Mark 9:42
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.
Whoever causes
The Greek word for "causes" is "σκανδαλίζω" (skandalizó), which means to cause to stumble or to lead into sin. This term is significant in the New Testament, often used to describe actions that lead others away from faith or righteousness. In a conservative Christian perspective, this emphasizes the grave responsibility believers have to live in a way that edifies others, especially those who are young or new in their faith.

one of these little ones
The phrase "little ones" can be understood both literally and metaphorically. Literally, it refers to children, but metaphorically, it represents those who are humble, vulnerable, or new in their faith. In the historical context, children were considered the least in society, and Jesus elevates their status, highlighting the importance of protecting and nurturing the faith of those who are spiritually young or weak.

who believe in Me
This phrase underscores the identity of the "little ones" as believers in Christ. The Greek word for "believe" is "πιστεύω" (pisteuó), which means to have faith or trust. This highlights the importance of faith in Jesus as the foundation of Christian life. From a conservative viewpoint, it stresses the necessity of safeguarding the faith of believers, especially those who are impressionable.

to stumble
The term "stumble" is again derived from "σκανδαλίζω" (skandalizó), reinforcing the idea of causing someone to fall into sin or lose faith. In the scriptural context, stumbling is not merely a physical act but a spiritual one, indicating a fall from grace or a deviation from the path of righteousness. This serves as a warning against leading others into sin through one's actions or teachings.

it would be better for him
This phrase introduces a hyperbolic statement to emphasize the severity of the offense. The use of hyperbole is a common teaching method in the Bible, intended to make a strong impression on the listener. It underscores the seriousness with which Jesus views the act of leading believers astray.

if a large millstone were hung around his neck
The "large millstone" refers to a heavy stone used for grinding grain, which would have been familiar to Jesus' audience. The imagery of a millstone around the neck is a vivid and severe metaphor for the weight of guilt and the inescapable consequences of causing others to sin. Historically, this method of execution was known in ancient times, adding a layer of cultural understanding to the text.

and he were thrown into the sea
The sea, in biblical literature, often symbolizes chaos and judgment. Being thrown into the sea with a millstone signifies a fate worse than death, illustrating the gravity of the sin of leading others astray. From a conservative Christian perspective, this serves as a sobering reminder of the eternal consequences of our actions and the importance of living a life that reflects Christ's teachings.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The speaker of this verse, emphasizing the seriousness of leading believers astray.

2. Little Ones
Refers to believers, particularly those who are young or new in faith, highlighting their vulnerability.

3. Millstone
A large, heavy stone used for grinding grain, symbolizing the severe consequences of causing others to stumble.

4. The Sea
Represents a place of judgment and destruction, illustrating the gravity of the offense.

5. Disciples
The immediate audience of Jesus, who are being taught about the importance of nurturing and protecting fellow believers.
Teaching Points
The Seriousness of Influence
Believers must recognize the profound impact their actions and words can have on others, especially those new in faith.

Guarding Against Stumbling Blocks
We are called to be vigilant in our conduct, ensuring that we do not become a source of temptation or doubt for others.

The Value of Every Believer
Jesus underscores the worth of each believer, urging us to protect and nurture their faith.

Accountability and Consequences
The imagery of the millstone serves as a stark reminder of the severe consequences of leading others into sin.

Encouragement and Support
We should actively seek to build up and encourage fellow believers, fostering an environment of spiritual growth and support.
Bible Study Questions
1. What are some practical ways we can ensure that our actions do not cause others to stumble in their faith?

2. How does understanding the original Greek term for "stumble" (skandaliz?) deepen our comprehension of this warning?

3. In what ways can the church community support new believers to prevent them from stumbling?

4. How can we apply the principle of avoiding stumbling blocks in our interactions with non-believers?

5. Reflect on a time when you were influenced positively or negatively by another believer. How did it impact your faith journey, and what can you learn from that experience?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 18:6
This parallel passage reinforces the warning against causing believers to stumble, emphasizing the same severe consequences.

1 Corinthians 8:9-13
Paul discusses the responsibility of mature believers to avoid causing weaker believers to stumble, particularly in matters of conscience.

Romans 14:13
Encourages believers to avoid placing stumbling blocks in the paths of others, promoting mutual edification.

