The Danger of Causing Someone to Stumble

Mark 9:42-50.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, February 02, 2020

How do I treat other people?  Our passage is specifically about how Christians treat each other.  Our culture has developed a blasé attitude regarding the issue of how our words and actions affect other people.  Some even become very heated in their statements that it’s their problem and not my responsibility.  They should be stronger or better than that, appears to be their response.

Here, Jesus shuts the door on the propriety of a brazen attitude towards the affect our words and actions have upon others, especially other believers.  We are going to be held accountable, and there will be no excuses that will work.  May God help us to take these matters seriously because we are going to be a challenge to one another even if we are doing our best.  There is no call for making it worse through neglect, or purposeful intent.

Jesus warns against tripping others up spiritually

In verses 42-48, it is clear that this is the climactic instruction from Jesus to his disciples concerning their interest in which of them is the greatest of his disciples (vss. 33-37).  He first challenged them with the illustration of a small child. Then he dealt with their attitude towards a believer in Jesus who was not a part of their group (38-41).  This passage puts the capstone on the warning that Jesus is giving to his disciples, and us by extension.  They were in danger of being a stumbling block to one another and they needed to quit it.

Let’s deal with what is meant by the words “to fall into sin” or “cause to stumble,” in verse 42.  Both translations are correct.  The word is literally “to put a stumbling block in front of someone and is typically used metaphorically for causing someone to sin.  The KJV uses the word “to offend,” which meant “to strike against.”  This isn’t a bad translation either, for its time, but the normal usage of this English word can mislead us today.  The focus is not on how our actions and words can make a person feel, though that is a subset of the issues involved.  Rather, it is about the fact that our words and actions can cause a person to spiritually stumble and fall into sin.  To be fair, we should also note that it is not particularly about our intention either.  Whether intentional or not, our words and actions can be like a stumbling block that trips a person up.  Some people are particularly agile in this area and do not fall into sin, whereas, others are not. 

It is clear that Jesus is rebuking their attitudes towards each other within the group, and also with others who were not a part of the group.  Their attitudes would lead to a multitude of sins and the ruination of what Jesus was laying his life down in order to build.

The first warning is given through the reference of a horrible, unthinkable death.  For clarity in this section, I will use the terms the offender and the offended.  Jesus warns us that it is better to have a horrible death of a millstone tied to your neck and be thrown into the sea than to be a cause for the stumbling of another.  Such a death is the ancient equivalent to the mob putting your feet in cement and tossing you in the river.  It would involve the terror and horror of being murdered through drowning. 

All of us would agree that this would be an undesirable death, but not all of us would agree about how deserving of judgment our actions are toward another.  We tend to see our actions as innocent and the actions of others as fraught with injustice.  Could you imagine if the game of football didn’t have referees, but instead every player and the coaches all had their own flags?  What chaos that would be.  We are ready to “throw the flag” on everything others do and vehemently contest the flags that they throw against us.  Jesus is warning us that it is foolish to remain in such a state.  You will stand before God one day and give account for how you treated others.  He who is the judge of all men, both the living and the dead, takes these things seriously.  It is better to have a horrible death without causing others to stumble than it is to have a wonderful death, and then face the judge having lived carelessly.

We should also notice that Jesus ties this warning back to the image of the little child standing in their midst.  “These little ones who believe in me” are not just about physical age, but also about spiritual age.  Young believers of any age do not have as much spiritual growth and more easily stumble.  If we are focused on our greatness then we tend to only care for ourselves.

We must ask ourselves if our words and actions help others to believe in Jesus, or could they be a source of stumbling into sin for them?  The warning is very strong, and is against treating this lightly.

The second warning is reiterated three times.  However, there is a textual issue in these verses.  Depending on what Bible version you are using, you may be missing some of the verses that are in some of the older translations.  There is no conspiracy to get rid of any doctrines.  It is a matter of determining what Mark exactly wrote.  Let’s look at this textual issue further.

