David Bahn – Reflections

I checked yesterday, and will keep looking. But no one I’ve seen has taken Jesus’ words literally by cutting off his hand or gouging out his eye. We all have all our digits, members, eyes and ears. But Jesus’ words are not to be ignored. And in fact there is a vital truth here that we don’t want to miss by simply passing off his teaching as hyperbole.

Matthew 18:7-13

[Jesus says,] ⁷“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! ⁸ And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

¹⁰“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. ¹² What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹³And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

The clue is in Matthew 15:17-19. Jesus tells us that the problem of evil lies not in our hands nor even in our eyes. The problem lies in our hearts. And this is the key to understanding Jesus’ words here. You need not even take it as hyperbole. The fact is that our hands don’t cause us to sin. Our hearts do.

Entrance into the kingdom of God requires heart-work. That is a work done by the Holy Spirit as he shapes and molds our hearts into the likeness of Christ. It requires conversion, repentance and faith. Jesus’ essential message was, “Repent and believe the Good News” (Mark 1:14-15).

The problem with our sin is a problem with our hearts: We need constantly to be renewed in our hearts. We need God’s grace daily. That is the reality of the Christian life. That is why it says, “Since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:21-23).

God is the greatest heart-surgeon ever. He renews our hearts by his grace, faithfulness, truth and love. And he’ll do it again today. Thanks be to God!