly as to whether this is to be seen as continuing the thoughts which have preceded it, secondly as to what is meant by being ‘salted’, thirdly as to who are involved in ‘everyone’, and fourthly as to what being ‘salted with fire’ adds to the equation.
We will first consider what it might mean to be salted. There is no doubt that to the ancients salt could be seen as a preservative, in which case ‘being ‘salted’ might be seen as signifying being treated in order to be preserved. The fire would then here indicate the purifying fires of persecution and tribulation. But this interpretation by itself assumes that the saying is a semi-independent one, for it does not specifically connect it up with what has gone before.
However, it was also recognized in those days that where ground had been salted nothing could grow in it, and the picture here might well. There salt and fire are closely connected, so that the result is seen to be that nothing grows in the land that has been salted and subjected to burning. Thus as an alternative to the picture of preservation we have the picture of ‘salting’ as something that results in barrenness and death, something which is also then connected up with the idea of destructive fire. Taking this view the verse would be carrying on the theme of judgment and Gehenna, emphasizing its inevitability for all who sinned.
‘Everyone’ may here be seen as referring to ‘everyone who has caused others to stumble’, in which case again we may see this as referring to the inevitability of their judgment, which would fit well with what has gone before.
All in all, however, the mention of ‘sacrifice’ would seem best to see it as continuing the theme of the passage and as pointing to certain and inevitable judgment, especially in the light of Deuteronomy 29.23, “23 ‘The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and His wrath’, with the thought that all who sin against others will finally be ‘salted with fire.’
50 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”
Our Lord Jesus then replies to the possible objection which could be raised that salt is good. The connection between this verse and the last is ‘salted’ and ‘salt’. But here there is a definite connection with the thought of God’s people as being salt, and here it is its purifying quality that is in mind. Compare ‘You are the salt of the world’ in Matthew 5.13. Salt was used for preserving and was vital in the ancient world to prevent the putrefaction of food. Thus the idea here is that the people of God are to act as a preservative of righteousness in the world as they love God with all their being and their neighbor as themselves. Such salt is good.
But if the salt loses its saltiness, as has happened to the one who begins to cause little believers to stumble, it loses its usefulness. How can its saltiness then be restored? The answer expected is, it cannot. It is therefore essential that those who are salt retain their saltiness by a life of trust and obedience, and by dealing violently with sin. And the central nature of that saltiness will be found in their participation in and response to the good news of the Kingdom of God now present among them.
Therefore the statement ‘Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another’, our Great God adjures them to retain their saltiness. By retaining their saltiness and remaining firmly established in the covenant and under the Kingly Rule of God, by walking in trust and obedience, they will then ensure that they live at peace with one another. This picture aptly ends a section which began with the disciples arguing about rank. It indicates that if they truly live under God’s Rule, position and precedence will be unimportant, and instead all will be in harmony. What will matter will be purity and peace.
We now want to go back to Luke and see that he put these remarks of our Mighty Lord down on paper,
3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
Please notice the statement, ‘Take heed to yourselves’. It connects these verses directly to the idea in verses 1-2. There is no more important attitude towards believers than to be able to forgive them. That does not, however, mean dealing lightly with sin. If a brother or sister sins then their sin must be drawn to their attention, not in a hypercritical or censorious way, but gently and lovingly in the same way as we would want them to do it to us. Nevertheless they must be shown that it is wrong. Sin must not be condoned.
The same applies if they sin seven times in the day. This is not a number to be counted so that once we reach seven we can stop, it is really saying, ‘as often as it happens’. The point is that continual forgiveness must be available, just as we need continual forgiveness from God.
To put others before ourselves by avoiding being a stumbling block, and to forgive others continually for what they do against us, are not easy things to do. They require faith in the One Who holds all things in His hands. That is certainly how the Apostles saw it, for they then turned to Jesus and asked Him in the light of all this to increase their faith. Note the change from ‘disciples’ to ‘Apostles’. There were many disciples, only twelve Apostles.
Lord, please help us to not only understand Your Word but with Your Mercy please help us apply these truths into our lives.
