NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Part III

Verse 7: “It is sorrowful that there are pitfalls in this world. Such instances will happen, but woe to the person who sets up such pitfalls.”

Jesus does not mince words in denouncing those who take innocent new believers and cause them to become discouraged, entrapped, or fall away from their faith. He expressed His sorrow that such things happen at all, especially for misconduct. But His main criticism was aimed at those who were evil enough to deliberately set up the snares and stumbling blocks that caused unsuspecting people to fall.

The Early Church fathers had much to say about this text. For instance, Origen believes: “Jesus is pronouncing woes on people scattered throughout the whole world who are subject to temptations. But the disciples, who do not contemplate the things that are seen, are not of the world. Neither is their Master of the world. Therefore, the woes do not apply to Jesus’ faithful disciples. Rather, ‘great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.‘”¹ Origen then says: “But there are some who appear to be disciples yet are still of the world. They love the world, and they love inordinately what is in it. They love the life that is led in these earthly places or the money which is in them, or the possessions or any resources whatsoever. The words ‘they are not of the world’ do not apply to them. But ‘woe for temptations to sin’ will apply to them since they are indeed of the world.”²

On the other hand, Chrysostom poses a question that may come from a skeptic: “If it is necessary that temptations come, why does Jesus call woe down on the world when He ought to help it and offer a hand? For this is the task of the physician and the protector. Cursing the world is what the man in the street does. So what are we to reply to this shameless questioner? What equal of this therapy do you seek? For though He is God, He was made man for you, took on the form of a servant, suffered all the harshest treatment and still did not fail in anything that was assigned Him. But because nothing further happened among ungrateful people, for this reason, He calls woe down on them, because after so much fostering care they continued in their unsoundness. It is just as if some sick man were enjoying fine care but refused to follow his physician’s regimen. Suppose someone lamented the patient, saying, ‘Woe to that man for his sickness, which he has increased by his own laxity!’ But in that case, no benefit comes from the lament. Here, however, there is also a kind of therapy, in that Jesus foretells what will happen and laments it.”³

Then Augustine asks: “What world are we speaking when we say ‘Woe to the world for temptations to sin?’ We speak of that world of which it is said, ‘And the world knew Him not.’⁴ We are not speaking of that world of which it is said, ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.’⁵ There is an evil world, and there is a good world. In the evil world are all the evil ones of this world. In the good world are all the good ones of this world. We often hear it said of a field: his field is full. Of what? Of wheat. Yet we say also, and say truly too, his field is full of chaff. So with a tree, one says that it is full of fruit while another says it is full of leaves. Both speak truly. The supply of leaves has not usurped the place of the fruit, nor has the supply of fruit driven out the mass of leaves. The tree is full of both. But one thing is plucked by the wind; the other is picked by the harvester. So therefore when you hear, ‘Woe unto the world because of offenses,’ do not be afraid. Love the law of God, and you will have no temptation to sin.”⁶

However, in my estimation, Jesus is not calling down a curse on the world itself or those in the world in particular. Rather, that the world will be more miserable because of those who not only cause new believers to stumble, but those who stumble will bring more misery and sorrow on themselves and those around them. Somewhat like warning people to be careful and not expose themselves to a contagious disease, because if they don’t take extra precautions and pass it on, it will make everyone sick and cause misery not only to those who have it but to those who must deal with them.

Verse 8: “If your hand or your foot causes you sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose part of your body and have eternal life than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the fire that burns forever.”

Once more our Lord uses figurative language to promote an actual truth. There is no record that the disciples taught any such form of punishment in the literal sense. The point is that allowing oneself to be tempted to return to sin should be resisted to the highest degree. It is another way of teaching total abstinence from wrongdoing. The joy one has to gain by participating in these things cannot be compared to the misery one has to suffer when they do.

This was the warning given by Moses to the children of Israel, “Someone close to you might secretly persuade you to worship other gods. It might be your own brother, your son, your daughter, the wife you love, or your closest friend. They might say, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods.’ (These are gods that you and your ancestors never knew. They are the gods of the people who live in the other lands around you, some near and some far away.) You must not agree with them. Don’t listen to them or feel sorry for them. Don’t let them go free or protect them.”⁷

There is an interesting comment on this verse by one Jewish writer, who believes this could be applied to “the missionary activity among the Jews in Rome after its conversion to Christianity.”⁸ I like the way the prophet Isaiah puts it: “Stop trusting other people to save you.”⁹ The prophet Ezekiel also encourages abstinence from things that could lead to backsliding, “Throw away all the terrible idols with which you committed your crimes! Change your heart and spirit. People of Israel, why should you do things that will cost you your life?”¹⁰

This concept of Jesus using hands, feet, and eyes as elements through which a person may be tempted to become disobedient to the word and will of God, can also be seen as a reference to the community of believers as the body of Christ, and each person in that body as a distinct member, such as a hand or foot. For instance, Chrysostom states: “Jesus is not saying this about human limbs. Far from it. This is said about friends, about relatives, whom we regard in the rank of necessary limbs. Jesus also said this earlier, and now He says it again. For nothing is so harmful as bad company. For what relationship cannot do, often friendship can do, both for harm and for benefit. So He orders us with great emphasis to cut off those who are harmful to us, implying that these are people who supply temptations to sin.”¹¹

Then Jesus brings up the subject of the punishment that lies ahead for those who refuse to listen and continue to practice such sinfulness. Christ Himself lends authenticity to the existence of an eternal flaming hell. This should add more weight to our belief also. As factual and unnerving as every other statement in the Word of God, so is this acknowledgment by the Son of God that there is a place for sinners called a burning hell. This was already spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, “The sinners in Zion are afraid. Those who do wrong shake with fear. They say, ‘Can any of us live through this fire that destroys? Who can live near this fire that burns forever?’”¹²

The one concern I have is that many who preach the Gospel today are preaching a message passed down by verbal tradition rather than one expounded from God’s Word. In Evangelical and Pentecostal circles, many early preacher’s propagated their theology based on what they heard some other minister, whom they greatly admired, say from the pulpit, but did not do any cross-referencing with the Scriptures. Thus, a popular tradition was born that would take the place of the true Gospel message of the Scripture. This was compounded by speakers who would take one Bible text and build a sermon around it that bore no resemblance to the context.

Two subjects that suffered badly under this type of traditional theology were “heaven” and “hell”. You do not have to be a great theologian to notice that it will be at the end of the millennial reign of Christ as the final judgment when the devil and all who follow him will be cast into the lake of fire. In the meantime, sinners who have died lie in the grave and await the second resurrection and first judgment when all the books will be open and every person will be judged and receive their sentence. Likewise, it will be when Christ returns in the clouds to resurrect the believer and transform the living saints to join Him in the rapture to be where He is so they can return with Him to rule and reign for a thousand years. In the interim, they await the sound of the trumpet to rise from their graves to meet Him in the air.

This then forces us to ask: if people go straight to hell when they die, why bring them back for some bogus judgment and throw them back in again? Also, why should a believer go straight to heaven and dance on the streets of gold only to be thrown back into their graves and pretend being resurrected to meet the Lord in the air? Jesus said it clearly, “I go away to prepare a place for you so that when I “come again” I can receive you to myself so that where I am you may be also.”¹³ Would that not be role-playing if we were already with Him and then came back and faked being resurrected?

The apostle Paul states, “We are confident, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”¹⁴ Notice that Paul uses the Greek word “to be” in the future tense. In other words, Paul is saying: If I had my choice between staying here in this body or leaving this body so I could be with the Lord, I rather leave. He did not say, “I will be with the Lord,” but rather, “I’d rather be with the Lord.” There are a number of other places where Paul puts, “being at home with the Lord” in the future tense, and describes it as following the resurrection so he can be with Him permanently without ever coming back.¹⁵ The question now is, do we have anything to lose by understanding Christ’s promise of eternal life this way. The answer is no! When our spirits leave this body we enter into God’s eternal presence where time does not exist.

When my father, who died in 1959, is raised from his rest on resurrection day, it will seem as only an instant since he went there to rest from his labors. Will he miss anything by not being immediately transported to heaven so he could have a head start on all of us? Of course not! Jesus will not come back until all the mansions being prepared are finished. And the work is still going on because every day there are new members of God’s family being born again in this world. So we will all arrive there at the same time on resurrection day. For many this is hard for them to accept since they have grown up on anecdotal stories of those who have passed on before them are looking down from heaven on their activities and encouraging them to do good.

So, does this mean we stop rejoicing about walking through the pearly gates and dancing on the streets of gold? No! Absolutely not! If you tell your children that you are going to take them to a famous amusement park where they can see fairy tale characters and go on spectacular rides, you will see them jump up and down; run around their neighborhood, tell all their friends about it with great excitement. But why are they rejoicing? They are not there yet! Because they know they are going! And when you get in the car to go, after a few miles the first thing they ask is, “Are we there yet?” In the same way, we rejoice about going to heaven and all the things we will see and hear there. But just like those children, we have to wait until the trip starts before we actually arrive.

Christ here firmly establishes the priority of soul over body. Our first concern should be the healing of our psychē (Greek for “soul”), rather than the well-being of our soma (Greek for “body”.) How many Christians are more concerned about the health of the physical being than the health of their spiritual being? How many believers have given more emphasis to keeping their bodies in shape than making sure their souls were sound through spiritual exercise?

Some people have even been tempted to give up their faith in God because He did not answer their prayers for physical healing. That’s because their hearts and minds were in sad shape, and they choose to remain in the status quo. How often has Christ been preached as an Aladdin’s Lamp or Emergency Room Physician for physical needs, but neglected to give Him the same importance when it comes to the believer’s soul. Jesus makes it quite clear that a one-eyed, one-armed invalid with the blessed assurance of salvation is better off than a robust herculean sinner. The main reason any of us should seek the Lord for a long and healthy life is so that we can serve Him longer and more efficiently.