Have You Ever Played the Game “Would You Rather”?

It’s a Fun Game, So Let’s Play it for a Minute

You Don’t have to Answer Out Loud…

But I’ll Give My Answers Just for Fun

Would You Rather Be an Animal that Flies or Swims?

My Answer: Animal that Flies (Ocean Predators Everywhere)

Would You Rather Be Able to Time-Travel or Teleport?

My Answer: Teleport (I Want to See the World, Not Livingston 500 Years Ago)

Would You Rather Be Forced to Sing Along to Every Song You Hear…

Or Be Forced to Dance to Every Song You Hear?

My Answer: Singing (I’d Much Rather Sing than Dance in Public)

Would You Rather Live in a Place that is Always Extremely Hot…

Or a Place that is Always Extremely Cold?

My Answer: Hot (Air Conditioning and Swimming Pools Exist)

Would You Rather Be 15 Feet Tall or 1 Foot Tall?

My Answer: 1 Foot (Too Much Back Pain to have to Bend Over Everywhere)

Last One, and it’s Going to Be a Little More Serious/Intense

Would You Rather have a Large Boulder Tied to Your Neck and Be Thrown in the Ocean…

Or Experience the Wrath of God?

Did You Know that Jesus Actually Answers this One for Us?

In Our Text this Morning…

He Tells His Disciples that Drowning the Bottom of the Ocean…

Is Much Better than Experiencing the Wrath of God

Matthew 18:5-9

We are in the 4th of the 5 Major Teaching Discourses of Jesus

This Discourse is All About Relationships in the Kingdom:

How We are to Treat One Another, as Citizens of God’s Kingdom

Last Week We Studied:

Matthew 18:1–4 (NASB95)

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

As Citizens of Jesus’ Kingdom, We are:

To Take the Lowly/Humble Status of a Child

To Serve One Another, Not Seek to Be Served By One Another

As I Mentioned Last Week…

This Teaching Discourse is Connected From Beginning to End

Our Text this Morning is Linked to Last Week’s

Last Week, the Focus was on Becoming Insignificant and Humble Like a Child

This Week, the Focus is on God’s Love and Desire to Protect…

Those Who Become Like Little Children

And How We Ought to Love and Desire Their Protection too

Matthew 18:5–6 (NASB95)

5 “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Jesus isn’t Talking About Receiving Literal Children

He’s Talking About “Little Ones Who Believe in” Him

He’s Referring to Disciples Who are of the Humble Status of a Child

To “Receive” a Humble Disciple in His Name is to “Receive” Him

“Receive” can Mean Many Things

To Welcome; To Accept; To Show Hospitality

To “Receive” Them is:

To Welcome Them into the Kingdom Community

To Accept Them as a Sibling in Christ

To Serve Them and Care for Their Needs

To Do this for Them Because of Our Devotion to King Jesus…

Is to Do it for Jesus Himself

How We Treat Those Who are Considered Least Important…

Those Who are Humble, Lowly, and Needy…

Is How We Treat Jesus

The Opposite of Receiving/Welcoming/Accepting/Caring for/Loving Them…

Is Causing Them to Stumble

To “Cause to Stumble” is to Cause Them to Sin or Abandon Their Faith

What’s Worse:

To Sin?

Or to Cause Someone Else to Sin?

According to Jesus, the Answer is Easy

To Cause Someone Else to Sin is Far Worse

Not Only are You Abandoning the Way of the Kingdom…

But You’re Leading Others to Do the Same

It would Be Better for You to have a Heavy Millstone…

Hung Around Your Neck…

And Be Drowned in the Sea…

Than to Cause One of Jesus’ Humble Disciples to Sin

A Millstone Looked Like this

Women would Use Them to Make Olive Oil

You Walk in a Circle Crushing the Olives with the Millstone

But this is Not the Kind of Millstone Jesus is Talking About

“Heavy Millstone” is Literally “Millstone of a Donkey”

