Matthew 18:8, commentary and pictures

To offend is to be led into sin, and to cut off the offending hand or foot is to separate decisively from whatever causes that sin, not to injure the body. The hand or foot stands for anything as close, precious, and useful as one's own limb that hinders full surrender to Christ, including cherished faults, hereditary and cultivated tendencies, ideas, plans, and self-will. Whatever leads into sin must be renounced and cast away, however dear or costly the loss, for it is better to enter life without it than to keep it and be cast into everlasting fire. This requires painful cutting away of selfishness, covetousness, harshness, pride, and striving for supremacy, and of any influence that causes Christ's weak and humble believing ones to stumble. To refuse that separation is to choose death, since sin separates from God and his presence consumes what clings to it, while putting it away opens the way to communion with him and life.

Language and Imagery

In this verse “offend” means to lead oneself into sin, and the offending hand or foot is whatever stands in the way of surrender to Christ and hinders faithfulness to Him. Sin must be decisively removed even when it is as dear as a hand or foot, and anything blocking that surrender must be given up however dear it may be. It is better to suffer that loss and enter into life than to keep what is cherished and be lost, because sin separates a person from God and leads to everlasting fire, while putting away darling sins makes a right relation to God possible.

The command to cut off the hand or foot is a forceful picture of decisive separation from what causes sin, not an instruction to injure or maim the body. Anything leading a person into sin must be given up however precious or useful it may seem, for entering life maimed is better than keeping both hands or both feet and being cast into everlasting fire. The offending members represent evil traits to be removed from the character, and that character work requires close attention and may be painful. Hereditary and cultivated wrong tendencies — selfishness, covetousness, harshness, unkindness, and hard-heartedness — must be cut away, for if they remain they corrupt the whole person, wound and destroy others, and lead to neglect of those needing help. The cutting off is figurative in the same way when cherished ideas and opinions that a person insists others must share are to be given up once they lead to offense and spiritual harm.

The hand or foot stands for what is as close, familiar, precious, dear, or useful as one’s own limb. It includes any fault or defective attribute and any hereditary and cultivated wrong tendency to sin, which must be removed rather than allowed to destroy the whole person, since entering life with that loss is better than keeping them and perishing in everlasting destruction. It includes a cherished spirit, idea, plan, or use of authority that conflicts with God’s ways, and unsanctified ideas and sentiments held so stubbornly that others are expected to agree and think and speak the same way and have them pressed upon them; these must be surrendered and abandoned rather than allowed to offend, harm, or lead astray. It includes an evil disposition of self-exalting sharpness with harsh, unfeeling, cruel words that hurt, wound, or discourage others, and whatever in a person leads them to injure or hinder others; such conduct must be put away however dear or valued it is, for it is better to give it up and enter into life than to keep it and face everlasting fire and judgment.

Setting in Matthew 18

The saying belongs to Jesus' instruction to the disciples at Capernaum on how his followers are to act and how his work is to be done. In that instruction self is to be kept under the control of the great Teacher, and his teachings are to be practiced. The chapter teaches humility, thorough conversion, and singleness of purpose, with no striving for supremacy. Greatness in Christ's spiritual kingdom is inward and spiritual excellence manifested in true conversion, not position, outward splendor, or authority. Following Christ there requires humbling oneself and turning from self toward love and service to others, with pure motives and single purpose. Its lessons are to be taken personally and practiced through self-discipline rather than through criticism of others.

The warning stands with the condemnation of causing one of Christ's believing little ones to stumble, and to harm or mislead them brings severe judgment. Those little ones are not children in years but little children in Christ, weak and trembling souls with many defects and objectionable traits. The same warning guards even a humble servant of Christ against being harmed or hindered. None of these little ones is to be despised or left to perish, but the erring are to be cared for. Christ's followers must use their God-given talents to save that which is lost, giving compassion, earnest labor, and persevering effort not to the saint but to the sinner who needs it.

The chapter gives principles for acting in all cases and under all circumstances for all who claim to be disciples of the meek and lowly Jesus. That instruction brings relief and courage and hope, directing to go forward in faith and to take the case to the Lord Jesus in prayer, believing that he hears. Faults that endanger people and corrupt the church must be corrected, and the one in the wrong is to be told of the danger with the aim of saving from ruin. Confession of sin with repentance and a humble walk with God finds pardon, for the Lord corrects to purify and save. The instruction shows the church's duty to deal with sin and error and to be organized to carry out that duty, with serious offenses and wrong attitudes dealt with decisively, since criticism and disrespect are an offense to God and contrary to Christ's way.