Here is a brief layout of the warning:

43.  If your hand causes you to sin…

                44. Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

45.  If your foot causes you to sin…

                46.  Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

47.  If your eye causes you to sin…

                48.  Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

The three sections are identical except for a different part of the body being mentioned.  People often sin with their hands, feet, eyes, and Jesus could have continued.  In between each is a quote from Isaiah 66:24 regarding their worm and the fire that is unquenchable.  When the KJV was written, they had a particular number of known Greek manuscripts from which to determine what the text originally said.  The scholars of that day felt the repetition of verses 44, 46, and 48 were original.  There have been many more manuscripts discovered over the years since then (the most famous being the Dead Sea Scrolls).  Some of these manuscripts do not have verse 44 and 46, but they do have verse 48.  To many scholars today, it appears that the statement of verses 44 and 46 were not originally there.  That means it was only stated once at the end.  Of course, the repetitive structure of this teaching would imply that it applies at those places too.

Whether such scholars are right in this judgment or not, notice that the absence of verses 44 and 46 do not change the meaning and their presence is definitely implied.  The absence or presence of these verses, therefore, are not a problem for the biblical reader.  Nothing is lost or gained in either decision.  Now, let’s get to the particulars of this second warning.

Verses 43 through 48 all represent a reiterative, second warning.  This warning can be taken as towards the offender and the offended.  It begs the question of what exactly is “causing” us to sin.  In the end, no one can make me sin by being offensive, or by being such that stirs up the desire in me to offend them.  The issues of sin are deeper than what others have done to me.  Notice that the thing that causes me to sin here is not another person, but rather parts of my own body, a hand, a foot, and an eye. 

The structure of this warning draws us into the deeper issues such as who do I blame?  It is easy to blame others for my sin, but James 1:14 tells us, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”  Yet, the warning mentions the parts of our body that are often used to act out the sin.  It would definitely be harder to sin without hands, feet and eyes (and we could add brains at this point).  Jesus is using the obvious external things to connect to the hidden internal things that cause us to sin.  It is not the presence of a hand that causes a person to steal, but the internal evil desire takes advantage of the fact that they do have hands.

What Jesus does here is extremely powerful.  We can all imagine the horrors of cutting our own hand or foot off.  Yikes!  I do not believe that Jesus ever intended that people would actually do this.  However, neither do I want to mitigate the power of what he is doing.  Such a drastic act is extremely rare.  There is a story of a hiker, Aron Ralston, whose hand was pinned by rock in Utah.  He could not get free, until he imagined the possibility of cutting his hand off.  He lives today because of his courage.  Most people would have died in that same spot.  To the degree that the outward physical act seems outrageous, is the degree to which we should go in fighting against the internal.  In fact, it begs the question of effective ways to fight against strongly entrenched desires.  It can be a combination of drastic external and internal changes that set us free from the control of sin in our life.

The person addicted to pornography does not need to gouge their eyes out, but they do need to get drastic about cutting off things in their hearts and in their daily activity.  They need to get drastic about their computer usage, and accountability to other people in their life.  We can say things like: “But I need to have my smart phone with a data plan,” or “There is no verse that says I can’t have a computer!”  Yet, all of such things are only the protestations of a corrupt desire.  We must get drastic because our sin can cause us to go to hell.    It is better to live this life without something and make it to heaven than to keep it and end up in hell because of it.  Which is more important to you?

The word for hell in this passage is “Gehenna” in the Greek.  It translates a Hebrew word that means the Valley of Hinnom.  In the past, the English word “hell” was used to translate several Greek words, which has caused much confusion.  The word “Hades” refers to the grave, a spiritual holding place for all who have died.  There they await the judgment.  It is not properly hell.  However, the condition that one experiences in the grave is clearly connected to a person’s eventual judgment.  Thus, the rich man of Luke 16:23 was in torments in Hades.  It was hot and he desired just a drop of water from the finger of Lazarus who was in the paradise of Abraham’s bosom.

Gehenna literally refers to the valley southwest of Jerusalem, which connects with the Kidron valley which comes from the east side of Jerusalem.  Let me just list some Old Testament passages that will give us background to the sinister connotations of Gehenna.  2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6; Jeremiah 7:31-32; 32:35. At one point in Israel’s history, a place called Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom (GeHinnom/Gehenna) had an altar or a high place to the false god Molech.  There many Israelites, including some of their kings, burned their children as sacrifices to the false god of the Ammonites in hopes of fertility in crops and more children, and in hope of success in war.  The idea is that you show the god your devotion and he rewards you with these other things.  We may shudder at child sacrifice, but it really is an extremely pragmatic proposition.  This was always called an abomination, thing of abhorrence, to the God of Israel, the One True God.  Isaiah particularly uses Topheth as a picture of the burning wrath of God that was coming for the wicked.  Isaiah 30:33 and 66:24 are his descriptions of something that is more than a place on earth of judgment on the wicked, but is a judgment of a fire that never goes out.

