Challenging Verses (Matthew 18:8-9)

Another challenging verse comes in Matthew 18:8-9. Jesus is talking about sin and temptation to the disciples. Jesus startles us when he says this, “So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.” 

What is Jesus saying here? Is he asking us to sever limbs because of our sins? The context of this bewildering saying starts at the beginning of the chapter. Jesus’ disciples come to ask him a question. That question is who is the greatest in the kingdom? They were probably expecting Jesus to tell them which one of them was the greatest but they got a much different response.  

Jesus calls a child to him and tells the disciples that whoever is humble as a child, will be the greatest. He also states that anyone who welcomes those who follow Jesus is like welcoming Jesus himself. But those who tempt God’s children to sin are like those who throw themselves into the sea to drown. Jesus is using parables here to answer the disciples’ question of who is the greatest. 

So this challenging verse comes next in this sequence of teachings. People who tempt others knowingly and cause themself or others to sin should deal with their sin seriously. It would be better for those people if they were to cut off the parts of their body that help them commit sin. Jesus is trying to convict us of the seriousness of sin and the destructive nature of it. 

We should deal with our sin now, rather than not deal with it and meet hell as our ultimate destination. If we deal with our sin now, we will enter eternal life in the end and then we will be in the kingdom of God.