Call to Decisive Renunciation

Anything that leads a person into sin must be decisively removed, renounced, rejected, surrendered and cast away, however precious, dear, useful, painful or costly the sacrifice may feel. It is better to enter into life halt or maimed through that loss than to keep both hands or both feet and be cast into everlasting fire and destruction. Even a fault or tendency as close and familiar as a hand or foot must be cut away rather than allowed to destroy the whole person. This cutting off applies to harmful attitudes and practices, including an unsympathetic spirit and a misuse of authority that harms believers, and to influences that threaten spiritual purity and healthy thoughts, for yielding to them leaves the heart unclean and turned toward idols. Personal responsibility requires uprooting sin and guarding thought and conduct so as not to become a stumbling block to others, since sin is offensive to God and harming or misleading others is a grave offense.

Hereditary and cultivated wrong tendencies must be removed from the life through close character work that requires close attention and is sometimes painful. Selfishness, covetousness, harshness, unkindness and hard-heartedness must be cut away, with selfishness, covetousness and harshness named with special urgency. If such offending traits of character, pictured as hand, foot and eye, remain they will corrupt and destroy the whole person and keep the person from entering life. Left in place they can also wound and destroy others and lead to neglect of those who need help.

To offend in this sense is to lead oneself into sin, and what is as dear as a hand or foot must be given up rather than kept to be lost. Removing cherished and darling sins makes a right relation to God possible, for sin separates a person from God. Life comes through communion with God and surrender to his will, and the hand or foot stands for the self and the will that must yield to him. Hidden sins cannot be concealed from him, and to refuse to separate from sin is to choose death, for his presence consumes sin and those who cling to it and refuse to leave it will be consumed.

Evils to Be Cut Away

The hand, foot, and eye that offend are not limbs to be maimed but evil traits of character that lead into sin and harm others and must be cut away rather than allowed to bring ruin. That cutting off means putting away passion, anger, loss of self-control, sternness, harshness, unkindness, hard-heartedness, selfishness, and covetousness. The work demands close attention to character-building and is painful, yet hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil must be removed however dear and cherished they are and whatever the cost. If they remain they corrupt and destroy the whole person, keep the person from entering life, wound and destroy others, and lead to neglect of those who need help.

The same severing applies to cherished dispositions, plans, and uses of authority represented by hand, foot, and eye. A hard, unsympathetic spirit, distrust that refuses to act in faith, and personal schemes that distort judgment must be given up rather than allowed to harm fellow believers. Authority is meant to uplift, not to break down, and it is better to relinquish it than to abuse it and cause a brother to stumble. The iron in the soul with its satanic attributes must be put away, including forcing one's own will, ideas, and plans, and that spirit must be let to die out of the heart and out of the church.

Self and every unsanctified element must be removed from the soul temple, with plain and decided words against self-sufficiency, wounded dignity, trust in superior discernment and judgment, perversity of spirit and disposition, self-esteem, self-exaltation, dissension, and inward and open strife for supremacy and to be first and to be highly esteemed. Such self-life interposes self between the soul and God, grieves the Saviour's Spirit, and turns those who ought to be a blessing into a hindrance and curse that retards the work by words that tear down instead of building up the Redeemer's kingdom. Divine power and grace cannot be manifested until this is cleansed away.

Criticism and faultfinding is expressly the devil's work. Satan began it in the heavenly courts by suggesting that a change in God's government would bring advantage, gaining sympathy and assent from angels, planting his own thoughts in their minds, then reporting their disaffection as if it came from themselves, while covering his tracks so that suspicion and distrust of God and of one another spread without its source being detected.

Cherished ideas, opinions, sentiments, and unsanctified ideas must be surrendered when they are held so stubbornly that others are expected to agree and to think and speak the same way. The cutting off is figurative: what is as precious or useful as a hand or foot must be abandoned rather than pressed upon others, for it is better to give it up than to let it cause offense and spiritual harm and face everlasting fire. Influences that threaten spiritual purity and healthy thoughts must likewise be decisively removed even at great personal cost, since yielding to them leaves the heart unclean and turned toward idols. Anything standing in the way of surrender to Christ and faithfulness to Him must be given up however dear it is, including self-indulgent sin or habit that obstructs the heart's openness to Jesus, for losing it is better than losing eternal life.

Care Not to Cause Stumbling

Anything within a person that causes others to stumble, injures or hinders Christ's humble servants, or leads another in a wrong direction must be decisively put away and cast away, however much it is valued and even at great cost. The hand or foot is an evil disposition, including self-exalting sharpness and harsh, unfeeling words that hurt or discourage others, and cherished dispositions, plans, or uses of authority such as a hard, unsympathetic spirit, distrust that refuses to act in faith, or personal schemes that distort judgment. Authority is meant to uplift and not to break down, and it is better to relinquish it than to abuse it and cause a brother to stumble. It is better to suffer loss and enter into life, even maimed, than to keep what leads to sin and bring such offense and face judgment and everlasting fire and destruction. This warning follows the words about offending believers and applies with special force where young people of different backgrounds and temperaments influence one another in a school, calling for resisting harmful influence and choosing what prepares people for eternal life.

