The Seriousness of Entering the Kingdom of Jesus Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ, in the midst of His teaching on humility and stumbling blocks in Matthew 18, delivers a word of alarming severity: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire” (18:8–9). These words conclude a sustained warning that began with the reception of a child in verse 2 and rose to the fearful declaration of verse 6: “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

The pattern of the text is deliberate. Christ moves from the danger of causing others to stumble (18:6–7) to the danger of allowing one’s own body parts to be instruments of sin (18:8–9). The repetition of the hyperbolic command - cut off the hand, cut off the foot, pluck out the eye - is an intensification, not a medical prescription. Our Lord employs the same figure in 5:29–30 with the same conclusion: no sacrifice is too great to avoid the judgment of hell. The body part is not the true cause of sin - as Christ teaches in Mark 7:21, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts” - but it serves as the avenue through which sin operates.

The severity of the warning is matched by the solemnity of its destination. Christ uses “hell fire” (v. 9), translating the Greek geenna - the valley of Hinnom - the emblem of God’s final judgment. This part of Matthew 18 is about the kingdom of heaven and who belongs to it. Entrance requires becoming as a little child (v. 3). Those who refuse to amputate the offending instrument face a fire that does not end. Enter maimed into life, or enter whole into fire. In other words, be warned, as nothing on earth is more serious for any individual.