Matthew 18:7-9 7Woe to the world for the scandals to sin! For it is necessary that the scandals to sin come, but woe to the one by whom the scandal comes! 8But if your hand or your foot causes you to be scandaled to sin, cut it off and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to be scandaled to sin, tear it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
These verses continue Jesus’ strong warning from verse 6 about causing the “little ones” to stumble and fall away from him. A woe statement in the Bible is a serious statement that serves both as a warning and an early pronouncement of judgment. This woe warns of punishment to those who bring temptations to others.
The key word scandal to sin (skandalizei) is repeated four more times in these verses. The word is used for something that traps, hinders, or causes to fall. Some translations use the word “temptation” or “sin” for this word. The word describes action that causes a person to deviate from the right path. This can be through trickery or deceit. The world represents those opposed to God’s kingdom and righteousness. Kingdom people do not live according to the ways of the world.
Jesus gives a timeless truth followed by illustrations of this truth. The world will entice believers to fall away from Jesus. The phrase it is necessary needs to be interpreted carefully. The word necessary (anagkēn) describes something that is necessary in the sense that this is the way things happen. The phrase here indicates the compulsion of human nature is to entice others to sin. The world is full of temptations, but everyone has a choice of causing another person to be scandalized. It is especially terrible to create a temptation or victimize a child. Jesus gives helpful insights into the problem of temptation. People and the situations they create are the cause of temptation. Temptation is something that is passed on from one person to another.
Just because this is the way of the world does not mean that disciples have to follow in this pattern. Jesus gives two illustrations of the how parts of the body can causes of temptation. The statements are in parallel grammar. These are good examples of an overstatement that should not be taken literally. Each of the parts of the body are instruments of sin. Jesus does not give specific details of how the hands, feet, or eyes can lead to sin, but the general statement leaves lots of room for various application. The basic point is that it is better to have a disabled or maimed body than to sin and fall into eternal judgment.
The problem is not so the parts of the body but the mind that controls them. Cutting off a hand or foot our gauging out an eye will not take care of the spiritual problem. The parts of the body represent the potential for sin and causes of temptation. Cutting them off and throwing them away represents being done with sin and getting rid of anything that will separate us from Jesus. The consequence for following the way of sin is serious: eternal fire and the hell of fire. One describes the time and the other the place for the fire of torment. We must avoid any form of scandal, temptation, or sin and be very careful that nothing we do will cause another person to fall into sin.
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