{"id":793,"date":"2022-09-13T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy-cam.tempurl.host\/gospeladventure\/?p=793&2022"},"modified":"2022-09-08T18:03:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T00:03:08","slug":"footless-and-free-matthew-18-7-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/footless-and-free-matthew-18-7-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Footless and Free: Matthew 18:7-11"},"content":{"rendered":"
Focus Passage: Matthew 18:7-11 (NASB)<\/div>

7<\/sup>\u00a0“Woe to the world because of 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>

8<\/sup>\u00a0“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> 9<\/sup>\u00a0If 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>

10<\/sup>\u00a0“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> 11<\/sup>\u00a0[*<\/span>Early mss do not contain this v<\/span>For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.<\/span>]<\/p>

Read Matthew 18:7-11<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n

Throughout the gospels, we can find some pretty extreme things in Jesus\u2019 teaching. One of the most extreme is found during Jesus\u2019 teaching about stumbling blocks that we may face.<\/p>\r\n

After focusing on external causes of things that might cause someone to stumble in their faith, Jesus turns His focus onto our own bodies. To emphasize His point, Jesus says, \u201cIf 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. 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.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 8-9)<\/p>\r\n

In this description, Mark gets even more specific and descriptive than Matthew, but instead of focusing on the graphic nature of what Jesus is describing, what is Jesus actually trying to teach us? Is Jesus saying that Christians should be the most self-inflicted, disabled group of individuals around? Is Jesus being symbolic or is this literal?<\/p>\r\n

As I read this, it appears as though Jesus is being literal, because nothing in this description sounds symbolic in my mind. However, with that said, I believe that in this teaching, Jesus wants us to realize the importance of personal accountability towards God.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps it is something that has only happened in recent generations, but it seems that too many people living in the 21st century have developed the attitude of blaming others for their problems. We live in a \u201cnot my fault\u201d society. If it is clearly obvious that someone did something, then more often than not, they are quick to shift the blame.<\/p>\r\n

With this framework in place, if a part of our body causes us to sin, and we truly believe it is that part\u2019s fault, then Jesus\u2019 words in this passage apply. It would be like a compulsive thief\/murderer blaming their hands for their actions rather than taking responsibility for what they have done. Jesus\u2019 statement in this passage says that it would be better for them to remove their hands rather than continue to sin.<\/p>\r\n

When pushed to this extreme, most people would be willing to \u201cwill\u201d their minds into controlling their actions to change their sinful habits. Most people would prefer to change their behavior using their minds rather than lose a hand, an arm, or an eye.<\/p>\r\n

But Jesus also elevates the importance of the future life in this statement. In this extreme, Jesus tells us that we should let nothing get in our way from moving towards heaven. If anything might cause us to miss out on eternal life with God, then that thing \u2013 even if it is attached to our temporary bodies \u2013 is not worth having.<\/p>\r\n

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p>

Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Throughout the gospels, we can find some pretty extreme things in Jesus\u2019 teaching. One of the most extreme is found during Jesus\u2019 teaching about stumbling blocks that we may face. After focusing on external causes of things that might cause someone to stumble in their faith, Jesus turns His focus onto our own bodies. To […]","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-793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"\nFootless and Free: 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\/footless-and-free-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=\"Footless and Free: Matthew 18:7-11 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Throughout the gospels, we can find some pretty extreme things in Jesus\u2019 teaching. 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