This is a Much Larger Millstone that would Need to Be Pulled By a Donkey

The Horizontal Bar would Be Connected to a Donkey’s Harness

As the Donkey Walked in Circles…

The Millstone would Crush the Grain

The “Depth of the Sea” Refers to the Open Sea

That is: the Deepest Part of the Sea

Some Ancient Cultures, Like the Romans, Macedonians, and Greeks…

Actually Practiced this Form of Execution

Jesus Says it’s Far Better to Suffer the Terrifying, Torturous Death…

Of Rapidly Sinking to the Cold, Dark Bottom of the Ocean…

Sucking in Water with Every Attempt to Breathe…

Than to Suffer the Wrath of God…

That’s Coming for Those Who Cause Others to Sin

The Judgment of God is Worse than Anything We can Possibly Imagine

Matthew 18:7 (NASB95)

7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

In this Fallen World…

Things that Cause Christians to Be Tempted to Sin and Forsake Jesus are Everywhere

But May We Never Be the Cause!

“Woe” - Pain, Grief, Agony, Horror

Pain, Grief, Agony, and Horror Be Upon the One Who Causes Others to Sin

Matthew 18:8–9 (NASB95)

8 “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. 9 “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.

Jesus Said this, Almost Verbatim, in the Sermon on the Mount

And His Point was:

If Anything Causes You to Sin or Forsake Jesus…

It Needs to Be Quickly and Decisively Gotten Rid of

It Sounds Drastic Because it is

Eternal Life is Worth Any Sacrifice

We Must Radically Reject Anything that will Lead to Sin

In the Sermon on the Mount, this Teaching was More for the Individual

But this Teaching Discourse is All About Relationships in the Kingdom Community

Because the Context is Different Here…

There are 3 Different Ways to Interpret this Teaching:

1.) I Need to Cut Out Whatever Causes Me to Sin

This was Jesus’ Point in the Sermon on the Mount

But Because this Teaching Discourse is All About How We Treat One Another…

This Command May Be for More than Just the Individual

2.) I Need to Cut Out Whatever Causes Others to Sin

If My Sin Causes Others in the Kingdom Community to Sin…

Then I Need to Cut it Out and Throw it Away

The Penalty is Steeper Now

It’s Not Just My Own Life that I’m Jeopardizing…

It’s the Lives of My Siblings in Christ

3.) The Church Needs to Cut Out Whoever Causes Others to Sin

We Call this “Church Discipline”

Jesus will Go into Detail on this Topic in Verses 15-20

When a Part of the Body is Shown to Be Infected…

It Must Be Cut Off Before it can Affect the Rest of the Body

It’s Better to Lose a Body Part…

Than for the Whole Body to Be Destroyed

Jesus’ Teaching Here is Radical

He’s Calling Us to Rid Ourselves of Things We Deem Important

If Something in My Life is Causing Me to Sin…

Regardless of What it is or How Important it is to Me…

I Must Get Rid of it

If Something in My Life is Causing Others to Sin…

Regardless of What it is or How Important it is to Me…

I Must Get Rid of it

If Someone in the Church is Causing Others to Sin…

Regardless of Who it is or How Important They are to Us…

We Must Deal Swiftly and Decisively with Them

Not Because We are Mean and Like to Discipline Each Other

But Because Lives are at Stake

And Judgment is Coming

Regardless of Which Interpretation is Correct…

These are All True Principles of Kingdom Living

And Each of These Teachings Must Be Obeyed By Kingdom Citizens

We Must Cut Out Whatever Causes Us to Sin

We Must Cut Out Whatever Causes Others to Sin

And We Must Cut Out Whoever Causes Others to Sin

Application

In this Portion of Jesus’ Teaching on Kingdom Relationships…

We’re Taught to Receive/Welcome/Accept/Care for/Love…

Those of His Kingdom Who are Humble/Lowly/Helpless/Needy

To Love the Least of Jesus’ People is to Love Jesus Himself

Jesus will Later Teach this Same Principle Again…

But in More Detail

Matthew 25:34–40 (NIV)

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

According to Jesus, this is a Salvation Issue

Those Who Love the Least in His Kingdom will Receive Eternal Life

Those Who Don’t Love the Least in His Kingdom will Receive Eternal Punishment

How Do I Treat the Needy of Jesus’ Church?

How Do I Treat the Broken-Hearted?

How Do I Treat the Lonely?

How Do I Treat the Sick?

How Do I Treat Those Who No One Else will Give the Time of Day?

How I Treat Them is How I Treat King Jesus