Gehenna properly connects to the Lake of Fire in the book of Revelation, not the grave.  There we see it is the Second Death that all men and spirits must face.  We will either be judged worthy to enter into eternal life, or we will be given eternal judgment.  Whether you think such a judgment is warranted or not, we must hear the warning of Jesus.  It is better to go through this life without something that keeps leading us to sin, than to end up in the Lake of Fire with that thing.  What good do eyes do me if I am in the Lake of Fire?  None whatsoever.  The emphasis is not so much that you will go to heaven without your hand, etc.  This says nothing about resurrection.  The emphasis is on your condition when you “enter” the next stage.  I enter life as a man who had lost his hand, but I avoid the Lake of Fire because of my sacrifices in this life.  I won’t continue on this theme. 

Let me just end it by saying that Jesus spoke of Gehenna to religious people and always as a warning that was intended to shock them out of lethargy concerning their sin.  You do not see him trying to scare those who don’t know God with the reality of hell.

Don’t let the trials of this life rob you of peace with one another

We need to bring this to a close, so let’s quickly look at these last two verses.  The desire to be the greatest threatened to rob the disciples of peace between each other in this life, and potentially peace internally in the life to come.  Jesus challenges us not to let the trials of this life rob us of our peace.

When he says that everyone will be seasoned with fire, he uses imagery that represents the trials and occasions of stumbling into sin that come upon us in this life.  We would probably use the word “peppered.”  We are peppered with fiery trials and temptations in this life.  It is impossible to avoid them.  We can focus upon the people who put the stumbling blocks in front of us and blame them, but that won’t deliver us from the temptations.  You can’t avoid it through the blame game.  You must deal with sin in your own life, or become a casualty to it.

Thus, our lives are called to be a sacrifice (living sacrifice) here on this earth.  The lives of the righteous are a sacrifice in the sense that we go through these fiery trials for the glory of God and in honor of him.  We become an acceptable sacrifice that is pleasing to God when we put our faith in Jesus, pick up our cross, and follow him.  The lives of the wicked are a sacrifice in the sense that they are an unacceptable sacrifice that is not pleasing to God.  Thus, eternity is not pictured as being salted with fire, but being immersed in a Lake of Fire with no moments of reprieve.  We must not kid ourselves that hell describes our life here without God.  No, such is only a foretaste of something far worse, walled off from the goodness of God.

To follow Jesus is compared to remaining salty.  In Colossians 4:6, Paul says, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”  The more that we live out the godly character of Jesus, the more that we will have peace with one another.  Of course, it takes two to tango.  So, you can only focus upon your part of the equation.  I don’t want to be a source of trial that causes you to sin.

Gehenna is the negative motivation for not wanting to hurt one another.  However, peace and eternal life are the real motivations that ought to spur us on to love and forgiveness with each other.  Ultimately, we need to see that we will not have rest, in this life or the next, until we desire to be like Jesus more than we desire the lust of our flesh, the lust of our eyes, and the pride of this life.

Causing to Stumble Audio

For Want Of A Better Life

May 17, 2015- Luke 16:19-31

Today we will be looking at the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.  This parable is meant to be the “other side” of the parable of the shrewd manager at the beginning of the chapter.  That is, the first parable emphasizes that believers should be shrewd in how they manage their wealth and possessions.  However, this parable emphasizes the dire consequences of not listening to the wisdom of Jesus.  Thus, as Jesus warned in the earlier parable that the “sons of light” were not very wise, here we see a “son of light” living out that very foolishness.  It is also important to recognize that Lazarus is himself an Israelite.  Thus there is not a racial element to this parable. 