Selfish neglect, holding the weak in contempt, judging, condemning, and an unforgiving, exacting spirit that discourages weak brethren must be cut off and cast away rather than continued. The little ones who must not be offended are not children in years but little children in Christ, weak and trembling souls with many defects and objectionable traits. An evil disposition of self-exalting sharpness and harsh, unfeeling, cruel words that hurt, wound, or discourage others must be given up to enter into life, and one whose harsh, cruel spirit wounds others needs a change of heart before handling sacred responsibilities, however painful the loss. Trying to obstruct, hinder, and repress a fellow worker because that person does not follow one's plans, devising plans to separate brethren, drawing apart from brethren, lack of love, accusing one another, thinking and speaking evil, and wanting a fellow worker removed from position are the enemy's devices condemned by the verse and must be met and condemned, for God does not desire any to draw apart from brethren.

Such a stumbling block can cause the loss of a soul and misrepresent Christ, and the urgency rests on the infinite value of every soul and the work to save the lost. Even one cherished sin degrades character and can mislead others, while remaining evils such as hereditary tendencies to evil, selfishness, covetousness, harshness, unkindness, and hard-heartedness can corrupt the whole person, wound and destroy others, and lead to neglect of those who need help. Cutting off the harmful influence does not mean abandoning the erring person to ruin or to Satan, but removing the hardness and barriers that obstruct help, prayer, and guidance. Christ's followers must use their God-given talents to save what is lost, giving compassion, earnest labor, and persevering effort not to the saint but to the sinner who needs it, and making loving efforts to bring the straying to Christ.

Daily and Pastoral Application

A man must take himself in hand and reprimand himself by the discipline of the Word. Daily humbling of self before God, overcoming entertained temptations, and receiving and practicing the lessons of Christ as a learner in His school is required. No one who retains a selfish, unholy spirit should enter upon work in ministration of the Word until this severe self-discipline has been done, stopping just where he is rather than going forward unfit.

The instruction gives relief and courage and hope, directing to go forward in faith and to take the case to the Lord Jesus in prayer, believing that He hears. Confession of sin with repentance and a humble walk with God finds pardon, for correction aims to purify and save.

Those in positions of responsibility should follow the instruction, reject selfishness, and set an example that others can safely follow. Self must be kept under the control of the great Teacher, and His teachings must be practiced. The lessons are to be taken personally and practiced through self-discipline rather than criticism of others. They are to be practiced in daily life, including in the care and training of young people, for losing what is precious is better than being lost to everlasting fire. Workers are urged to study them for present and eternal good, since entering life maimed is better than keeping what leads to being cast into everlasting fire. The lesson is needed to turn from a wrong course and avoid conduct that causes offense and division, because anything leading into sin must be decisively put away.

Teachers and those caring for children and students must cut off completely whatever spirit prompts harshness and arbitrary action, however dear and cherished and whatever it costs, even as much as a right arm. The harsh, iron traits in character, the iron in the soul with passion, anger, loss of self-control, sternness, and forcing one's own will, ideas and plans, must die out of the heart and out of the church. It is better to sacrifice cherished ways and get along with half of the things thought essential to success in order to connect in meekness and humbleness with Christ, receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit through earnest secret prayer, and diffuse light. Conversion requires humbling self as hard as severing an arm, becoming as a little child in mind and spirit, putting self on the child's level, and coming to God's ideas, plans and ways. Human minds must be dealt with as tenderly as Christ deals, with love, tenderness and forbearance, making students feel loved in order to have good influence, never shaking or bruising a child, taking it alone to pray and talk with it, showing it the will of Christ, binding it to the heart, receiving one such little child, and seeking and saving that which is lost instead of offending little ones and remaining under condemnation. The harsh, angry spirit that bruises or mistreats children must be removed at any cost as urgently as cutting off hand or foot, for preserving it risks spiritual ruin.

Faults that endanger people and corrupt the church must be corrected, and the one in the wrong told of the danger to save from ruin. The church has a duty to address those who fall into sin and error and must be organized to carry it out. Serious offenses and wrong attitudes, including criticism and disrespect as offense to God and contrary to Christ's way, must be dealt with decisively. Criticism and faultfinding is expressly the devil's work, begun in the heavenly courts by deceiving angels, suggesting a change in God's government would bring advantage, obtaining sympathy and assent, putting his own thoughts in their minds, then reporting their disaffection as if from them, while covering his tracks so suspicion and distrust of God and of one another spread without its source detected. Rebellion must be met with firm decision, and for the good of the loyal and true the disloyal must be separated and expelled with the instigator of evil, as God expelled Satan and the disloyal from heaven.

Following Christ requires removing whatever leads into sin even at great personal cost, for entering life maimed is better than keeping what leads to everlasting destruction. Humble self and turn from self toward love and service to others with thorough conversion, single purpose, and pure motives. Church members who have had light on the truth must be converted, obey the truth in practice, and cooperate with Christ and His angels in helping needy souls to repentance, rather than remaining timid and inactive and becoming hinderers who annoy and perplex those weak in the faith.