And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, (Mark 9:47)
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Mark 8:34)
There
are two almost parallel verses just before this one, both of which talk about
it being “better to enter life” in a reduced capacity than to be thrown into
hell whole. These are difficult statements, even in a time when prosthetics are
so readily available. Most people would probably say Jesus was engaging in
hyperbole (exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.)
Perhaps He was, but let’s consider. What price would you be willing to pay to
get into Heaven or avoid Hell?
In
the preceding chapter of Mark, Jesus had challenged those who heard him to deny
themselves, take up their crosses and follow Him. If you’re going to carry the
instrument of your death with you, are you likely to consider the loss of an eye,
if the result is Heaven?
The
problem is that when it comes to heaven we’re blind anyway. But when it comes
to the world, the flesh, and our lives, we are very able to see. It’s clear how
much of a difficulty being without an eye because it caused us to stumble would
be to our lives. At least, we think it’s clear. We’ve seen or read the stories
of people who go blind or are paralyzed. We hear about the depression they
suffer, and their thought that it would be better to be dead than to live like
that. I’m not suggesting it’s not difficult, but life is possible. It can even
be a good and full life.
The
key, I suspect, is that we grow in our belief in heaven, not just as a pie in the
sky by and by thing, but as real and worth whatever price we may have to pay to
gain it. But I should also point out that I’m not suggesting that we can work
our way to heaven, but in any relationship, things will cause
problems. If that thing, whatever it is, comes between you and God, or between
you and Heaven, you have a decision to make. Which is more important?
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