The Saviour's words about the hand, the foot, and the eye that cause a person to stumble may seem too harsh, especially if they are understood literally. Christians, however, have never understood them literally, otherwise most sincere believers would be one-legged, one-handed, or one-eyed, or all three at once. This is an obvious allegory, and...
The Saviour's words about the hand, the foot, and the eye that cause a person to stumble may seem too harsh, especially if they are understood literally. Christians, however, have never understood them literally, otherwise most sincere believers would be one-legged, one-handed, or one-eyed, or all three at once. This is an obvious and quite transparent allegory: there must be no place for sin in a Christian's life, and everything connected with it must be excluded from that life. Indeed, genuine repentance can only be like this.
The hand, the foot, and the eye merely symbolize one or another kind of human activity: they represent what we do, where we go, and what we look at. The sins that poison our lives are usually connected with these activities. Of course, a person's thoughts and imagination can also be sinful, but both thought and imagination need to be constantly fed by external impressions, and here the same eye plays a decisive role for us. Naturally, this does not mean that we should become blind, even figuratively, any more than it means a complete renunciation of all outward activity. What matters is that these impressions and this activity should not be infected by sin.
In a fallen world, one can certainly encounter sin anywhere; the only question is whether we remain where we encountered it. Do we keep looking where we saw it, going where it was found, and doing what proved to be connected with it? Here the temptation of ambiguity often arises: yes, sin is present, but there is something useful there too. Jesus has precisely such situations in mind when He speaks of the hand, the foot, and the eye: if sin is present, if temptation is evident, then we must give up whatever contains it, however useful or pleasant it may seem. Unfortunately, this is the very case in which a spoonful of tar can spoil even a whole barrel of the finest honey. Such honey, alas, has to be thrown away, however tasty and wholesome it may be in itself, as Jesus reminds His disciples.
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9:42 On the contrary, whosoever shall offend the very least Christian. Mat 18:6; Luk 17:1.
9:43 And if a person cause thee to offend - (The discourse passes from the case of offending, to that of being offended) if one who is as useful or dear to thee as a hand or eye, hinder or slacken thee in the ways of Cod, renounce all intercourse with him. This primarily relates to persons, secondarily to things. Mat 5:29; Mat 18:8.
9:44 Where their worm - That gnaweth the soul, (pride, self will, desire, malice, envy, shame, sorrow, despair,) dieth not - No more than the soul itself: and the fire (either material, or infinitely worse!) that tormenteth the body, is not quenched for ever. Isa 66:24.
9:49 Every one - Who does not cut off the offending member, and consequently is cast into hell, shall be, as it were, salted with fire, preserved, not consumed thereby whereas every acceptable sacrifice shall be salted with another kind of salt, even that of Divine grace, which purifies the soul, (though frequently with pain) and preserves it from corruption.
9:50 Such salt is good indeed; highly beneficial to the world, in respect of which I have termed you the salt of the earth.But if the salt which should season others, have lost its own saltness, wherewith will ye season it? - Beware of this; see that ye retain your savour; and as a proof of it, have peace one with another. More largely this obscure text might be paraphrased thus: - As every burnt offering was salted with salt, in order to itsbeing cast into the fire of the altar, so every one who will not part with his hand or eye, shall fall a sacrifice to Divine justice, and be cast into hell fire, which will not consume, but preserve him from a cessation of being. And on the other hand, every one, who, denying himself and taking up his cross, offers up himself as a living sacrifice to God, shall be seasoned with grace, which like salt will make him savoury, and preserve him from destruction for ever. As salt is good for preserving meats, and making them savoury,so it is good that ye be seasoned with grace, for the purifying your hearts and lives, and for spreading the savour of my knowledge, both in your own souls, and wherever ye go. But as salt if it loses its saltness is fit for nothing, so ye, if ye lose your faith and love, are fit for nothing but to be utterly destroyed. See therefore that grace abide in you, and that ye no more contend, Who shall be greatest. Mat 5:13; Luk 14:34.