A Great Contrast In This Life

The story opens up by giving us the extreme contrast in these two men’s lives.  They are the extremes of their society:  one very rich and the other very poor.  The rich man is full of abundance in every way.  He knows no need nor lives in want of anything.   He also wears the finest of clothing.  Now there were several words for a poor person in those days.  One emphasized a person who lived from paycheck to paycheck and from day to day.  They had some means of income but were hard pressed in keeping the essentials of their lives covered.  The word for this poor man is used of a person who has no ability to make an income.  This person has been reduced to begging for the kindness of others in order to live.  Thus this person is not just poor.  He has had something happen in his life to where he cannot care for himself and lives completely at the mercy of others.  The rich man is full of abundance, but Lazarus is full of sores.  Whatever these sores were they had incapacitated him.  This contrast of being full can be extended to their life as a whole.  The rich man is full of all that is good in life and Lazarus seems to have all that is bad and difficult.

Lastly we can look at the statement in verse 19 that the rich man “lived sumptuously” everyday (or lived in luxury).  The phrase is literally “was made glad splendidly every day.”  Yet, the poor man longed for just the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table.  It doesn’t seem likely that Lazarus was given any crumbs since this detail is not mentioned.  Someone had put Lazarus at his gate because they knew he could afford to help Lazarus out.  But the story Jesus tells clearly paints a picture of the rich man ignoring Lazarus.  In fact the lack of compassion and help from the rich man is contrasted with the dogs that would come and lick his sores.  Lazarus could not afford medical attention, but it is only dogs who “treat” his sores.

A Great Contrast In The Afterlife

It matters not how soon it was between their deaths.  But in the story we quickly transition from this life to the afterlife.  We have seen how things were in this life.  But how will things be when their soul goes into the hereafter?  Many reject the idea of an afterlife.  But the Bible is clear that after this life we will have to give an account for how we have lived.  Those who have honored God in their life will fare well, but those who have not honored God in their life will fare poorly.

There are two very different destinations involved.  Now some Bible scholars tell us to not take the details given as truth about the afterlife.  Their logic goes something like this.  A parable is only intended to express a simple spiritual truth.  Thus to pour more meaning into the smaller elements of the story is to force it to teach more than Jesus intended.  I can appreciate that and believe that it is true.  However, what they neglect to recognize is this; parables are always true to life stories.  They may not be about a specific situation but they are in general true to life pictures of a spiritual truth.  Take this further as we think about the parable of the soils.  No one tries to argue that it is going too far when someone speculates that first century Israelites must have been involved in and knew much about agriculture.  Even though agriculture is not the spiritual message of the parable, Jesus uses a true to life picture about agriculture in order to hammer home a spiritual message.  The parable here today happens to be about the afterlife.  Of course no one can go check it out and come back to verify this.  Yet, Jesus tells a story that is true to life regarding the afterlife, and we have no reason to doubt this.  This is not an Aesop’s fable that is never meant to be taken as real.  It is a warning of very real things.

One destination is that of Abraham’s bosom and the other is the flames of Hades.  Let’s first deal with the term Hades.  Hades was the underworld where the dead went when they died.  The Hebrews adopted it as roughly synonymous with their word “Sheol,” which simply meant the grave (not so much the hole the body was placed in, but rather the holding place of the spirit).  Now using the word Hades does not mean that every Greek idea about Hades was correct.  Technically Abraham’s bosom would be a part of Sheol or Hades.  The story clearly represents two experiences in the afterlife that are as different as the two lives the rich man and Lazarus had in this life.  Abraham’s bosom was the place where those approved of God went.   Abraham is named not because he created it, but rather he represents those who respond in faith to God.  There is no real mention of what the conditions are except by contrast of what the rich man is experiencing.  The rich man ends up in the flames of Hades because he live was not approved by God.  Regardless of what you think about this parable one thing is clear, there is a good to gain and a bad to avoid in the afterlife and you would do well to heed this truth.

Lazarus is in a place of comfort that he was denied throughout his earthly life, whereas the rich man is tormented.  There are flames and he thirsts terribly.  It is interesting that this torment parallels the torment that Lazarus endured in his earthly life.  We should be careful of pushing the description of the flames of Hades too far.  This is a spiritual place and the rich man is only a spirit.  He suffers something that is like what a flame is to the earthly person.  He also suffers what is like thirst to an earthly person.  Whatever this torment is exactly, it is clear that we are shown comfort and torment as two very different destinations. 