Luke 17:1-2
Jesus warns that offenses will come, but woe to the one through whom they come, echoing the message of Mark 9:42.

James 3:1
Highlights the greater accountability of teachers, who must be cautious not to lead others astray.
The Comprehensiveness of Christ's ServiceA.F. Muir Mark 9:38-42
Marked SinsE. Johnson Mark 9:38-50
Stumbling-BlocksR. Green Mark 9:38-50
Christ's Love to His Little Ones, and OffensesJ.J. Given Mark 9:42-50
People
Elias, Elijah, James, Jesus, John, Peter
Places
Caesarea Philippi, Capernaum, Galilee, High Mountain
Topics
Anyone, Believe, Believing, Better, Bottom, Cast, Cause, Causes, Dropped, Faith, Fall, Hanged, Heavy, Hung, Large, Lying, Millstone, Neck, Occasion, Offend, Ones, Round, Sin, Snare, Stone, Stumble, Thrown, Tied, Trouble
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Mark 9:42

     2009   Christ, anger of
     4482   millstones
     5170   neck
     5887   inexperience
     6253   temptation, avoiding causing
     8730   enemies, of believers

Mark 9:41-42

     5665   children, attitudes to

Mark 9:42-47

     6022   sin, causes of

Mark 9:42-48

     5006   human race, destiny
     6030   sin, avoidance
     9511   hell, place of punishment

Mark 9:42-49

     6026   sin, judgment on

Library
February 2 Evening
One star differeth from another star in glory.--I COR. 15:41. By the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all.--Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Christ's Lament Over Our Faithlessness
'He answereth him and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?'--Mark ix. 19. There is a very evident, and, I think, intentional contrast between the two scenes, of the Transfiguration, and of this healing of the maniac boy. And in nothing is the contrast more marked than in the demeanour of these enfeebled and unbelieving Apostles, as contrasted with the rapture of devotion of the other three, and with the lowly submission and faith of Moses and Elias.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Omnipotence of Faith
Jesus said unto him, If them canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.'--Mark ix. 23. The necessity and power of faith is the prominent lesson of this narrative of the healing of a demoniac boy, especially as it is told by the Evangelist Mark, The lesson is enforced by the actions of all the persons in the group, except the central figure, Christ. The disciples could not cast out the demon, and incur Christ's plaintive rebuke, which is quite as much sorrow as blame: 'O faithless
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Unbelieving Belief
'And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.'--Mark ix. 24. We owe to Mark's Gospel the fullest account of the pathetic incident of the healing of the demoniac boy. He alone gives us this part of the conversation between our Lord and the afflicted child's father. The poor man had brought his child to the disciples, and found them unable to do anything with him. A torrent of appeal breaks from his lips as soon as the Lord gives
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

An Unanswered Question
'What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?'--Mark ix. 33. Was it not a strange time to squabble when they had just been told of His death? Note-- I. The variations of feeling common to the disciples and to us all: one moment 'exceeding sorrowful,' the next fighting for precedence. II. Christ's divine insight into His servants' faults. This question was put because He knew what the wrangle had been about. The disputants did not answer, but He knew without an answer, as His immediately
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Salted with Fire
Every one shall be salted with fire.'--Mark ix. 49. Our Lord has just been uttering some of the most solemn words that ever came from His gracious lips. He has been enjoining the severest self-suppression, extending even to mutilation and excision of the eye, the hand, or the foot, that might cause us to stumble. He has been giving that sharp lesson on the ground of plain common sense and enlightened self-regard. It is better, obviously, to live maimed than to die whole. The man who elects to
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'Salt in Yourselves'
'Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.'--Mark ix. 50. In the context 'salt' is employed to express the preserving, purifying, divine energy which is otherwise spoken of as 'fire.' The two emblems produce the same result. They both salt--that is, they cleanse and keep. And if in the one we recognise the quick energy of the Divine Spirit as the central idea, no less are we to see the same typified under a slightly different aspect in the other. The fire transforms into its own substance
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

