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MARK 9:42 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Mark 9:41Mark 9:43
“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.

Church Fathers on Mark 9:42

John, loving the Lord with eminent devotion, thought that He who performed an office to which He had no right was to be excluded from the benefit of it.

Bede · 8th century

Or again, some unbelievers, seeing that the name of Jesus was full of virtue, themselves used it, and performed signs, though they were unworthy of Divine grace; for the Lord wished to extend His name even by the unworthy.

Theophylact · 11th century

We must take care that this saying of the Lord appear not to be contrary to that where He says, 'He who is not with Me is against Me.' [Luke 11:23] Or will any one say that the difference lies in that here He says to His disciples, 'For he that is not against you is on your part,' but in the other He speaks of Himself, 'He who is not with Me is against Me?' As if indeed it were possible [ed. note: St. Augustine has here quasi vero, instead of quasi non, which hardly makes…

Augustine · 4th century · de Con. Evan., 4, 5
Read all 9 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Mark 9:42 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy