Mark 9:42-50

Posted by DJL on Jul 16, 2012 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

“If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.^, And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

There’s a lot going on in this passage, and it’s hard to put it into context because it hardly seems to fit the narrative thus far. Jesus switches, it would seem, from answering the disciples question about who is with them and who is against them to the issue of making it difficult for the most vulnerable to stay within the new community he is forming.

But maybe it’s not that much of a stretch after all. In the earlier conversation, Jesus was talking about the importance of looking for allies everywhere, being willing to side with anyone doing God’s work. Why? Because the work of the kingdom matters.

Here, he is still talking about the kingdom movement, about how incredibly important it is and about the devastating tragedy it would be to keep someone – especially someone of little account or value in the culture – out of a movement that would make all the difference in the world to them.

Participating in the kingdom Jesus proclaims, you see, is of such importance that we should get rid of anything that keeps us from it. Hands, feet, eyes, whatever inclinations or habits or actions that may keep us from participation in the new community Jesus forms must be put away. All will struggle, Jesus promises, but not all will endure.

Do we take Jesus’ movement and kingdom that seriously? Do I? What would the world look like if I did? What would the world look like if we all did? I wonder….

Prayer: Dear God, renew our commitment to you and keep us from all that would distract us or others from perceiving your mercy and grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.