What is the context?
Jesus has just spoken about welcoming a child in His name. He now warns against causing one of the little ones who believe in Him to stumble. The concern includes His followers, whose faith must be cared for. His picture of a millstone and the sea shows the terrible seriousness of harming them.
The verb is σκανδαλίζω, skandalizō (skan-dah-LEE-zoh). Thayer's entry explains the picture of putting something in another's path that makes them fall, including leading someone into sin. Here the issue reaches deeper than upsetting someone's feelings: their walk with God is being harmed.
Jesus also turns the warning toward what leads the disciples themselves into sin. The hand, foot, and eye make His words personal. Even something as precious or useful as these must be given up if it draws someone away from God. The contrast between entering life and being thrown into fire gives the warning its weight.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christians commonly read these strong pictures as a call to remove what leads into sin, rather than instructions to injure the body. Wesley on 18:5–9 applies them to whatever hinders someone's walk with God, while the US Catholic bishops' notes on 18:6–9 distinguish the harm done to another disciple from the danger of one's own sin.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Care for another believer belongs to the work Christ died to accomplish. In Romans 14:13–19, Paul tells Christians to stop placing obstacles in a brother's way and reminds them that Christ died for that person. He then directs them toward peace and helping one another grow.
That gives the disciples' responsibility a larger setting. Someone they might dismiss or lead astray matters to the Savior who gave His life. Life together in God's kingdom calls them to use their influence to help that person continue in faith.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.