“And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.”
If anyone causes one of these little ones — those who believe in me — to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea — the warning against causing stumbling is the severity side of the cup-of-water teaching. Little ones who believe are the vulnerable members of the community — the newly converted, the socially marginal, those whose faith is not yet robust. Causing them to stumble (skandalizō) is the opposite of the welcoming-the-child teaching. The millstone hyperbole communicates the absolute seriousness of spiritual harm done to the vulnerable.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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