The rich man has now become a poor man in the afterlife and is found begging for merely a drop of water.  Yet, Lazarus is in no such need and we do not see him asking for anything.  We can see the desperation in the ex-rich man as he reduces himself to asking for Lazarus to touch his finger to his tongue with a drop of water.  This is something he would never have conceived of asking for in his previous life and corresponds with the “crumbs from the table” that Lazarus longed for.  Thus we see the two destinations are one of no need and the other of great need.

Lastly we are told that there is no possibility of help from the righteous.  One of the sad things in this story is that Lazarus would have no doubt helped the man if he could.  The righteous are of the type that they will help others even when they have been evil to them.  But by God’s decree a separation has been put in place so that the wicked souls of men may receive no comfort from the righteous.  Notice that this life is the time for helping others and changing our condition and fate.  But in the afterlife we are receiving justice from god and thus may not be helped.  You can say that this is unfair and you couldn’t serve a God who would do such a thing.  Yet, ask yourself, what am I doing about my condition in eternity now?  Jesus is warning his listeners to take this life seriously.  How you life in this life will determine your destination in the life to come.

How Can People’s Minds Be Changed?

At this point the discussion changes because the rich man realizes the finality of his situation.  And yet, there are others who are still living on earth.  They don’t realize how serious their life is in light of the afterlife.  The rich man realizes that they need to be warned or they will end up where he is.  But how can that be done?  Particularly he has 5 brothers whom he knows are living much like he did.  They are not living for God and by His commands.  Most likely they are just as rich as he and just as stingy toward the hurting.  He comes up with a plan to send Lazarus back from the dead in order to warn them.  Now an interesting point to note here is that Jesus actually did resurrect a man named Lazarus from the dead.  We do not know for sure if this parable was told before or after the resurrection event.  Either way, Jesus is either hinting towards what he was going to do, or pointing out that what had been done was not going to change people’s minds.

Abraham is not really in a position to send Lazarus back.  Only God has the power of resurrection.  However, he does tell the rich man that “Moses and the prophets” are enough.  If they won’t believe that then they won’t believe a man coming back from the dead.  Now the Old Testament has all the required warnings of what is to come and the justice of God that looms over those who do not take Him seriously.  It even has the shock value of amazing signs and wonders accompanying it to get people’s attention.  Even today, we can say that God’s Word has been made even more powerful with the perfect testimony of Jesus and his own death and resurrection.  Those who want an amazing miracle today in order to believe do not recognize the fickle nature of the hearts of men.  The declarations of the prophets are enough.  Those who reject that will not change their minds by any great miracles.

Now the rich man envisions that if someone came back to life and told the story of what they saw there, it would be enough to convince people.  However, it can be difficult to take a person’s word as absolutely true.  Perhaps your dying mind only conjured up those images and somehow you survived thinking they were real.  Perhaps you are a charlatan who is only trying to get attention and sell books.  We have seen recently that some accounts of experiencing the afterlife were later confessed to being completely made up.  Thus the situation itself is unverifiable.  If we don’t want to believe something we will always find a way to dismiss evidence to the contrary.  Abraham says that if they won’t accept Moses and the prophets they won’t accept the testimony of someone who came back from the dead.  What are the excuses we often lay before God today?  We often say that God should do something more spectacular or clearer to prove Himself.  Always, we place ourselves in command and tell God to jump through our hoops and then we will believe.  Yet, have you ever considered that you are not being completely honest?  It is easy to say, yet God says back that you have received all you need in order to believe.  Anything more will not make a difference to your heart.

The wonderful thing to note in this parable is that God in His grace has given us the best of both.  He has given us His Word along with spectacular signs and wonders.  In it we can hear the truth and be drawn to honor God with our lives.  Yet, His Son Jesus has come back from the dead.  Notice, though, that Jesus does not come back from the dead and testify what He saw there.  Jesus actually does the opposite.  Throughout his life he taught the truths of heaven and then predicted that he would be killed and come back to life.  Thus with Jesus the resurrection becomes proof that he knew what he was talking about.  No one today who verifiably “dies on the table” and then comes back can claim this.  Thus God has given us more than what we need in order to believe.  So do you?  If you want a better destination than the rich man in this parable, then you had better learn to use the blessings in your life in order to help the hurting.  God is merciful to those who are merciful and merciless to those who are merciless.

Better Life audio