{"id":792,"date":"2023-12-12T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=792&2023"},"modified":"2023-12-07T17:00:24","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T00:00:24","slug":"jesus-gives-a-death-sentence-matthew-18-7-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-gives-a-death-sentence-matthew-18-7-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Gives a Death Sentence: Matthew 18:7-11"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: Matthew 18:7-11 (NASB)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\" style=\"display: none;\"><p><sup>7<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">&#8220;Woe to the world because of <em>its<\/em> stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!<\/span> <\/p><p><sup>8<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">&#8220;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.<\/span> <sup>9<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">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.<\/span> <\/p><p><sup>10<\/sup>\u00a0<span class=\"red-letter\">&#8220;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.<\/span> <sup>11<\/sup>\u00a0[<span class=\"red-letter\"><span class=\"tooltiptrigger\">*<\/span><span class=\"tooltip\">Early mss do not contain this v<\/span>For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.<\/span>]<\/p><p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=matthew 18:7-11&amp;version=NASB\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">Matthew 18:7-11<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>In Jesus\u2019 teaching, probably the greatest warning He ever gives is to those who cause others to stumble or lose faith. When addressing this group of people, Jesus shares some pretty harsh remarks.<\/p>\r\n<p>Matthew records one of the statements Jesus made. In this statement, Jesus warns us that challenges are destined to come, but we should strive to not be the source of those challenges. Matthew tells us Jesus said, \u201c<strong>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!<\/strong>\u201d (v. 7)<\/p>\r\n<p>This statement does not mean that we should not challenge other believers regarding sin in their lives. That is a separate issue. This statement has more to do with those who share cynical statements regarding faith and belief in an attempt to shake someone\u2019s faith in God. This warning is directed to the atheist or cynic who is actively trying to break a Christian\u2019s faith in God.<\/p>\r\n<p>Matthew also includes Jesus\u2019 follow-up statement a few verses later. To add to this warning, Jesus said, \u201c<strong>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.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 10)<\/p>\r\n<p>Mark\u2019s gospel even shares this idea in a more extreme way where He describes Jesus saying, \u201c<strong>Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.<\/strong>\u201d (Mark 9:42)<\/p>\r\n<p>When I read the phrase \u201clittle ones\u201d, my first reaction is to think of children \u2013 and this is one very valid way of reading this statement. When someone commits a crime against a child, they should receive little to no sympathy from the courts or jury.<\/p>\r\n<p>However, another way to read the phrase \u201clittle ones\u201d is to think of the brand new Christ-followers. In some ways, this aligns with Mark\u2019s version of Jesus\u2019 statement because Mark included the idea of belief attached to the phrase \u201clittle ones\u201d. Regardless of their body\u2019s age, understanding the phrase this way describes people who are starting their faith journey and who are on fire for God.<\/p>\r\n<p>When understanding that this statement could be applied to brand new Christians, it makes even more sense that there would be those who would \u201cdespise\u201d (hate) them. Not many adults truly despise children, but plenty of people who hate God despise those who claim to follow Him.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Jesus tells us that people will challenge our faith, but just because challenges come, we shouldn\u2019t focus on the challenge. Instead, in some ways, we maybe should feel sorry for the person who is giving the challenge. It is the person who challenges another\u2019s faith that Jesus gives this warning to. Our response when challenged is to stay focused on Jesus and to share His love with others \u2013 even towards those who despise us.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--792\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '792');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Jesus\u2019 teaching, probably the greatest warning He ever gives is to those who cause others to stumble or lose faith. When addressing this group of people, Jesus shares some pretty harsh remarks. Matthew records one of the statements Jesus made. In this statement, Jesus warns us that challenges are destined to come, but we [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[2],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jesus Gives a Death Sentence: Matthew 18:7-11 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/jesus-gives-a-death-sentence-matthew-18-7-11\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jesus Gives a Death Sentence: Matthew 18:7-11 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Jesus\u2019 teaching, probably the greatest warning He ever gives is to those who cause others to stumble or lose faith. 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