Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.  If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where

'Their worm does not die,
And the fire is not quenched.'

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where

'Their worm does not die,
And the fire is not quenched.'

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire -- where

'Their worm does not die,
And the fire is not quenched.'

For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.  Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."

- Mark 9:42-50

Yesterday, we read that Jesus and His disciples went and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it.  For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise the third day."  But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.  Then He came to Capernaum.  And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?"  But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.  And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."  Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them.  And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."  Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us."  But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is on our side.  For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.  If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched -- where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'  And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire -- where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'"   My study bible calls these verses "one of the sternest warnings Christ ever gave."  Here, it's directed at the disciples. A note reads: "Little ones, like the 'little children' [verse 37, in yesterday's reading], are humble believers with no pretensions to greatness.  Leaders are to be 'last'; faithful and serving.  A major cause of stumbling for Christians is that their leaders seek to be great.  To bring leaders to servanthood, Jesus requires not physical mutilation but uncompromising detachment, even from the most precious relationships or possessions, if they cause sin.  As a negative motivation, he portrays eternal torment."   The repeated verses are from Isaiah 66:24; "hell" here is Gehenna.

"For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.  Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."  My study bible tells us, "This difficult passage, directed specifically to the disciples, mixes both negative and positive images of salt.  This may be a combination of statements made by Jesus in different contexts:  (1)  The fire with which everyone will be seasoned (lit. 'salted') seems to refer back to the fire of judgment (vv. 47, 48).  (2)  Every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt tells us suffering will happen to all who follow Christ, a positive experience when undertaken in humble faith.  (3)  Salt is good (v. 50) refers to the special quality of life expected of disciples, particularly those whom Christ has called to spread His gospel.  Have peace with one another suggests that one way to lose flavor as salt is to be striving for greatness (v. 34)."

We note that Jesus' warning here is to the disciples, those who would become leaders and teachers in the Church; the great warning is over doing anything that causes one of the little ones to stumble.  Their responsibility must be taken as seriously as possible;  and the great way to assure their own seriousness is through humility.  That is the great message of today's reading.  Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught the disciples, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."  This was after they had been squabbling with one another about who was greatest, even as He'd just taught them that He Himself would suffer many things.  The next "step" in this teaching was to place a child in their midst, and to tell them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."   It is a consistent teaching on humility, on the importance of the littlest ones, on the essential need for leadership to place itself in the place of servanthood.  Finally, the disciples report they've seen others casting out demons in His name, and Jesus tells them more about humility:  "He who is not against us is on our side."   Whoever offers one in His name even a cup of water will not lose his reward, He told them.  But today we get the deeper and starker warnings about the need for humility, especially where the "little ones" who also bear His image are concerned.  We hear images from other Gospels, such as the Gospel of Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus speaks of cutting off a hand or foot, or plucking out an eye -- all preferable to losing everything in the purifying fire of God's love.  If God's love is a fire, then that which cannot be like it will perish in that fire.  It's better to live by adopting the humility to discard whatever seems a part of us that can't grasp and live out His words about how we treat the little ones -- especially those who feel called to leadership in this Church, a special responsibility that reflects on Him, to those to whom His "little ones" are entrusted.  If you've known the arrogance of hierarchs, who but for the love of Christ would drive "little ones" from their care, you understand the importance of these words.  Servanthood is not easy for one in a position of authority, but all of us are called to the kind of humility Jesus is talking about here.  The power of His words must not be lost to us because each one of us may be a teacher for someone else, an image, an example of our faith.  His words teach us that in every encounter with another person, we are to see Him in the midst, remember His presence, and convey the love He has, however we may be able to do so.  It doesn't mean we see everyone else as perfect, but it does mean we might think of how we'd like to be corrected, or perhaps the times we just can't hear a correction; all of these possibilities still exist in the eyes of love.  But, how can we bear love truly if we don't have humility?  How do we hear the words Christ gives us without humility?  How do we walk away with love, if necessary, without humility first?  Better to cast off anything we need to from ourselves, than to lose who we are in Him, in His love.  Better to sacrifice what we need to, for life.  The goal is to have salt in ourselves, and peace with one another. For this we may find ourselves seasoned with fire, and our sacrifices seasoned with salt!