In Matthew chapter 18, we will look at what Jesus says about the seriousness of sin in verses 1-9:
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
“Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! 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 maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
The disciples, still a little confused about the full purpose of Jesus’ first mission on Earth, were asking Jesus to tell them who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. My guess is that each of the disciples were hoping the greatest would be one of them. Jesus’ answer seems contrary to what the natural man would do to become great; something along the lines of performing great feats, self-exaltation and promotion, ruling and being a well known leader, etc.
Though the Bible does not directly say so anywhere, this is one of the many verses that lead most people believe that all children that die, go to heaven.
Once again Jesus answers opposite of the popular convention and says to even have hope of entering the kingdom, one must become like a little child. Being great in the kingdom of heaven requires one to humble himself and depends upon his Father for provision, protection, love, and forgiveness, making Jesus Lord over his life.
In the next half of this little lesson Jesus tells us of the seriousness of sin, and how severe the punishment for sin is. Jesus uses some extreme statements , if your hands cause you to sin, cut them off. Or if your eyes cause you to sin, gouge them out. Obviously we should not take these statements literally, or the world would be full of blind, deaf, and maimed people, and we would still have a sinful heart and end up in hell anyway. By looking the whole Gospel we know that the only hope for us is to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. But we can deduce the terrible cost of our sins from these words, and get a glimpse of how horrible a place hell is.
Think of every wonderful and beautiful thing that we can tough, hold, feel, and see with our hands and eyes. Jesus essentially says that it would be better for us to never experience any of these wonderful things again than it would be for us to end up in hell. Every good thing comes from God as a gracious gift, and hell is the absence of God. There is no good or pleasurable thing in hell. Thanks be to our loving and gracious God who gives good things to all, even giving his Son to save us from our slavery to sin and hell.