Temptations will come:
One day Jesus said to His disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting! It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin.
Luke 17:1-2
What does it mean?
What are the temptations referred to? The Greek word used is [skandalon]. This word is translated in different ways among the versions:
- obstacles (JB)
- offenses (KJV)
- scandals (NAB)
- stumbling-blocks (NASB)
- hindrances (Moffat)
- things that cause people to sin (NIV)
- temptations (RSV)
The root word refers to the bait stick of a trap. I.e. that which is the trigger or the bait to our problems, sins, hindrances or stumbling blocks. The initial lure by which we are enticed to sin, err or go astray. The focus here is not so much the committal of sin on the part of the disciples. (Remember this is addressed to the disciples.) The thrust of the statement is more on the “causation of sin in others”. Temptations are inevitable. They are going to come as sure as the sunrise tomorrow. But don’t let them come through you! Don’t you be the reason for causing another person to stumble.
Woe! The sense of [ouai] – “woe” here is not simply an exclamation of surprise at it happening. Whoa. Oh, Woe! The woe is the end result of a stumbling block being caused for someone else. The focus is on the curse, the punishment, the resultant fallout from being the one to cause a brother or sister to stumble.
This is a serious sin to commit, to cause another person to sin or stumble in their faith or their walk with God. Death by drowning is much more preferable. And the drowning is not accidental drowning. It is being drowned deliberately as a punishment. Just imagine for a moment what is written here. They will attach a millstone around your neck and then throw you in the sea. This word millstone [lithos mulikos], literally a stone belonging to the mill, refers to two large stones used in the mill. The reference is not to a small hand grinder but to the much heavier stone pulled by a donkey. There was a large, fixed, lower stone and a slightly smaller, upper stone which rotated about its central point. That stone was very large and had a hole approximately the circumference of a human neck, through which the grain was poured, then ground between the two millstones.It would have fitted the description well.
Charming! That is tantamount to capital punishment. There is no coming back from that being attached around your neck and thrown into the depths of the sea. Therefore, the point is that if you do something to cause someone’s spiritual downfall, it would be better if you died a violent death than to commit such an act. The verb is perfect tense indicating that the millstone death in the sea takes place before the leading astray. So therefore, you don’t end up committing the heinous act, but rather, suffer a violent death to prevent you from committing the other worse act. Thus the point is to scare you off committing the offence rather to punish you for having committed it.
Who are the “little ones” referred to?
The word may refer to children. It could refer to disciples. If it was meant for disciples, then those referred to are beginners, immature disciples; those who are just starting out. It’s not likely referring to the twelve disciples themselves. It may refer to the poor. If it refers to the poor, then the “little ones” suggests weak feeble people of low rank. Note also the use of the demonstrative “these”, meaning Jesus is pointing to a group of people who were present at the time.
What is the context? At this point I am merely putting out the question for you to think about. We will consider this as we go along in order to anchor this segment in some kind of context to be able to understand it better.
Your power to resist temptation is proportionate to your submission to God.
A R Bernard
To defeat temptation you must first recognize how it happens.
Ian Vail
Great people make others feel great. Small people make others feel small.
Rick Warren
The more aware you are of your own sinfulness, the more gracious you are to others. Judging others reveals self-righteousness.
Rick Warren