'This is My Beloved Son: Hear Him'
'And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son: hear Him.'--Mark ix. 7. With regard to the first part of these words spoken at the Transfiguration, they open far too large and wonderful a subject for me to do more than just touch with the tip of my finger, as it were, in passing, because the utterance of the divine words, 'This is My beloved Son,' in all the depth of their meaning and loftiness, is laid as the foundation of the two
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Jesus Only!
'They saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.'--Mark ix. 8. The Transfiguration was the solemn inauguration of Jesus for His sufferings and death. Moses, the founder, and Elijah, the restorer, of the Jewish polity, the great Lawgiver and the great Prophet, were present. The former had died and been mysteriously buried, the latter had been translated without 'seeing death.' So both are visitors from the unseen world, appearing to own that Jesus is the Lord of that dim land, and that
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Transfiguration
'And after six days Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and He was transfigured before them. 3. And His raimemt became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. 4. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. 5. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Receiving and Forbidding
'And He came to Capernaum: and being in the house He asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? 34. But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. 35. And He sat down, and called the Twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. 36. And He took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto them, 37.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

July the Ninth Scholars in Christ's School
"He taught His disciples." --MARK ix. 30-37. And my Lord will teach me. He will lead me into "the deep things" of God. There is only one school for this sort of learning, and an old saint called it the Academy of Love, and it meets in Gethsemane and Calvary, and the Lord Himself is the teacher, and there is room in the school for thee and me. But the disciples were not in the mood for learning. They were not ambitious for heavenly knowledge, but for carnal prizes, not for wisdom, but for place.
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

The Lenten Fast.
"This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer."--ST. MARK ix. 29. You remember the narrative from which I have taken this verse. Jesus, as we read, had just come down from the Mount of Transfiguration, and when He was come to the multitude, a certain man besought him saying, "Have mercy on my son, for he is lunatic and sore vexed, and I brought him to Thy disciples, but they could not cure him." Then Jesus rebuked the devil, and the child was cured from that hour. Thereupon His disciples
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

The Child in the Midst.
"And He took a child and set Him in the midst of them: and when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in My name, receiveth Me: and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but Him that sent Me."--ST. MARK ix. 36, 37. It is one of the characteristics of our time, one of its most hopeful and most encouraging signs, that men are awaking to higher and purer conceptions of the Christian life and what it is that constitutes such a life. We
John Percival—Sermons at Rugby

Of Hell
"Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark 9:48. 1. Every truth which is revealed in the oracles of God is undoubtedly of great importance. Yet it may be allowed that some of those which are revealed therein are of greater importance than others, as being more immediately conducive to the grand end of all, the eternal salvation of men. And we may judge of their importance even from this circumstance, -- that they are not mentioned once only in the sacred writings, but are repeated
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

A Caution against Bigotry
"And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name: and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not." Mark 9:38, 39. 1. In the preceding verses we read, that after the Twelve had been disputing "which of them should be the greatest," Jesus took a little child, and set him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, said unto them, "Whosoever shall receive one of these little children in My name, receiveth
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Faith's Dawn and Its Clouds
In the text there are three things very clearly. Here is true faith; here is grievous unbelief; here is a battle between the two. I. Very clearly in the text there is TRUE FAITH. "Lord, I believe," says the anxious father. When our Lord tells him that, if he can believe, all things are possible to him, he makes no demur, asks for no pause, wishes to hear no more evidence, but cries at once, "Lord, I believe." Now, observe we have called this faith true faith, and we will prove it to have been so.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872

The Child in the Midst.
And he came to Capernaum: and, being in the house, he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

Absolute Surrender
"And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine and all that
Andrew Murray—Absolute Surrender

Thoughts Upon Striving to Enter at the Strait Gate.
AS certainly as we are here now, it is not long but we shall all be in another World, either in a World of Happiness, or else in a World of Misery, or if you will, either in Heaven or in Hell. For these are the two only places which all Mankind from the beginning of the World to the end of it, must live in for evermore, some in the one, some in the other, according to their carriage and behaviour here; and therefore it is worth the while to take a view and prospect now and then of both these places,
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

The Three Tabernacles
And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. MARK ix. 5. Caught up in glory and in rapture, the Apostle seems to have forgotten the world from which he had ascended, and to which he still belonged, and to have craved permanent shelter and extatic communion within the mystic splendors that brightened the Mount of Transfiguration. But it was true, not only as to the confusion of his
E. H. Chapin—The Crown of Thorns

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